The geopolitics of national anthems

Sözcü U., TÜRKER A.

Geography, cilt.111, sa.2, ss.75-81, 2026 (SSCI, Scopus)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 111 Sayı: 2
  • Basım Tarihi: 2026
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1080/00167487.2026.2678076
  • Dergi Adı: Geography
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, IBZ Online, Periodicals Index Online, Educational research abstracts (ERA), Geobase, Historical Abstracts, Index Islamicus, Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO), Natural Science Collection (ProQuest), Earth, Atmospheric, & Aquatic Science Collection (ProQuest), Materials Science & Engineering Collection (ProQuest), Sociology Source Ultimate (EBSCO), Technology Collection (ProQuest)
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.75-81
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: affective atmospheres, directed content analysis, geo-body, national anthems, sonic geopolitics, territorial socialisation
  • Gazi Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

This study offers a comprehensive and empirical analysis of geographical discourses embedded in the official national anthems of 71 countries through the theoretical lenses of sonic geopolitics, affective atmospheres and the geo-body. Using qualitative document review and directed content analysis, the findings demonstrate that anthems are not merely lyrical texts; they are strategic instruments that acoustically outline the spatial boundaries of the nation-state and indoctrinate citizens within a particular ‘affective regime’. Through maximum variation purposeful sampling and qualitative saturation protocols, this study maps both manifest geographical terminology and latent affective contexts. The results indicate that Asian anthems are dominated by elements of physical geography such as mountains and rivers (51.8%), whereas anthems from the Americas and Europe foreground political and human-geographical motifs such as ‘victory’, ‘war’ and ‘homeland’. Taking indicative findings from lyrical evidence–ranging from the military defence of borders in the Americas to the cosmological elevation of mountains in Asia–this study argues that national anthems operate as ‘acoustic maps’, and discusses in depth the importance of space in the construction of national identity.