A Critical Discourse Analysis of Military-Related Remembrance Rhetoric in UK Sport: Communicating Consent for British Militarism

Abstract

Sport has been a major strategic cultural practice used by Western allies to encourage citizens to support and “thank” their governments’ military actors. This increasingly visible intersection of sport and militarism occurred simultaneously alongside the development of propaganda departments by the American and Canadian governments seeking to use sport (and other popular cultural activities) to communicate consent for their respective military actors and actions. United Kingdom (UK) has witnessed many of these campaigns being replicated with a wide range of popular culture practices being utilized to provide public performances of support for its nation’s military personnel. This article critically analyzes “support the troops” rhetoric in UK by discussing a selection of official sporting and political articulations. Of significance is the extent to which those coordinating numerous support strategies for military-related violence (and its political rationale) have incorporated the language and symbolism of UK military-related remembrance, which historically has been viewed as a sorrowful and sombre reflection on the mass slaughter of millions during two world wars. The significance and centrality of on-the-surface-apolitical communication in and of sport as a form of ideological inculcation is illustrated.

Sports mega-events and cosmopolitan nationalism: A critical discourse analysis of media representations of Japan through the 2019 Rugby World Cup

“…Critical discourse analysis was considered suitable for studies of cosmopolitanism and nationalism because it allows researchers to interpret texts as forms of social practice and their dialectical relations with specific situations, institutions and social structures (Fairclough, 2010). For instance, nationalism is a popular topic for this methodological approach to be applied in studies of sport and media (e.g., Kelly, 2020; Shin et al, 2022). On the other hand, there has been far less attempt at applying it to analysis of cosmopolitanism, let alone cosmopolitan nationalism, to which this study contributes.…”

Stretching the elastic: UK peace activists’ understandings of social change

“…In the UK, as in many countries, militarism is rendered banal and reproduced in everyday life, for example in popular culture and sport (e.g., Gee, 2014;Kelly, 2023). Commemorative military occasions such as Remembrance Sunday are an important means through which citizens are reminded of their national identities (Billig, 1995).…”

Conclusion: Beyond Plague Island

“…Her lack of surprise that one neighbour is missing -'doesn't wear a poppy either' -places the aunt in a longer story of surveillance and shame, while rooting Clap for Carers in close proximity to another collective national ritual, one it can also be difficult to opt out of without losing face. 5 Before the situation deteriorates into a verbal spar with a neighbour over hypocrisy and the mutual breaking of lockdown regulations, Hislop includes a brief shot of himself, as 'your aunt' , clapping with a different expression -ecstatic, even transported. The pandemic, and the opportunity for status-affirming and shaming rituals it afforded, had unlocked a particular kind of animus; this, as the framing of the video suggests, should itself be a source of shame for those who give themselves up to it.…”