Have you ever reflected on why people, including yourself, feel deep, sometimes personal ties, towards the country they refer to as “home?” In some cases, one even feels this link at a level strong enough to incentify participation in public service. To satisfy this question, world-renowned political scientist Benedict Anderson published findings in his book Imagined Communities: A brilliant exegesis on nationalism. He argues that a person’s created belonging to the “imagined community” is the primary reason one experiences a connection with a respective nation.
Essentially, the overarching idea of Anderson’s imagined community theorem rests on the notion that the cultural roots of a nation creates a fantasized network amongst its citizens. These “cultural roots” include aspects that construct personal and collective identity within one’s community (Anderson 163). In this hypothetical network, one feels connected to the members of their nation — even if they do not know them personally (Anderson 6-7). This approach towards nationalism displays a humanistic approach towards the concepts of membership and nationality. According to the online publication DailyHistory.org, Anderson treats nationalism as part of the human experience (“Benedict Anderson’s Imagined Communities; DailyHistory.org). With one’s humanity in mind, Anderson contends that the cultural roots that create the framework for the imagined community serve as a main contributor to the citizen’s motivation to be a member, as well as an active participant within their country affairs (7-8).
The idea of imagined communities is not only applicable on a national scale, it is also applicable at a more localized level. Anderson explains the rationale behind this by noting that “all communities larger than primordial [communities existing from the beginning of time] villages of face-to-face contact (and perhaps even these) are imagined” (6). Because of this notion, Anderson’s theorem is applicable to local municipalities as well.
Since Anderson explicitly stated that the imagined communities theorem applied to “all communities” — with the exception of small, primitive communities –the theory has become applicable to a number of communities, including television (6). Imagined communities pertaining to television stem from the development of technological communications, which were derived from print capitalism. According to Anderson, the development of a “system of production and productive relations […] and a technology of communications,” allowed for this invented nationalism to occur due to the printing press (43). Due to the growth of mass communication over time, Anderson’s imagined communities theorem is applicable to an array of modern-day institutions — including television. In short, because of television’s contributions towards building nationalism to instigating cultures within television shows, scholars and non-scholars alike have acknowledged that imagined communities exist in television.
Due to the intersectionality between imagined communities and television, television fictional shows often replicate imagined communities found in real life. In his honors thesis for a Bachelor of Communications and Media Studies degree, University of Wollongong student Travis Holland explores fictional television nations and the imagined communities that arise within them. Focusing on The Simpsons, Holland observes that “tropes of nations identified by Anderson have persisted in fictional television” (7). “Show[s] that [are] ostensibly about small town life […] [are] full of representations of [a real-life] nation,” he added (Holland 7). Although Holland places an emphasis on The Simpsons, his ideas pertaining to the representation of real-life imagined communities — in accordance with small town life — are applicable to other television shows with a synopsis that embodies the national and cultural identity markers cited by Anderson.
One of the most distinct examples of the representation of imagined communities in television, especially the cultural and national markers involved with the fantasized networks of small town life is the television sitcom Parks and Recreation. Parks and Recreation follows Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler), a goal-oriented, optimistic mid-level bureaucrat in the parks department of the fictional town Pawnee, Indiana. Through her role as a political figure in Pawnee — especially as deputy director of the parks department, and eventually as city councillor — Knope interacts with Pawnee’s constituents. In her direct and indirect communications, Knope is driven by her deep love of the town to improve Pawnee with government intervention, and to better the lives of Pawneeans. Although she was born in the neighboring town of Eagleton, Leslie Knope’s devotion to Pawnee as a civil servant stems from a preconceived connection to the town due to her enriching Pawneean upbringing that entailed key personal and historical components that built her identity; these factors align themselves with Benedict Anderson’s imagined communities theorem.
Since infancy, Knope has been predominantly raised in Pawnee by her mother Marlene Griggs-Knope (Pamela Reed), a long-standing prominent political figure in the Pawnee education system. Knope refers to her mother, Griggs-Knope, as her “hero” in the second episode of the first season of Parks and Recreation (Season 1, Episode 2; “Canvassing”). Her mother’s status as a civil servant in the Pawnee education department exposed Leslie to Pawnee’s public service sector at a very young age; thus, constructing a deep connection to the town, as well as a desire to make it the best it can be in Leslie’s mind.
Due to her mother’s prominence in Pawnee’s education system, Knope was exposed to a number of the town’s community programs before she hit puberty. Throughout the show, Knope credits her enjoyment of these programs as inspiring her to pursue a career in public service. Moreover, Knope’s participation in these programs as a little girl led her to create a video explaining her fantasy campaign and agenda for Pawnee city council; this video was revisited during Knope’s city council campaign as an adult in season four, and replaced campaign manager Ben Wyatt’s (Adam Scott) negative ad (Season 4, Episode 12; “Campaign Ad”). Knope’s exposure to these programs, as well as documentation of her enjoyment of these community programs at a pre-pubescent age left were crucial in shaping her identity as the ambitious civil servant to Pawnee she is portrayed as in the show.
Knope’s documentation of her positive experience in Pawnee’s community programs provide a otherwise forgotten narrative that shapes her current role in life. In an additional excerpt in his book, Anderson explains that changes in consciousness — such as puberty — leave characteristic amnesias in the modern member of an imagined community (204). Therefore, these gaps in consciousness lead to the creation of narratives to fill them with the aid of memorabilia such as photographs and videos (Anderson 204). The identity constructed through such memorabilia creates an affirmative “personhood identity” one carries with them throughout adulthood (Anderson 204). Since Knope’s documented personal identity as a child embodied one with a passion for public service, the “personhood identity” she carried with her into her adolescence and adulthood unconsciously drove her towards pursuing a career as a rising public servant to better Pawnee.
