Exploring the Interplay of Culture, Policy, and National Identity

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of culture and cultural policy, examining how cultural systems define national identity and influence policy formulation. It begins with a comparative study of cultural systems in France, Britain, and the United States, highlighting the historical development and unique characteristics of each. The essay then explores the role of artistic and cultural heritage in nation-building, discussing how governments utilize art to foster national consciousness and identity. It also addresses the challenges to national identity, such as cultural assimilation and cross-cultural exchanges. Furthermore, the essay investigates the political dimensions of art, specifically focusing on opera as a medium for expressing political aspirations, with examples from Verdi, Bizet, and the Cultural Revolution. Overall, the essay underscores the intricate relationship between culture, policy, and national identity, providing valuable insights into these complex dynamics.

Running head: CULTURE AND CULTURAL POLICY
Culture and Cultural Policy
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Question 1
The cultural systems existing within a particular country goes a long way into
defining the national identity and national consciousness that exists among the citizens of that
particular country. Hence, in order to understand the cultural norms and cultural dynamics of
a nation, it is essential to investigate and analyse the historical development of that country’s
national culture over time. Understanding the cultural systems of multiple countries also
enables a person to understand how the country in the present day formulates its cultural
policy, which provides a method that allows individuals to study cultural policies which are
instituted all over the globe (Durrer, Miller & O’Brien, 2017).
In order to illustrate this point more explicitly, a comparative analysis of the cultural
systems existing in France, Britain and the United States is sufficient. France has always been
the cultural powerhouse of the European continent since the Middle Ages, tracing its origins
from the political hegemony of the Frankish Empire under the rule of Charlemagne. France
has been able to cause the diffusion of its cultural norms and practices through various
means; either assimilating smaller cultural groups (such as the Normans, who left their Norse
heritage and adopted the emerging iteration of French culture) or through direct imposition
(such as the now Frenchified Normans now imposing their quintessentially French cultural
norms on Anglo-Saxon England). However, the popularity of French culture and cultural
norms owes mainly to the hegemony it has held throughout the medieval and modern periods.
For a long period of its existence, French culture was driven and shaped by two
significant forces: the feudal system (which emerged as a popular form of social organisation
and governance from France) and religion (more specifically, Catholicism). Although the
Renaissance caused the blossoming and development of French culture, and during this time
French culture was partly overshadowed by the brilliance of Italian cultural contributions to

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the Renaissance, it was the onset of the French Revolution that caused massive upheaval and
shift in French cultural ideas and practices. The subsequent modernisation and secularisation
of French culture allowed it to maintain its position as the cultural system which gave rise to
a progressive and cosmopolitan attitude towards different cultures and cultural practices,
although it can be equally argued that the imposition of French cultural norms on its colonial
possession significantly damaged the development and sustenance of indigenous cultures, a
process not too dissimilar to the consequences of the Norman Conquest.
The British cultural system has a long historical development that is comparable and
quite similar to the French cultural system. A unique mix of assimilation and domination, the
earliest form of British culture is punctuated with periods of invasions and assimilation;
beginning from the Roman conquest of the British Isles and ending with the conclusion of the
Hundred Years’ War. The most significant contributors to British culture, however, happen to
be both the Norse invaders of the eighth and ninth centuries and the Norman invaders
conquering Britain under William the Conqueror. Later on, British culture developed further
as a result of the Continent-wide effects of the Renaissance and the expansion of British
influence in its emerging colonial empire. Like the French system, the British cultural system
was influenced a lot by the feudal system and religion (in this case, Anglicanism); however,
the emergence of mercantilism and the growth of capitalism led to the secularisation of
British culture, and it emerged as a rival cultural power in the late nineteenth and early
twentieth century.
The American cultural system owes its origins to the British colonisation of North
America (Paquette, 2019), but even during the colonial period there emerged differences and
discrepancies between the culture of the British colonies and the culture of the British. These
differences, coupled with unpopular political and economic management by the British,
caused the emergence of the United States who began to shape their cultural system as a

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distinct entity from that of the British, by adopting and assimilating many cultural systems
from a multitude of communities residing in the United States. Hence, the cultural systems of
these three countries are distinct owing to the difference in their development as well as the
development of these countries’ national identities, and it underscores the importance of
understanding cultural systems as the first step in studying cultural policy (Malcaby, 2006).
Question 2
The artistic and cultural heritage of a country is an essential component in the nation-
building project, which is used to forge a sense of national consciousness and national
identity. In fact, the construction of national identity is intrinsically tied to the attempts at
raising the consciousness of individuals to identify with the cultural heritage and artistic
output of the nation to which they belong. Such a process helps to strengthen national unity
and increase the rates of patriotism witnessed in the population (Yúdice & Miller, 2002).
Specific examples will make this phenomenon apparent, and it will enable the reader to
understand the relationship between maintaining artistic heritage and creation of nationhood.
Indeed, the idea of a nation consists of individuals bound together by common
traditions, customs and language. Customs and traditions ordinarily constitute one of the
aspects of cultural expression, and it is necessary to propagate and perpetuate them so that the
newer generation can instantaneously relate to, and identify with, the nation that they are a
part of. This process is carried out by popularising several examples of art and cultural
artefacts which reflect the cultural peculiarities that are unique to that particular instance of
national culture. Often, governments take an active part in maintaining and showcasing
examples of art and cultural heritage as an exercise to boost the nation-building process.
These activities come in handy in showing off the power and grandeur of the nation,

