The Last of England: Banal Nationalism and Communities of Loss in British Pub Closure Media Narratives

Abstract

While pubs have long been celebrated as a quintessential part of British culture, the ongoing and increasingly rapid closure of British pubs has raised concerns about the impacts of their loss on the wider cultural life and identity of the nation. The article explores how pub closures are narrated in British print news media through the analysis of a sample of news stories spanning 2000-2023. Time series analysis shows that pub closures have been a steady concern in UK print media, albeit with several notable peaks in coverage aligned to key events impacting the sector. Findings suggest that the causes of pub closure are presented as an economic issue, while the consequences of pub closures are typical framed in social and cultural terms. Using Billig's concept of 'banal nationalism', the article analyses a sub-set of this data to examine how the narratives used to explain pub closures make regular and emotive reference to the nation and associated concepts. Pub closures are therefore presented as a threat to the nation and a loss of national identity. These emotive narratives of loss, we argue, work to homogenise both the idealised pub and the wider national community in a manner which occludes the complexity of both.

Keywords: closure; community; loss; national identity; nationalism; pubs.

FIGURE 1

Time series distribution of pub closure press coverage.

FIGURE 2

Top causes of pub closure by percentage of items.

FIGURE 3

Top consequences of pub closure by percentage of items.

FIGURE 4

Qualitative narratives of pub closure.