Because Knope’s “personhood identity” was largely validated by the community programs she participated in as a young child, a deep passion for history, specifically Pawneean history, developed in her psyche — which aligned itself with her ambition towards becoming a government official in Pawnee. The practice of citizens of any tangible community looking to their collective past is not uncommon according to Anderson (204). Similar to how members of a network reflect on physical evidence from their past to build their self-identity, they, as members of the imagined community have the tendency to look back “wherever the lamp of archeology casts its fitful gleam” (Anderson 205). Essentially, Anderson is contending that a community’s known history affirms its past. The inclusion of historical perspective is emphasized in Leslie’s personality throughout the show, establishing a connection between history and politics in shaping her connection to Pawnee.
Knope’s acknowledgment, and appreciation of Pawnee’s history, serve not only her connection to the the town but also her desire to make it better. In general, the notion that there is a connection in history and politics is not an archaic idea. In The Guardian article “Why Politicians Need Historians,” Harvard University history professor David Armitage notes that one of the benefits of a historical perspective in government is “learning that things weren’t always that way” (The Guardian). Because of this notion, Knope is able to appreciate Pawnee’s past, yet realize the necessity to move forward from the shameful, violent components from its history.
Throughout the seasons of Parks and Recreation, Pioneer Hall in Pawnee’s City Hall serves as a testament to the prideful yet extremely shameful history of the town since its conception in 1817. Pioneer Hall, essentially, is a small-scale museum within Pawnee’s City Hall. The walls of its corridors depict murals painted by city hall employees during the 1930’s (Parks and Recreation Wikipedia). To accompany the murals in Pioneer Hall, Knope has written multiple snippets highlighting the often shameful aspects of Pawnee’s history — while emphasizing a degree of pride for the institutions depicted in the murals.
These murals, and Knope’s dialogue accompanying them, were found on NBC’s website under the section allotted to Parks and Recreation.
The excerpt that welcomes visitors as the enter Pioneer Hall. In this introduction to the murals in this small-scale museum, Knope acknowledges that while she feels pride for Pawnee, the town’s past is one marred by scandalous disgrace (Parks and Recreation: The Murals of Pioneer Hall).
The snippet that Knope wrote to accompany the mural commemorating the Pawnee Zoo shows that she has recognized the disgraceful past of the Pawnee Zoo, and has learned from this historical example not to let it happen again; in accordance with Armitage’s ideas of learning from history (Parks and Recreation: The Murals of Pioneer Hall)
Leslie’s extensive knowledge of the murals depicted in Pioneer Hall, a mini-museum of sorts makes the abstract history of Pawnee much more concrete in her mind. The tangibility of past and present Pawnee bring her “personhood identity” into greater connection with the town. This sentiment aligns itself with Anderson’s observations on the role of museums in constructing collective identity. He claims that the museum and speculation on its exhibits makes the imagined variables of a nation more tangible in the minds of its constituents (Anderson 182). The conception of reality of the history of Pawnee through these murals was adopted into Leslie’s identity, and intertwined itself with her longstanding devotion to public service. The connection between Knope’s perceived personal identity and her understanding of Pawnee’s history in concrete terminology lends itself to Knope’s deep-set connection to Pawnee; and it also gives one an understanding of her devotion to the town when serving, as well as attempting to improve Pawnee as a public official.
A connection as deep as the one Leslie feels towards Pawnee is one that is often seen in people born within the community. When I say this I do not refer only to the fictional Pawnee, but also other municipalities in television and real-life entities as well. Therefore, one would assume that Leslie’s connection stems from being born in Pawnee; yet, she was born in the neighboring town of Eagleton — Pawnee’s bitter, wealthier rival. Because of this, the sentiment that arises is that since Leslie was born in Eagleton, she cannot possibly be a member of the imagined collective community of Pawnee.
Typically, most people feel the strongest connection to the place where they were born. Based on the fact that my Mexican-native mother feels a greater connection to the municipality she was born into in Mexico than our home in New Jersey where most of her significant life experiences have happened (such as getting married, raising her daughters into adulthood, and becoming a grandmother) I understand why one would argue that Leslie’s status as an Eagletonian native disqualifies her from membership in Pawnee’s imagined community.
However, my mother came to the United States as an adult, long after her “personhood identity” was mapped out during her adolescence in Mexico, unlike Leslie who believed she was born in Pawnee until she unearthed her long birth certificate as an adult revealing otherwise (Season 4, Episode 3; “Born and Raised”). While my mother spent her childhood in Monterrey, Mexico, Leslie was raised in Pawnee, Indiana and the personal identity that carried her throughout her life was developed there; in Pawnee.
Since the conception of Parks and Recreation the character of Leslie Knope has been analyzed through many cultural tropes such as the feminist lens, career-orientation lens, and the political lens. These lenses answer how and why Knope is the way she is. Although all of these thought out ideas exist, here is limited information as to where Leslie’s devotion to Pawnee stems from as well. Moreover, there is no research out there that pertains to why Leslie feels such a strong connection to Pawnee — especially to the point where she devotes her entire life to the town as a civil servant. The questions of where and why are very important questions to answer because they show a distinct connection to motivations and intentions of human beings. This is seen not only in the case of Leslie Knope, but in other television shows (such as the fictional crime series Criminal Minds where it is necessary to figure out why the serial killers featured do what they do in order to understand their motive, as well as find where they are), and in real life as well.