Page 209 Chapter 15 David Forgaes NATIONAL-POPULAR: Genealogy ofa concept EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION THISESSAY DESCRIBES SOME IDEAS it oma by Ano ram han Mar, be wsprsocd by Muss it germ. Unlike mst cher says in tis colin, iis mil inlenda to fern nero fn important past her, Buitis an appropriates fracas adr bcs rani hase thnk att Bimoingham ch, nits ium post-op Willan ps, tamed to most of, As David Fargas os, bisideas ein importa bane hy esto tooth emerence ofa poguarnew right The sono hs is ot ht tenes an uae sion it battatalematves totem tare as per and gent sty were isc nthe ans” wih upon ino and “len” tot “upc vas andes hr tan ono and sit exp vasa sl ae pot. Ins tee alias wich contin te “tational poplar” + Grams une Lou Altus, hough about cure and power mre tan cog and cence, David Forgas deus the contons in ay that mae ts sible inprtoarth cheno toa cua ngug, Again tse ional onto reply worth cain eras they ant the noe contin in vtich mos o-oo ei, Further reading: Bhabha 99, Gramsci 1971, 197; D. Has 192; Houb 192; Lacan 197 Lacan and Mou 1985, ishing + lnk Cerin (tot = roe on 02 1 win URE NE rings; the coltrane eNO iatPage ID | “Tht ‘ttl po’ israel ew attn tothe cnet agg ofthe Bh and ofcone igang ewe of rans ashen one olla ae fae presen inh a 97s and 140s an bar xin vb thing th pol lina wich basta inp aye ego of bei nn pnts nv eh ie en id nigh Ar hong a dy nba igo pri 1 odd a cmmetkisednyttgtsite o eutrhi eh oma wstas edy enin, Onis rida bakin ahold i pad rng veloped oncom mc angola of faves oot ul a sg nbn cotaicton urs‘ sin heli ntr opi plein ny nd ceasing cet! anno maton cue to tumasinlprmtv ae ven ses atenon by rigs Mat hee For sng Athearn ei is cll pestis Ano rhooy hiingushng vege at Auer and Paris aden betwen rans’ postive wc oa ial isons Mani eed perv and ete seed pres uth wings. The una at ow tkg pla, y wc hs spree pars ae cong he feos ation qs he poll inpase ovat wich serrate nial, enor hah dF Alterac at-bat anda humansm ek pba enol of axqston fas evinces by ipl plato he ce nda mas subj ely a ont reer fie, he eles orn th vat opr, The mann alarms ction aga open stu aly deer ken oft agenda Yo ata te when th og an ele ecogal snes of Thacher hve proved abl of mobi Lage poplrb, tanger of tis nd fms hc cla, Moe, eat 97s net 80 i Bra av en reeves of tay ats anol eleens woot pty nom cls collation he women ovement ack pepe, shanna nn, uamyed yuh, ste at aman, commutes os aso ch hd ashen mst oto pb ote or ctu an whch teed ole gtr ately oe and uncounted way eer dogs te copa nde othe Lator Paty. is esto ings anasto cht th est manatees ppl aes ~ hh pout aed Bc «pina x 12 La OSREL STE, weet ep caer cote tan He appl,Page 211 1 Jnl whe publ ect of Cans prin ing ban cng mela end ofS Wd Wa, htop was ead Ley sacar concpt an asad wit prope es fms in erst, cinema an he tern, wh te alan Communi ay (Cl) ba backinth 1940s 98, "Naor poem au flan for fas oft hat were rove bh in te ational ation an in pore, and as such ithecame iid ithe ests hm, hee as econ hsb tof get ric nth 14s hl ee boiler ites the cose ofa yp ial operon’ wich rms ad alge chine an ioe cama th Pn tbenlottherinsof nen enya ups cules ppl, aoe oo, edu... beg tage wi tical ates atreneval um ou ob cst by thon ftom andthe ln sal ‘sta quo”, Te cone was sen asinvoling adobe emit side - rational eplacd international an popular placed proltarin Ths intu was splmat optical son fren ino efi, he parianntay Tad nda nf pola democracy ued oa ra clas allan: nto he staey oe PCL sete end ofthe wa {nBria enoa-popular bas ee ocevd and sed spot once and identified wit te oon ofpocar- democrat struggles without aspect clas clraver wich cab are neato sougele of again cept nhs r,t cone tsb vole indo fw tan ico ave anes las belagng cr whan ono prpetve canbe anced and abd lg on eid instead hasan been olen debt about hw vos tom of opreson reat each ter and tls struggle, tou wheherth statin coils sc ian cnsmurent of hous clas rr aso ls comps wit space fein democrazton and abut bow att model of soit tuple ght be vero bya road heron of ougleon several sin sity an teste, ‘These tvoapaton oir of he aton!