Narrative of patriotism in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Bibliographic Data

ID24030436
AuthorsMohammad Irfani (0009-0009-8932-4522, Institute for African Studies, corresponding author)
Year2026
Pages1-22
Publication date2026-08-11
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCentral Asian Survey (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0263-4937 • E-ISSN: 1465-3354
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/02634937.2026.2703000
OpenAlexW7202177540
LanguageEN
References cited31

This study examines the articulation of nationhood and national identity narratives in the Watandusti ( وطن دوستی , patriotism) textbooks of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (2001–2021). Applying Benedict Anderson's theory of ‘imagined community’, alongside Norman Fairclough's critical discourse analysis (CDA), this study examines three Dari-language Watandusti textbooks (Years 7–9, published 2017–2019). The findings reveal a blended narrative of nationhood characterized by a hybrid conceptualization of language community belonging (membership in the Quranic script-language community (Ummah) rather than a pure vernacular readership community), human loyalty (a hierarchical system of loyalty that subordinates republican popular sovereignty to divine sovereignty and traditional norms and institutions) and temporality (an Islamic eschatology mixed with an essentialist national history). This hybridity is observable in the manipulation of both traditional Islamic and modern republican discourses. Despite this blending, the textbook narrative suffers from a lack of dialogicality toward diverging religious and political worldviews.

Conceptualization · Hybridity · Islam · Islamization · Loyalty · Narrative · Patriotism · Sovereignty · Vernacular · China's Ethnic Minorities and Relations · Islamic Studies and History · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East

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