Theoretical background
What is patriotism and who is a patriot?
Patriotism is a multifaceted concept which is often used in intuitive ways. It can be defined as an attitude characterised by a sense of identification with one’s own country and its people accompanied by certain kind of affection for it, concern for its well-being and readiness to make effort or sacrifice in the name of its vital interests. In a nutshell, an attitude can be defined as a relatively stable stand towards a certain object or phenomenon. It consists of three components: cognitive (knowledge and/or beliefs concerning a given object), affective (feelings and emotions towards it) and behavioural (readiness to act in a certain way). Being a psychological structure, attitude as such cannot be observed – it can be inferred from people’s behaviours. All this is true for patriotism.
In terms of etymology, the word patriotism is derived from Latin term terra patria which means fatherland. It reveals two crucial dimensions of patriotism: territorial and historical. A patriot is someone who feels attachment to a certain land because it is somehow linked to their personal history. For instance, it is the land of their ancestors (fathers) or a place they were born in, or lived in. The land in question does not necessarily has to be a state – it can be i.a. a region or a city/village (local patriotism).
What is important to stress is that patriotism includes a component of auto-identification of a person and, as such, it refers not only to attachment to a certain land but also to the community of its inhabitants. In this respect the context of cultural identity should be also taken into the account. Therefore, a patriot is someone who feels attachment to a certain culture which is shared by people living in a given territory (or sentimentally attached to that territory). This feeling of attachment is often accompanied by pride of achievements of the community in question – and these can be i.a. of cultural, economic, moral or historical nature. Most significantly, the feeling of pride is based on realistic assessment which requires critical judgement of the community’s acts and consequences of these acts. A patriot is someone who sees not only the bright sides of the community they belong to, but also the dark shades of its past and present existence.
Shared history is an important factor that keeps members of a given community together. Yet, it is not only about historical facts but also about interpretations of these facts that are present in collective memory of the community. The same goes with pantheon of heroes who played first fiddle in the making of history of a land and its people. Commemorating significant events and transferring knowledge about them enforces the sense of belonging which is an inherent element of patriotism. A patriot is someone who understands the impact of historical events on the life of their community and, at the same time, is aware that members of other communities may perceive these events in a different way.
As it has already been said, there is a link between patriotism and identity. Moreover, identity is dynamic and it changes in the course of time. It is meaningful in terms of patriotism as an individual may change their feeling of belonging to a certain community and such shift is accompanied by shift in (broadly defined) loyalties. A change evokes feelings – something to which patriotism is strictly linked. Such situation may – but not necessarily has to – take place, for instance, when someone discovers their roots or meaningful information concerning their ancestors, or when they decide to change a place (e.g. a region, a country) of living and puts their roots there, starting to identify themselves with inhabitants of that place. In such circumstances patriotic feelings can be directed towards that new land and new community.
Another point to be made is that patriotism manifests itself in a wide range of behaviours that reflect a specific system of values. Affection towards land and its people, responsibility for their fate, care for their well-being, solidarity with compatriots, loyalty to them, honesty and fairness in daily life, respect, freedom – all of these are on the list of patriotic values. Yet, the list remains open. The aforementioned values can be translated into behaviours such as for instance maintaining traditions, celebrating holidays, commemorating historical events and those who took part in them or speaking a certain language. These examples seem to be quite evident, nevertheless, there are behaviours that are perhaps not associated with patriotism in such a direct way as they are perceived as (purely) civic/political, cultural or economic activity. Among these there are i.a. paying taxes, buying goods made in certain country/locally, voting in elections, supporting national sport teams, promoting national heritage or taking care of public goods. Most probably this kind of down-to-earth or even somehow prosaic behaviours remains unnoticed by many, nevertheless, not only acts of extraordinary sacrifice and bravery in historical moments can be classified as patriotic. They are the most visible, but patriotism can also be seen in daily-life activities. What should be stressed is that assessment of certain behaviours and classifying them as patriotic or not is, to a large extend, based on awareness, knowledge and beliefs of an individual, and their ability/willingness to think critically. Moreover, owing it to the fact that it is strictly linked to feelings, behaviours in question vary in terms of their forms and intensity. A patriot is someone who expresses his affection for the country and its people by acting for the sake of their good.
A question that deserves to be mentioned is the one of local patriotism. While talking about patriotism, many link this concept with a state and its people. Nevertheless, the phenomenon in question can also have its local dimension. There are people who share the feeling of attachment to their region, city or village. They express it by cultivating local traditions, celebrating holidays that are of particular meaning for a certain land or commemorate historical events that are strictly bound to that land. Moreover, these people often show concern for the future of their region etc. and support it in their everyday life – the examples of such support are i.a. buying locally grown or locally produced food, conducting business activity on a local scale, promoting their region and its culture. Therefore, patriotism does not necessarily have to make reference to a large territory – it can be a small piece of land, yet meaningful for its people.
What is not patriotism?