-pplar concept make cos blllows, Albom cach case practice fla alan arnold, tere iach fre of mph te ficult te sx otc How this ome hot? And bois tat, its ul ows of ing ‘conservation? sus tt Cans cont iin it an intl om, whe cual anc pl aso and feat ot ‘undead hs isto make nya partleding and thereto lay nese open toa useing ofthe ay, cul, ecg was an thoy way fo eapopma th concept in lito make an exc ough rams wing tose wth te emerges an th meanings xm within them, Th preset ail iinfended dono mre hn provide th spade workof etl contruction ht wl me isan sl, ht «pad on L/L 1 CO RE ale mbes pfs leePage 212 3 Hwan response tote conjuntre of ascendant si nly and the ebtide of evolution inthe West that Gramsci began to cabot the concept ofthe tal popular The prod was between 9D and 1924, Within ths two years dng up tis ares be etm om Moco and Vim, ok overt eas ofthe PCL rm Amadeo Bod, and imposed anew steel non th pay. This involved an impli seri ois cnn caer ‘wks, bis cone, inthe period 1919-21 onthe fcory coun in nore nds scrgansof workers contol anda polical us of scaler. ramsey a high chance, ut very alld rola cone thm wes ofthe peninsula lage ut oe ikloialy beckward psy, much oft locate south and sans re statu of pty-bougois inlets who exercised a degre ofieloicel contol ove te [lca peasant and wh, atough theses tonal hegemony the oui, ened to waver in th waythey etd he ls ines, By thetime Cranach bis tum against Borda, ci ad insted sn powerby a clas aliance betwen th nthe tral bourgeois and the lrgelndowmer withthe cui suport ofthe pty Downs Although it had oo yt ouavedthe C1 ad oer opposton us had been conding sysemalic repression of Communist activites an aresing Communist personel, On Cransc’s reckoning, a pola stale based excel on th polar by evangurd pty in lt fom ober scl cs was quite nut as stegy tft acim was necessary, rar, oconsructa clas aliace between the pric pous te note proear thesote peasantry and the pty-tourgoisinelgets une the heron ofthe proletarian oder ‘tol to provide amass base for pla action ut also opie open te inet of te noh-so inden ale, For rans, an mmedate tension on fi fo soil was prnbl, nt east case ‘he exsing armed fs even te composion,cano atone be won ove’ (Cramsc 1978: 46), Anineude was therefor neesayn which he br- democrat pltcal truce wee tord to power. is ths ina confettofadisaclaton and ideological dsnerton of onsen or fascism, a contin wich, evel det ez of powers uk outboause ‘the state appari fa moe ein han fen pole tobe’ (Cams 191 0), tt Grams pus fowarthe oocep of he aol poplin eyo, ‘etal ome Foal he capital countis a fandamntal problems posed th probimof he raston fm the und fot ac, understood ina gear es, to asec ‘ecto wich conto the concrete problems ofnatoa i and ores onthe bas ofthe poplr foes ashe arson detemind. (east ice «ead lth Ll lac SS, ae butt epi ts tesaPage 213 Inthe prsonntboos wren betwee 1929 and 195 he nationl-pplr cone i chsely bound p with tat of bins which in ras meansa no Pola domination based onthe oy to cvervome a iow conc orport conception of clas or cla-rcion and hom ero, wean alanoes wither css and clus- tons whose inert canbe ma tbe eens coc wih hose ofthe hegemonic class. Hepemon, nt dfs fo Lean’ concn ofroletarin dcop cat involves ilo anc oust poicl donation nor word coming to conciousness ofa coinene of inte’, Only by braking wihan economist colton etenidelogy and cls was Cransc able to thnk his expansion of he