The Mandalorian, Religion and Nationalism

I think one of the reasons I found the Mandalorian such an interesting show, other than its space cowboy vibes, was the fact that the show focused on what felt like normal people. Strong people, sure, but for one this entry into the Star Wars canon, the focus was not on the supernaturally strong Jedi, but on just a guy who can fight good. It also showed us a bit more of the Mandalorian culture, particularly the community Din Djarin is from simply known as the Tribe. Today, I want to talk a little about how the Mandalorian society has been pictured throughout the Star Wars franchise, and how it helps to demonstrates certain aspects of the connections between nationalism and religion.

We should first start with the Mandalorians. Initially, Mandalorians were only given small references here and there, but overtime the community and culture grew. The background of the society was painted as far bigger than originally conceived, demonstrating a growth of what was called “Mandalorian Space”. Like many of the cultures in Star Wars, Mandalorians were a colonialist force which spread to mutliple areas of the galaxy and expanded the growth of their culture.

Historically, Mandalorians were prized warriors. They were known as a strong military force, which contributed to the growth of their reach through colonies. As time continued, though, the needs shifted from expansion to retention. In the Clone Wars, we see Mandalorians as also being political and involved in delegation. This shift in culture had resistance.

Also in the Clone Wars, we are introduced to the Death Watch, a nationalistic resistance group who wanted to “return” to the greater ways of Mandalore, particularly focused on the typical folk practices of Mandalorians. This included a warrior-like way of life.

This infighting, as well as the war happening with the Empire, led to a complete dismantlement of the Mandalorian empire, including a complete wiping of the surface of the planet. This complete dismantlement of the empire lead to a Mandalorian diaspora. Mandalorians had no home to return to, and so either drifted from planet to planet, or were forced to find a home somewhere else.

So now that we’ve painted a very brief picture of the history and development of Mandalorians, leading to the Mandalorian diaspora, let’s talk a bit about theories of nationalism. Like most things, there are many different theorists to focus on, but we’re going to be primarily focusing on Anthony Smith. Anthony D. Smith was a British historical sociologist who is one of the founders of the studies of nationalism, so seems like a solid place to start.

Smith defines nationalism as “an ideological movement for attaining and maintaining autonomy, unity and identity on behalf of a population deemed by some of its members to constitute an actual or potential ‘nation’”. For Smith, nations and nationalism is predicated on ideas of ethnic connection, focusing on a fundamental group of people he called ethnies. He understands these groups as necessarily having a common word for themselves or their group, common historical memories, and a common historic homeland.

Note that the need for the homeland can be historic, not necessarily currently present. This is important to keep in mind for Mandalorians who felt unable to return to their homeland.

But before we return to the Mandalorian, we should talk about one more dimension of Smith’s ideas. There are different kinds of ethnies, which result in different types of nations. Essentially, the civic type of nation prioritises allegiance to the state above the ethnicity, while ethnic group type nations focus on the ethnic and folk ties. In other worlds, in the first one, the exact geographical borders of the nation is the more important separation of us and them, while in the second the culture and the ethnicity becomes the more important borders between the us and them.

Religion is important in both of these. I often see Britain, for example, in that first one, but anyone whose been to Wales sees that sometimes ethnicity is also more important than geographical boundaries and allegiance to the state. But even if we only think of it as “England” instead of Britain, we can see an importance on religion. I once heard a story from a friend who talked about seeing a filled out census form for the family his dad had filled out. It had them marked as Christian. This confused him, because as far as he was aware they weren’t Christian. Never went to church, didn’t really even talk about it at home. So he asked his dad, why did you mark us as Christian? And the dad responded with “Well, we are English.”

That being said, religion is seen as even more important in the ethnic ties type of nation. This is because the focus is on ethnicity and ethnic performances of culture, meaning that the religion one connects to and relates to is also a marker of your alliance to your nation/ethnic group.

According to Smith, the ethnic groupings types of nations are actually more durable than the civic ones because they carry with them connections to one another in their folk traditions and their culture artefacts and cultural memories, as opposed to civic ones which have more of an emphasis on state.

