The Spectacle of Flags

The Russian and American Flags as Global Spectacles of National Identities

Bibliographic Data

ID21747781
AuthorsJulie Grandjean (0000-0002-5108-8968, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume30
Issue1
Pages33-43
Publication date2023-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueVisual Communication Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1555-1393 • E-ISSN: 1555-1407
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/15551393.2022.2160981
OpenAlexW4313332658
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited14

This article explores through perspectives of rhetorical criticism the stories of two rivals planting their national flags in unexplored territories. Whereas the American flag on the Moon proved American technological superiority over the U.S.S.R.’s, the Russian flag in the Arctic can be seen as a political move by President Putin to recreate the lost grandeur of the Soviet Union and reenact the Cold War to revive his political support at home. By doing so and recording their exploits, the two actors created national narratives that go beyond the simple performance of erecting a flag; these images construct an affectual nationalist identity through elites’ performance of flag planting, and mass media’s staging of these political events as a “spectacle.”

Art · FLAGS register · Literature · Media studies · Narrative · National identity · Nationalism · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Spectacle · Arctic and Russian Policy Studies · History · Law · Space exploration and regulation · Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life

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