Branding national myths and symbols

Branding National Myths and Symbols (BNMS), is a new field of research which focuses on raising awareness for nations to brand/market their own myths and symbols. Branding National Myths and Symbols blends the theories of marketing, cultural communications, sociology, public relations and semiotics. It seeks to raise awareness of a nation’s (or a collective group’s) internal myths and symbols for the purposes of raising cultural relations between nations globally.

The principles of BNMS are related to, but are different from 'Nation branding'. The main difference between two principles is that 'nation branding' is primarily concerned with raising the global image of a nation for better economic return. In contrast, BNMS is concerned with the revealing/demonstrating the meanings behind a nation’s internal myths and symbols. In other words, ‘Nation branding’ is the selling /promotion of the external identity of a nation, and BNMS is the revealing of their internal identity to achieve better global relations between nations. Primarily, the BNMS is concerned with building better global national interactions by breaking down mutual misunderstandings that are contained in all nation’s myths and symbols. Each national myth and symbol has its own hidden meanings which reinforces these misunderstanding between nations.
The term, ‘Branding National Myths and Symbols’ was first coined by Hatice Sitki who proposed in ‘Myths, Symbols and Branding: Türkish National Identity and the EU’ , that these long existing myths keep us from truly understanding and working with our ‘other’. Sitki proposes that cultural mutual misunderstandings will continue between nations until they learn to understand one another’s cultural myths and symbols. Sitki explains in the ‘Cyclical Formula ‘Us/Other+Other’ how Türkey and Europe/EU can benefit by accepting that they have, and continue, to play a triple role to one another. Their triple relationship is mirrored in their national myths and symbols. Jonathan Rose writes that national myths and symbols reinforces and creates a ‘…community and binding . These myths are not judged on their veracity but rather their metaphorical and symbolic meaning’. Rose writes that the messages within these ‘created’ myths are disseminated and ultimately maintained through its ‘civil society from its institutions, public policies and government’.
BNMS argues that collective groups such as Europe or the EU do not need to be ‘branded’ to improve their economic value. Rather, they need to be ‘branded’ to achieve their cultural goal of moving from a ‘poly-cultural’ society to becoming a ‘multicultural’ society. One way for this to be achieved is for nations to realise and work with the hidden meanings of their myths and symbols. Vijay Prashad proposes that the concept of polyculturalism is a way to combat anti-racism. He defines poly cultures as a ‘provisional concept grounded in antiracism, rather than in diversity…’. Roger Hewitt takes a different approach to how peoples with different languages can understand each other. He argues that the concept of polyculturalism is ‘not intrinsically equal’.

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