concept of bogemony, Oly nz of ht fundamental cls -bourgos and raat ~ ca, weve be gemon, lth French Revolon, thre! bougoste bexame gen in te phase of axon dointon by univesling an expanding cls inert incorpo eof he whan aan and he peasy, ‘Thesame pons musth repeated in aly fa Grams, by the prota in soci revolution, Te clas must secure hegemony oer th peasants and th oer iret sal tata by making hem cris fa sharers. Hegemony ths a oes frag ou rom the Communi Patan the working cls a colectve il vichis nal popl ‘Any fmt ofa non-polar colectve wl isimpossbl unless th pret mas of eset amer bu sinulanecs! into plica That was Neches ineton ough fe rom f he mit ani was achivedby the ainsi te French Revolt... Ais fom 815 oar tows th el fh trdtonl lasses o prevent he fomton of acolev wl of is in an onan ‘econo-corort’ power nan neato sem of pssegihan, (Gramsci 1971132) {ohio one Régime, Gans obervdho te mcr rpblian leader eon Maz andthe Action Paty led ogni the stage bey thailand with suport othe eset, They wee hs ubsumed and etd bythe Modentes une Cavour, who wee o const keen alin ofthe bugs wih th soe dower, at linc whose coninton was secured inthe ste ough enfin (ad hoc intr coat) and bythe eo subjection th Sot oth Nothin cll oit or h ig ndownersby roi pols, This ‘cir fet hisory’brarson econ ton of fe int 100 and 94s boas ofits histor pl withthe CL te ono he ie power of fascism This party ob aldo oxo hegemonic eeu ofts iat toca ut he unin as of inking cum ty psa to poeta, southtonorh—toformanatonl-poula collective wil Ini place, te Fasc arty ad cared outa efonn- elution pase evolution, asd on he efi, enforce ofthat bor gowns pty bough noid no fade eran cht «pad nD Ll Xi CO ET, aL ee bet pe cleaPage 214 ‘ofthe economic suture ~ ony echnical modernization long rationl ‘Fords ies~ couple with an increase in slate coercion andthe securing of mas popular consetin cil soci, -Atapoltical evel, th, there are ow pons tobe noted abou the ntional-popular concept, twas elaborated in response to fascism, conservative social bloc made ‘up eerogeneous exonomic groups with apenmanently mobilized mass base, possessing organizational reserves (nly, ideological} which rule out frontal tack (War of manoeuvre and favour a constuction o hegemony (war of postion as the comectstatepy to defeat It was dependent onthe relative numerical weakness ofthe lan poeta, involved the oration ofa collective wil though the bldg of mass party, where numberof soil classes and cls-ations are suocesily begemorized by the party andthe proletarat twas conceived of sa transtonl stage lading to the itt ofthe polar o soca democracy (ovis) 8 opposed to bourens democracy (pariamen), These concepts underwent no substan maification sa pola ve asa static perspective, bermeen the period n which they wees formulated (1924) an tem of Grass eth in 197, They wer, however, quay depend by being veloped in utr and ideo ems, 4 Theenty inthe prison notchooks headed Cane rational-ppua’ has no overtly plc content It discuss, instead, the problem of wy lian erature did ‘ot witha few exceptions, havea wide popular reader in ay and why tian newspapers, which sine the ate nineteenth century bad adoped the pace of serig fiction o increase culation, were publishing redominanly French and not lan authors, Cramsc's answers that aly tether a popular asic tere nora loca roduton of ‘poplar’ tear exists boas ‘writes’ and peop” donot have te same conception ofthe wld. In ober words the fetig ofthe peopl arnt ive by the wes as ther own, ao do the writs have a ‘national educative function: hey have not and do no st themscvestheprblem of elaborating popular felngs fle aving relive then and made them thee on, (Gramsci 1985: 206-7) Tala ears therefore tum to French writers, who bad this rational anton, because