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This article questions the popular and social science notion of (national) cul ture and the functions of culturespeak. An empirical analysis of the public discussion in Finland during the 1980s and 1990s on national arts and cul ture shows that culture is used as a word that refers to a national way of life and as a synonym for art or other cultural products. Due to changes related to globalization, both dimensions of culturespeak are becoming problem atic. The expansion and deepening of market relations has not only made nation-state cultural protectionism ineffective or impossible but also prob lematized the high-low distinction and affected the underlying notions of the general public. The nationalist rhetoric creates another kind of problem— it is problematic to promote an ethnocultural conception of nationhood and citizenship in today's multicultural Europe and world.
Pertti Alasuutari (Tue,) studied this question.