Between Home and the World: (Banal) Nationalism and Representations of a Nation in Slovenian Folk-Pop Music

This paper examines the concept of banal nationalism as often unconscious, routine processes that nations reproduce on a daily basis. Banal nationalism is recognisable in the use of national symbols but also in language and culture. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether Slovenian folk-pop music is one of these processes, and in which ways and strategies we can detect its reproductive role in banal nationalism that on a daily basis reminds its listeners of their national identities. Methodologically, the article is based on the content and a textual analysis of compositions by three of the most often listened to folk-pop ensembles, demonstrating that the national narrative can be identified in a smaller proportion of all analysed compositions in three sections: the idea of nation as an imaginary community or home(land), national (auto)stereotypes, and patriotic feelings.