%0 Journal Article
%T Simulation nations: Nation brands and Baudrillard¡¯s theory of media
%A Nadia Kaneva
%J European Journal of Cultural Studies
%@ 1460-3551
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/1367549417751149
%X This article outlines a new perspective on the role of media in nation branding, drawing on Jean Baudrillard¡¯s post-structuralist media theory. I argue that, following Baudrillard, we can see nation brands in a new light, namely, as simulacra which exist within a transnational media system for the creation, circulation and consumption of commodity-signs. In this capacity, nation brands shed their representational burden of standing in for the nation and, instead, operate as self-referential entities. I use the example of Brand Kosovo to provide illustrations for my theoretical points. However, while the case of Kosovo has its specificities, I propose that the theoretical claims presented here hold beyond its parameters. This article forms part of the Theorizing Media in Nation Branding Special Issue
%K Baudrillard
%K commodity-signs
%K cultural studies
%K hyperreality
%K Kosovo
%K nation branding
%K representation
%K simulacra
%K simulation
%K The Young Europeans
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1367549417751149