Patriotism is not linked to contempt, aversion or hostility towards other groups/nations or countries. It is not based on exaggeration of a community’s achievements or claiming its superiority. On the contrary – being aware of strengths and weaknesses of a community or country they identify themselves with enables an individual to look at it in a rational way and adopt an open and respectful attitude towards other communities or countries.
While talking about patriotism it is useful to mention two terms that are sometimes associated with it – which is incorrect. These are nationalism and xenophobia – the essence of both of them is particularly what patriotism is not. As for the former, the borderline between patriotism and nationalism is quite a narrow one and might appear blurry. One of the reasons behind it is the fact that both the phenomena are defined in many different ways. Nevertheless, nationalism – as other -isms – is an ideology that puts nation at the first place. National identity is the dominant layer of cultural identity of a person and social bond that is based on it has cardinal meaning for an individual. In this light it seems appropriate to recall the dichotomy between ethnic nationalism and civic nationalism. When it comes to the former nation is defined in terms of ethnicity that encompasses i.a. shared: heritage, ancestry, language and/or faith. As for the latter, it is based on liberal values – such as: freedom, equality, tolerance, respect for individualism – and its focal point is citizenship. A citizen is someone who belongs to a certain state, irrespectively of their culture or ethnicity. As such, civic nationalism shows more openness and inclusiveness.
Nationalism establishes a clear division between “us” and “them” – “we” are members of a given nation whilst “they” are members of all other nations. If this division grows stronger and adopts more radical forms, nationalism may show its negative – and even dangerous – countenance. Such situation is reflected in idealising own nation, its culture and achievements, lack of critical thinking about its past and present, overestimating its potential for the future and ascribing it a special role and dominant position among other nations. Following that line of thinking is perilous as it may lead to the feelings of contempt and hostility towards other national communities and their members.
As such, nationalism does not have a spatial aspect, nevertheless, it may gain it in certain contexts. An example to illustrate it is the one of Eastern Europe where state and nation often associated. Titular nations of Eastern Europe are characterised by relatively high level of homogeneity, in both cultural and ethnical terms. However, the matter is more complex when we realise that there are nations that live in two or more states and there are states that are inhabited by two or more nations. Moreover, there are nations that do not have their own states and – as some scholars claim – there are states that do not have their own nation.
When it comes to xenophobia, it can be explained in terms of anxiety over differences, mainly cultural, ethnic or national. It is the fear of otherness that leads to glorification of own community, contestation of values and cultural patterns of other groups and adopting of a self-centered way of thinking. In a few words, xenophobia is a negation of openness and respect for otherness. Exposing division into “us” and “them”, xenophobia is a source of discrimination and exclusion. It not infrequently leads to conflicts.
The argument behind discussing nationalism and xenophobia while analysing patriotism is rather simple. Patriotism is an attitude which is characterised by positive stand towards ones’ own country or community which, at the same time, is not accompanied by negative stand towards other countries or communities. But if affection to one’s own land and is people turns out to be blind, it may set the path for nationalism and/or xenophobia.
Patriotism in public discourse: who is “a true patriot”?
Patriotic values are frequently used in public discourse in order to influence people’s attitudes and have an impact on their behaviours. Sometimes it is constructive as it leads to consolidation of a community or helps it to face challenges. For instance, during the recent pandemic of Covid-19 some political leaders appealed to the society making reference to patriotic values in order to convince their compatriots that certain behaviours – like wearing masks or social distancing – express care for both themselves and the others. In this case the aim was to affect people’s behaviour in the name of public security. Nevertheless, discourse that refers to patriotic values may also be destructive and create divisions and conflicts. An example that illustrates are statements pronounced by certain nationalist groups that claim a right to judge who is “a true patriot” and who is “an enemy of the nation”. Xenophobic statements directed at, for instance, migrants, people who confess different religion or belong to minority groups are similarly divisive in their character.
Apart from values, historical events and people who participated in them are often recalled by those who create public discourse. In such cases historical facts or biographical details are carefully selected and used mostly as a background for different interpretations. They may be also presented in terms of parallels for ongoing events – something which may turn out to be quite hazardous as in such pictures context is not present or is present only to a certain extent.
Discourse concerning patriotism can take on a variety of forms, more or less formal. These are not only speeches given in public, official statements or interviews. Therefore, various kinds of performances (artistic, sport etc.) should not be omitted while exploring public discourse. Such forms of expression do not necessarily focus on pronouncing long statements – they may be centred on a few words that are meaningful and draw attention to significant matters. Most importantly, discourse is not only about what is said. It is equally about what is not said.
References to patriotic elements in public discourse appeal to emotion which means feelings are used to win the argument rather than logic. In order not to be misled and base one’s personal judgments on sound reasoning, it is essential to study not only the form and content of a communicate but also to answer the question who is its sender and who is its receiver. Such factors as time and place as well as choice of the language of communication also do matter. Moreover, a wide spectrum of factors that together make up its context (social, political, historical, cultural, economic) should also be taken into account as the same words may sound differently and change their meaning according to circumstances.