Transnationalism as an Index to Construct European Identities: An Analysis of ‘Transeuropean’ Discourses
National Identity and Europe in Times of Crisis
ISBN: 978-1-78714-514-6, eISBN: 978-1-78714-513-9
Publication date: 10 August 2017
Abstract
Transnationalism is a multi-faceted phenomenon which has impacted on society and challenged, inter alia, the paradigm of national affiliations. The trasnationalisation of the European field has arguably contributed to a political arena where embryonic post-national identities and new forms of belonging are being negotiated, challenged and legitimised. By investigating the discourses of members of a transnational NGO of ‘active’ citizens, this chapter seeks to understand how current European identities are discursively constructed from bottom up in the public sphere. Appropriating CDA, this chapter offers insights into how discursive strategies and linguistic devices used by the speakers and predicated on the indexicality of transnational frames, construct Europe and patterns of belonging to it. This chapter suggests different conceptual dimensions of transnationalism enacted by members in discourse which are conveniently summarised as nation-centric, Euro-centric and cosmopolitan.
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Acknowledgements
Acknowledgment
It must be acknowledged that this contribution has previously appeared under the same title as Zappettini, F. (2017). Russian Journal of Linguistics, 21(2), 260–281.
Citation
Zappettini, F. (2017), "Transnationalism as an Index to Construct European Identities: An Analysis of ‘Transeuropean’ Discourses", Karner, C. and Kopytowska, M. (Ed.) National Identity and Europe in Times of Crisis, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 13-35. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78714-513-920171002
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017 Franco Zappettini