Türkiye’nin İlk Milli Çizgi Film Kahramanı Pepee ve Banal Milliyetçilik

Coining the term “banal nationalism”, Michael Billig analyses the daily reproduction of nationalism in established nations. Comparing to the extreme and obvious forms of nationalism, “banal nationalism” is so ordinary that it hides itself seeming “natural” and “legitimate.” According to Billig, media and their messages have key roles for the normalization of banal nationalism. In this article, following Billig's investigation on British newspapers; Pepee, a cartoon created by Turkish producers in Turkey with an emphasis on “Turkish identity”, is analysed based on “banal nationalism”. The analysis argues not only Pepee's launching as “The First National Cartoon Character of Turkey” itself is a sign of banal nationalism, but also the cartoon is constructed upon the wide-spread cultural values in Turkey and surrounds targeted children with these values especially with symbols such as Turkish flag, folk songs, folk dances, and local dresses. The article also stresses that because of the cartoon's content and how it was launched, the “national culture” matter usually appears if one intends to talk, think or do an academic research about Pepee. In other words, it is almost impossible to mention Pepee without falling into the “banal nationalism”.