in France there existed ‘close and dependent eltonship between peple- rton anne’ which ialian reader fe [never nots conning th phase ‘atoa-popula’ ot ‘pourra, ‘penple-an’, ‘topple’ one finds hs theme ofthe separion beeen intelectual andthe people aly (whichis often as here conse with race). This spaation was ditional both in thai went back along way in lin history din tat had been atonal eared upn, oly in the Rsorgimento whee it had become emo among democrat inlets ase eee x 6/100 10 ia om TS, haste ekPage 215 (Maza, De Sancti and oft) who bad seen the Rename as rodacinga lavage betwen clue and he pope, between knowledge and poplar fl fat much of what Gans wri about he natoal- poplar isa materi recasting of ese aac and dealt oman bya re-reading of ain cut [nalong dius of be Rese inmothok §,btaes te calm bck toa eprton, occuring int out and fife muro ery nd Piso litem th commercial muting and anil born, Theater aqui poll domination nth period ft Communes (am he ‘wlth othe forenh century) but ad been nul to console it because tha leo po beyond its economic crprat tan become hegemonic as & cls, Therctum tcl velo clas ~humansm was teeor a estan wich Hike everyresttion..sinlted and developed, beter tan he evoltionay clita pola sfiocat, hielo princes of te defeated clas, ‘wich dno been able fo go beyond is corporate sand cree the superstructure of anneal oct, Exon hat ths develomen wash treme ‘hepatimony of ninlloctu case and had no contac wah the penple-tation, (eas 28) Huneni and he Renassance nly vers “th phenomenon ofan arstocacy removed om te peopl-tatn’, Wheres in he ter Eopean counts e expr Renasane produced a rogesive cnc ilignsia wich played culate oman ft modem aoa stats, in ay itt othe voto Contr Refomston an te ela triumph othe atoll icy. Tisouome was ite inkd a two acs to wich Gass acl alg ret impo, The wth ttt aly had ben he cenre ofthe Rom pian hn by ‘ran ofthe Cai church both a ‘wich eerie he power through cosmopolitan (nfemtion) neler ages, The second wa the eo common natn! vemacuarto develop inthe pen, wr instead to cally presi rte cosmopolitan angie it Latin and te, ofr te scent, tery Tasca had domi oer a fare rumba of sprig spoken dlc. Teplice suo, of whch Maciel compan in The Prince was compounded by these fos, ln these cen, th Papey blocked the Protstant Reformation and wit hepsi of famine atl sa, nt inten ety, again consti mr obstal tomato! uncatonby is an-bealsm and by lout uring its temporl power over xml ly, At he same tng, he ein ancl heterogeneity ofthe peninsula cold be read of fom he munity of alos, which tds a practical ttace the dfn fay national ute, Thelin ation had ts een more a toca or kal enty hana el cute ely, xsi at most for te inlet and ung lies uo othe mass, ‘Nation and peopl’ dnt cin in bso ice «ead lth Ll lac SS, ae butt epi ts tesaPage 216 neh oe than many languages ‘no and ‘popula’ are her synonymous or ery so (ley aren Russa n Geman, where lish has an even mor inimete rearing ofa and inte Savor anuagesin genera in race the mearing of ‘nto! ead nudes amore otic hate oon of op’ because its telted tothe concept of soverelgny’natioal sovereignty an popula sveegny have, or had same val). In ay the ter ‘ator has en iological very rested mening and des ot many case cide wth ‘popula’ bxaue in aly th intelectual ae cist rom he pope, ie. othe “ran. They tied nsad a casted tht as never ben broken bya stong poplar or aol pola movement om below, (Gea 28) \Whatisth am of hese meanders trough lian ory an uf, meandering that make ya substanlpoporion othe prison notes whole? The ansver isthatthy wit Grane’ pola rjc. They are readings of an cull history undertaken inode to understand the sucesso teak of any copra poplar movement nh pst an hsm oro work ut the prcotons orsuch a movement th presen