Huub Wijfjes, ‘Book Review: Gertjan Willems en Bruno De Wever 
(eds.), De verbeelding van de Leeuw. Een geschiedenis van media en 

natievorming in Vlaanderen’, in:  
Studies on National Movements 8 (2021) 

  

Book Review 

Gertjan Willems en Bruno De Wever (eds.), De verbeelding 

van de Leeuw. Een geschiedenis van media en natievorming in 

Vlaanderen. Antwerpen: Peristyle, 2020, 381 pp.,              

ISBN 9789492639400 

The important role of media in forming and sustaining national and 

community identities is more and more acknowledged. In the 1980s 

Benedict Anderson coined the concept of ‘imagined communities’, 

referring to the capacity of media to build and convey feelings of 

community and belonging, even if there is no physical contact on an 

individual or group level. Since then, the concept has often been applied 

in research about the relation of media and national identities. The 

interest in this topic has grown considerably because of the increasing 

interest in the broader idea that media are vital in constructing cultural 

identities. Media are seen as crucial for cultivating a sense of belonging 

to a distinct culture based on a shared sexual, ethnic, or cultural identity. 

It is therefore not by coincidence that the content of media is high on the 

research agendas in history, media studies, communication sciences and 

minority studies. The studies brought together in De verbeelding van de 

leeuw [The Imagination of the Lion] (the lion is a symbol of Flanders) are 

a very nice example. The book offers - for the first time in the historical 

sciences in Flanders - a nice and varied collection of studies of the way 



Studies on National Movements 8 (2021) | Book Review 

| 2 Huub Wijfjes 

media shaped and gave direction to Flemish identity. The obvious 

disadvantage of a bundle like this, is the bringing together of scattered 

and varied research traditions. From detailed historical source study to 

the more methodologically driven communication sciences, it is all there.  

But reading carefully, you can see that almost all studies connect to the 

idea of ‘imagined communities’ and a wide variety of more recent 

theories covering the same subject. Inspiration for example was Sabina 

Mihelj’s study on Media Nations (2011) that stresses the ritual aspect of 

media and identity. In her view the most prominent role of media is to 

create ‘rhythm of thinking’ and a ‘collective symbolic system’. In the 

same line of argument is the work of Billig and Skey & Antonsich about 

everyday ‘banal’ nationalism. This research looks at forms and contents 

that are always present in everyday life, but often remain unnoticed or 

unidentified. Newspapers for example are writing daily with an obvious 
set of language tools and cultural notions. Deconstructing these notions 

sheds light on ideas about community and identity. 

One of the peculiar aspects of Flemish media identity is the very gradual 

and slow start of it. Most media of the nineteenth century were published 

in the French language, the official language of the Belgian nation since 

the independence of the Netherlands in 1830. In the twentieth century 

more and more newspapers and magazines changed to Flemish, a variety 

of Dutch. As Sarah van Hoof shows in a contribution on language care, a 

battle resulted from this growing awareness of the importance of 

language for Flemish culture. Elites in literature, journalism, and 

broadcasting favoured the standard of ‘pure’ or ‘civilized’ Dutch 

language. But others preferred the Flemish language of common people, 

including phrases and words that weren’t part of standard Dutch. 

Other studies also see changes in the relation of French and Flemish from 

the late nineteenth century. Starting with a careful and modest coming 

out of a Flemish cultural and literate elite, the cultural awareness of 



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Flemish identity spread rapidly in the twentieth century. Media like 

newspapers and broadcasting were the agents of the changes. In first 

instance it aimed for emancipation of the Dutch language equal to the 

dominant French. Later on, Flemish nationalism politicized the press, 

that began to publish stories longing for a strong Flanders with glorious 

stories from the past.  

With the rise of mass media like radio, film, and television, Flemish 

identity became more and more important. After the Second World War 

growing pressures for equal treatment of Flemish culture resulted in the 

acknowledgment of the Flemish Cultural Community in the 1960s and 

the gradual growth to a federal Belgian state with greater autonomy of 

the French and Flemish communities. In this perspective it is a pity that 

the emphasis in the book is on the period before the war, because big 

questions can be raised about the role of media like television on the 
federalization of culture in Belgium. Only two chapters cover this topic. 

Communication sciences scholars give a very interesting analysis of the 

cultural policies of public service broadcasting and the way in which 

Flemish identity was constructed in fictional programs. And political 

media scholars try to get a grip on one of the most intriguing topics in 

news reporting of the last two decades: how to report on nationalistic 

and populist parties that promote anti-immigration and xenophobic 

(some even say: racist) ideas? The study shows that public broadcasting 

didn’t choose for laying a ‘sanitary cordon’ around these parties. They 

were roughly treated the same as other parties, but the most radical 

party Vlaams Blok (Flemish Block) didn’t get the attention they wanted 

on basis of the number of voters they attracted. Since then, the relation 

of Vlaams Blok with what they call ‘the mainstream leftist media’ is 

antagonistic, to say it carefully.  

Growing pressures for the promotion of Flemish identity have 

culminated in a strong position of Flanders in the Belgian nation. Media 

have constructed this identity, but also strengthened it, gave the 



Studies on National Movements 8 (2021) | Book Review 

| 4 Huub Wijfjes 

emancipation for equal rights a focus and direction, created a sense of 

urgency, and mobilized people to adjust their norms and behaviour. The 

big question that follows from this is of course: are media frontrunners 

in the process or do they just follow what is happening in politics, culture, 

or society? Looking at the cases presented in this book about Flanders 

you can say that both arguments are valid. Media were important agents 

of broader developments, as well as mobilizing factors in times of great 

tensions.  

In the interaction of media contents and cultural articulation of identities 

lies the secret of media power. The risk of a finalistic view on this 

interactive network can be felt in this book too. Finalistic in the sense 

that a strong Flemish identity always was there, only waiting to be 

awakened by new political ideas and media attention that reflected 

those.  

History shows that processes like these are more complex; it also shows 

the power of politics. In almost two centuries of development Belgium 

has found a way to pacify the growing cultural animosity between two 

main identity groups (Flemish and Walloon). In doing so other 

minorities (like the German-speaking people) got considerable 

independence too. Almost all Belgian policies touching on identity 

nowadays are in hands of communities (education, culture, welfare, 

media), regions (economics, infrastructure, employment), and what is 

called ‘language areas’. The federation Belgium therefore has become 

one of the most complicated nations. It still functions although there are 

some movements towards final separation. Resisting the burden of 

federal Belgium, the state that increasingly becomes a pragmatic political 

solution for a nation that was not able to form one powerful and 

overarching nationalistic feeling or identity. The monarchy, the army 

and the national football team were and still are almost the only symbols 

of the Belgian nation. But even when covering the successful national 

football team, the Walloon television organization RTBF focusses mostly 



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 Huub Wijfjes                       5 |  

on the outstanding efforts of ‘their’ star player Thibaut Courtois, and the 

Flemish VRT on ‘our red devil’ Kevin de Bruyne. They are in the same 

team, but identification with successful efforts takes place through the 

nationalistic cultural lenses the media use to look at reality.  

Huub Wijfjes 

University of Groningen, department of Media and Journalism Studies