So let’s get back to our Mandalorians. In the show the Mandalorian, we see a remaining connection to the historic homeland. They still call themselves Mandalorian, even if the planet of Mandalore is thought to be no longer habitable. We see cultural memories also still being passed down, especially in the Mandalorian. All Mandalorians, even when being a part of different diasporic groups, all still wear the beskar armour, and also understand their connection to a warrior cultural past.

When we first sit down to watch the Mandalorian, we are given a particular understanding of the cultural practices of Mandalorians, as practised through our main character Din Djarin - who for actually quite a bit of the first season is only really known as “the Mandalorian”. Din Djarin is heavily practised in fighting and takes pride in his ability to fight due to his Mandalorian nature. He also has a rule that he must not remove his helmet in front of anyone.

We learn, when Din Djarin meets Bo-Katan Kryze, that the Tribe Din Djarin finds connection in was an off shoot of the Death Watch. We see similarities in the Tribe as in Death Watch - a focus on the traditions of Mandalorians, and the return to the warrior way of life. The emphasis is not on Mandalore as a planetary nation bounded through their geography, but rather as a people bounded to each other through their vernacular tradition.

There’s an important aspect to the Tribe that we see through the Mandalorian. The focus is so much on the traditions and folk practices of their people, that this is what holds importance. The important thing is not the blood connection to ethnicity, but the connection to the culture. Culture is therefore not genetic, but adopted and carried. We see the Tribe welcome Grogu, despite Grogu clearly not being genetically Mandalorian. The importance is that Grogu is a loving member of the community willing to carry the traditions onward.

From the point of view of an anthropologist of religion, I do have to add quickly here that the depiction of “religion” from the Tribe and Mandalore, and really in all of Star Wars, leaves a lot to be desired. Its very surface level and kind of relies on kitchy catch-rituals that may seem weird but isn’t really lived out in the full sense or explained through more realistic means. But that’s probably more of a discussion for another time. Given what I have, this is considered a more religious and ritualistic way of living, which I will treat as such.

In the third season of the Mandalorian, we have a much clearer view of the nationalism within the diasporic Mandalorians. We end up running into three different groups of Mandalorains: the Tribe, the followers of Bo-Katan, and a group of Mandalorains who have been abandoned on the surface of the planet. Each of these groups have clung to different ideas about their folk traditions, and how they embody them. However, each of these have the same fundamentals of what makes a ethnic grouping nation: a name for themselves (Mandalorains), a shared cultural history (the history of the people of Mandalore) and the connection to their homeland of Mandalore. It is this shared ethnic identity that gives them the strength and durability to re-take their homeland together.

While in their separate groups, in the middle of their Mandalorian diaspora, we see how important it is for them to connect to their shared cultural heritage. Bo-Katan, for example, is unable to lead her group without the Dark Saber. Her ability to rule is not really all that different before and after obtaining it, but its an important cultural symbol - an artefact of Mandalorian ethnic heritage that is important to claim their historic homeland. For those left on the planet, their shared memory of the destruction of Mandalore keeps them moving forward, knowing through the cultural knowledge of their people that this is what their whole community will be doing across the galaxy in their separate groups, and clinging to a story that Bo-Katan will be back for them. The Tribe cling to the ways of life of the Mandalorians tied to the folk practices - the importance of their armour, their ability to fight, and the inability to remove the helmet.

In al these groups, it’s the cultural heritage that becomes the ultimate means of survival, and through it Mandalorains are able to retain their cultural heritage as Mandalorians and not be assimilated to other nations.

One of the interesting elements is the storytelling that is then shared on what it is that constitutes someone to be Mandalorian. We see this when Din Djarin is confronted with Bo-Katan’s contingent who questions whether he really is Mandalorian. Din Djarin’s actual genetic ties to Mandalorains are hazy - we know he was living on one of the moons when the purge of Mandalore happened. But we also know the Tribe is not as concerned about genetic ties. Their connection to ethnicity and nation is in folk practices. For others, though, the focus seems to be more on the role of genetics. However, as the show goes on, it’s both Din Djarin and Grogu that proves that being Mandalorian is a way of moving through the world, rather than in any blood.

The Mandalorian shows us a little bit of insight into how communities survive through cultural trauma and diaspora. Through connections to their ethnic group, through acknowledgement of blood relations, cultural practice, and tradition, the Mandalorian people were able to survive as recognisably Mandalorian, even if each faction of Mandalorains had a different way of going about it.