ulin Cramster n ‘hich ielogies are cdf and organ, in whch ogemony cost and canbe broken and eons An sent pat ofthe poossy whch ihe pty build the appre oft soci ower theokeular fision of new human nelle and moral refrain ~ in other word ane ideology, a ‘ew commonsense based historia males. A popular efomation of his in is what has ben lacking intl hisry, nd Gramsci’ ots on thang Popular reveal he extent which the cosmopltan tions ofthe alan neta ad inp the moc act wich sucha efomain could rough shout ‘hela os have fd in thet hii ak seduces nd labors of inland th moa avarness ofthe people-nation. They have ben ncaple cof satin the ileus ofthe peple precisely beaue hey have ald to represen ay cut, because he ave not known how fo borate oder “fumes abe torechright othe simplest and most unucated clases, s was noes rom ental port of ew, and because they have ben tid oan antiquated word namo, bra, oo individu o case lke, (Gramsci 195: 211) ‘When th prion notebooks were fi published in ly bev 48 an 195, thre was much talk on tet thre about ‘rato popda cue andthe eed fothineleealo conto te rutin of uch acu, As have mento, tis ure was ident with rly, nds te nao- poplar sogen ‘vase inserted inthe discussions on ois ea nd progresve or rt bourgeois elm hat wee common curency aon et ice «ead lth Ll lac SS, ae butt epi ts tesaPage 217 rary ccs roundthat perio, Yt though Gramsci’ prison ots on iterate certainly reveal this own personal fas ran to pressive realm, sch ashe rien -ctry Rusa noel, a tat hte oe emis wrt airless ainda misppropraton of he aoa popula concpto ident it witha pra type of ints way. When Grams wrote dl of naton-oplr iat ws conte bythe Grek ‘rages, Stakexpae and he rat Rus vel be doc mean ht an lan ntl poplar terete woul have to esemble tose kindof. ‘Naton-popula’dexpnts ota cla conn ua we have cen, epost ofan llace of infret an foelngs een diferent socal ans whch ‘vreau he st fantasy A foe alan naon!-pplr atue,wch lst oma scat afm occ in which he working clas crest cm orguninelecus aot efore see the national -ppular ere that evel inter ofboupns evolatons ele in Europe, thas ery ben on ofthe hardest pot for Crass inert to grap that he cannot pet the content of anatoal-poplr cure ttathasnot yt med ut ony the soi preconditions fis fomaton Ii ashe point, andes norton that natona- poplar cute wil sete anything cally base ose estes havea bath pout of ol amas in wih culture has een staid in hha lo and oni by specail without organi ns with bd popular mass Popular cfu’ tas thse ons asthe eu oth diated cles inant‘ clue,a ion hats perpetuated and repaduced aly by capa conto ofthe organs obo igh nd popular cute The heretical brea Grams made with is contemporas in Marit cule theory was thnk ofa whole cute formation or cull space as aunty in which o inervene Ashe pom ou, discus the question ofhow fo create ane tert: ‘Themct common prejudice ths hth new trate shuld be identi wih an ait school of mello as was he ase wth Futurism The pemss cole tert camot ut ioral politcal an poplar ist wok awards th clatoaon of wht already exis, wher polemical rin te ways oes not mate, What mater is tt tsk is ros inh mus of popular cue ati, with tts and neni and whirl an inlet wo cen itisbckwad and convention. (eas) ‘Thefomao ofa natn poplar clin aly woud mean cofonting and overoinghesame stale (les kor, lo parca sth maton fa ntionl guage, Beef hi, wat rams sas abou lng ess he cart cumple of bow concept cal chang asa who nthe ion nottooks, paral are imply established between sere of dominant -uboina copings: nguge-lecs, osonhy-common sense flr}, bighclae-poplr clu, inletus-pepl, party-mass, The poinin each case nto impose he fomeron helt butto construct cht «pad nD Ll Xi CO ET, aL ee bet pe cleaPage 218 ax olucaie llc betwen tem (ry reaionship of