Description
This paper engages the relationship between Euroscepticism and expressions of Britishness. These tropes, which have long supported claims of Britain’s separateness from the continent, cause us to consider interrelated questions of nationalism, national identity and national image. (Conservative) Eurosceptic campaigns throughout history have adopted everyday symbols of British nationhood such as the Union Jack, and stereotypical imagery associated with monarchy, military and countryside. Yet whilst extant scholarship on Euroscepticism has drawn our attention to some of the temporal and spatial aspects of these efforts, scant consideration has been afforded to their aesthetic and affective qualities. Using a case study of the Vote Leave campaign during 2016’s EU referendum, this paper explores the role of ‘banal’ forms of nostalgia in the articulation of Eurosceptic Britishness. Drawing on documentary evidence, social media data and interviews with campaigners, the paper examines the affective significance of Vote Leave’s mobilisation of familiar national icons and institutions, such as the British flag, Churchill, the Second World War, and most notably, the NHS. In doing so, the paper illuminates the multi-layered relationship between everyday forms of nostalgia and narratives of stability and ‘crisis’. It also speaks to broader debates regarding the affective politics of (aesthetic) portrayals of the national past.
