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The Discursive Construction of National Identity

by Ruth Wodak

Summary

How do we construct national identities in discourse? Which topics, which discursive strategies and which linguistic devices are employed to construct national sameness and uniqueness on the one hand, and differences to other national collectives on the other hand? The Discursive Construction of National Identity analyses discourses of national identity in Europe with particular attention to Austria. In the tradition of critical discourse analysis, the authors have developed a method of description and analysis of national identity which has applications to many other western European states. The authors interpret ongoing transformations in the self- and other- definition of national identity using an innovative approach which combines discourse-historical theory and methodology and political science approaches. The book analyses the rhetorical promotion of national identification and the linguistic construction and reproduction of national difference on public, semi-public and semi-private levels within a nation state. It contains many concrete text and discourse examples as well as analyses.

Key Features

Discourse-historical approach
Interdisciplinarity (cultural studies, discourse analysis, history, political science)
Multi-method, multi-genre
Qualitative case studies