The evil of utopia

All countries struggle with being imagined communities (Anderson, 1982). Considerable organizational effort is expended on seeking to fix, and sometimes resist, particular imaginings, through symbols, songs, roles, and relationships to these. Chief among the symbols of nationhood are anthems. Singing anthems is something that everyone can, and is, expected to join in with. The range of such anthems-from the banalities of “God Save the Queen” (“Send her victorious, happy and glorious”) or “Advance Australia Fair” (“Our home is girt by sea”) to the bloodthirsty, such as “La Marseillaise” (“Entendez-vous dans les campagnes, / Mugir ces féroces soldats? / Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras / Égorger vos fils, vos compagnes! In English translation the lyric states “Do you hear, in the countryside, the roar of those ferocious soldiers? They’re coming right into our arms to cut the throats of our sons and women!”)—is enormous.