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increasing the pride in being associated with the culture of the nation that can display such
brilliance and capability (Throsby, 2010).
A notable example is the frequent hosting of fairs and exhibitions by many countries
in the latter part of the nineteenth century, chiefly by both Britain and France. To this day,
Britain continues to maintain official control of its cultural heritage and how it is used to
foster feelings of national identity and national pride. This control is maintained through the
Arts Council, and they determine what examples of artistic expression and cultural heritage
represents the overall cultural context of Britain, by ensuring the public values the existence
and presence of artistic and cultural artefacts that represent the long and exciting historical
development of the British national identity (Gray, 2008).
However, the national identity which is established by the maintenance of cultural
heritage and artistic creations has recently come under a more significant threat: assimilation
into a broader, general identity. In the context of national cultures that exist in Europe, the
notion of European integration encompasses political, social, economic and cultural grounds.
Since culture finds a place in the European integration project, there is the real danger of
national culture becoming an irrelevant facet of national identity. There may not be even any
need to maintain any semblance of national identity as the national culture that is unique to
each country gets assimilated for the sake of creating a more extensive idea of European
culture. This tension has called into question the importance of maintaining a national culture
and its relation to the processes that help to create notions of national identity and thus,
questions the politicisation of art and culture in every sense (Dubois & Négrier, 1999).
Besides the prospects of assimilation into a broader motif of cultural identity, cross-
cultural exchanges also possess the potential to disrupt the formation of national culture and
therefore, interrupt the development of national identity. Although such a consequence may

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not always be necessary, there is always the chance of a nation’s culture being inundated with
the cultural norms and practices of another nation, greatly diminishing the process of creating
a distinct national identity. This phenomenon was seen during the post-World War I cultural
interactions between France and Italy, where cross-cultural exchanges between the two
countries led to a significant impact on the national culture of France, where artists and
cultural practitioners adopted a lot of Italian cultural norms and practices in their work
(Gullien, 1981). Such an effect changed French cultural and national identity, transforming it
into a form that the modern world deems it as distinctly French but has a lot of Italian cultural
undertones in conceptualisation and execution.
Question 3
Art, being an aspect of cultural expression and formation, also has a political
dimension and opera is one of the most powerful mediums to express the political aspirations
of the composer. By utilising their talent and arranging the instrumentalisation and the parts
to be played by the characters, the composer has the distinct advantage of artistically
expressing their political sympathies and ideas made known to their audience. Some
examples from the history of opera will help to illustrate this phenomenon adequately.
Giuseppe Verdi is regarded as one of the foremost names in the world of opera. He
has several librettos to his name, and he has significantly influenced the opera genre within
his lifetime. Verdi was an ardent supporter of Italian unification, and many of his operas and
librettos were designed to influence his audience to share his political visions and aspirations.
Themes like freedom, unity and a new beginning are spread across the works of Verdi,
bearing an unmistakable mark of the political ideas he had with regards to Italian unification
and the emergence of Italy as a nation. It is no surprise that Verdi is thought to be Italy’s most
significant opera composer.

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Bizet was a French opera composer whose most significant work, Carmen, found
critical acclaim even though he did not live to see its success. Adopting the novel of the same
name which was written by the author Prosper Mérimée, Bizet made some crucial changes to
the characters of the opera. Up until this time, the characters of an opera were usually from
privileged or well-to-do backgrounds. However, Bizet’s background characters displayed the
quintessential aspects of proletarian life, which were not hitherto seen on stage, and it
changed how opera was subsequently arranged with a realistic and inclusive approach.
Bizet’s approach towards characterisation enabled the emergence of opera that dealt with the
lives and struggles of ordinary people and in retelling these within the context of a historical
framework, for example, the adaptation of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables into opera.
However, the amalgamation of opera and politics appeared during the Cultural
Revolution, under the direction of Jiang Qing. Her experience as a stage actor and her stint in
Chinese opera enabled her to design operas which in the structure were traditional but had a
revolutionary content added to it to educate the masses. Opera transformed from the art of the
elite to an art form that was accessible to the ordinary masses and which helped them to learn
more about revolutionary politics and the values of the Chinese Revolution and the ideas that
the Cultural Revolution was attempting to inculcate within the people.
Hence, the development of opera as a political tool and as a medium to express
political ideas is not surprising considering the capabilities of opera to convey complex
political messages artistically. Therefore, opera can have a considerable potential to serve a
political function within the context of forming a national culture and national identity among
the people who are a part of the country’s population.

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References
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Durrer, V., Miller, T., & O’Brien, D. (2017). Towards global cultural policy studies. In The
Routledge Handbook of Global Cultural Policy (pp. 21-36). Routledge.
Gray, C. (2008). Arts Council England and public value: a critical review. International
journal of cultural policy, 14(2), 209-214.
Guillen, P. (1981). La politique culturelle de la France en Italie dans les années 1918-1922.
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Mulcahy, K. V. (2006). Cultural policy: Definitions and theoretical approaches. The journal
of arts management, law, and society, 35(4), 319-330.
Paquette, J. (2019). Federalism. In Cultural Policy and Federalism (pp. 1-30). Palgrave
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Throsby, D. (2010). The economics of cultural policy. Cambridge University Press.
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