fgemony” snes nda rans’ oo halon eases an ‘gic unt betwen ¢heoryand practi, betieen intel stata and poplar mass, etween rs end ud” which cont democrat cena, The pedi of natn Lengua sth pg rl ese ores Sine the proces of formation, pea and development ofa une national nguage occurs throu whol complex of mokxalr process, ibe tobe avae of {he ente roes asa whole oder be eo intervene actively nit with th best pose resus, One ned no consider hs inerventon sei and imagine thatthe ends proposed wil lb eachedn dtl that one wl ob spec und ngage. One wloban ied npuape, itis aecssty, an thoi intervention wl sped phe ready exiing process. What his lnguage wil be, oe cano fresco eas in any ca, ith inerveton is “onl itil be gnc odo tation and isis of mo smal impotent coon of cae, (Gramsci 1971:351) Aswelas bengapraign fo the ober hegemonic relations lnguae sso thesia mein Thus whet Grams is taking about here ia roe af cons ideological hegemony ang a wide rang of soil stata. ust as, atpresen, he malonl poplar mas ier fom eaming the eat language, sine hchighs evel of eng cl, which atonal spas snd Italian passion om generation to generation’, othe popular masses ae exclded frmbigh culture and “ical” onceptons ofthe wor enc poses nad the unlaboratd and wns sterate concepts o flor and common sens, Hence in coderto be begermonzd, hese sata st bade tough medium aca tothe cual postions, There wil, forint, bangle party ‘ewspapr bua whole pry pss whost various organs can adept hee and content fleet eds, 5 WVithitse ual dimes, tena popular concep clary develo beyond th immdate onc consideaons rm which it had og n 19044, wre twas inked the Coma ofthe une nt witht soit (191) and byundt poi expen one-line paty allancs asa emporry an-acit sategy- te Poplar Font ne of 1935 to which thas ofenbeenreducely and poleicaly ssa. became ahisorial tly dependent hon he histriasenc nly ofarevoton mbes, ona spc ln, economic and sol srt wth eile (combining advanced and thi world characters, or example and aso on th develoment of cats suits in te West gene, as rams wise the beingtrasfonmed by Amencan fos of soil and economic management and latoringensive elogalestances ice «ead lth Ll lac SS, ae butt epi ts tesaPage 19 Norstar soe wy, ta ge eve th comets i aly, recognise py oan nto and dons lara oiy asa Aeysteosugle emphases tale of eco ego and tule dents rugs common tome noe ol cs, acon ogo cn tty ke teh recognise soci clens a anda aot ony of connie nt bt ao ners cfr, tit eves amber often usin very much op. By wat eas dos on italy wn the coe of ors andvovement How cn wht Gras te conor ino caso ail rou thn eno ina thr cle wl? How ca tus one eed be sored and reve sept uk ino compen scr ners For ran hse poles wee, er 104, posed Ley inh and ytd eo inh chk within dh ela cy cnn bn ation ste fan foe clastic er words sl een Lens peeve oth slay and heen of pane ys ‘Thee poem oft tn! poaar isin tis: at this oem anarow don betwen cls lin hte eg ft woking cs, chalet ae mere rv groups und acai opr rinse los) ands lanes ht cate tpedth oad eid wt gen oft Die. Th Pin the 94 pri er ram's eat 97), nt ol conan nut slips ines fern ff od conic nfs an he mace ois paso in the plie toda al filed ota colt ila enue option pen tern end eatin when eens oes were erupt the gh dit ended up exh ot en 7 and feta at pli 98, ‘Tht tse pratis werent singleton of rast’ tees ut pole ccs verted by ls of src edt be spout, Cada nyse we sn, he esl rental ae ofthe ut soy underpin deri a a empha htt ext wata avebon asi oft aga al poet pure dmnsaing th akan working cls fe ony ble atonal resides inh pra eveton’ Nevers th gusto f when calle conus or dx aot ot colt window ths isl penta orion under bougs hgenny wre posed sanyo Comision of Cras’ Athy eno eat ayn he Wey, Mt «pied //00 LL is OL RSI, Le tt tots racer