Construction of National Identity in Political Communication
HURMALAINEN, EEVA (2009)
2009
Kansainvälinen politiikka - International Relations
Yhteiskuntatieteellinen tiedekunta - Faculty of Social Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2009-06-10
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:uta-1-20086
https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:uta-1-20086
Tiivistelmä
This Master's thesis contains a descriptive analysis of the features of public security discourses taken place in the public sphere during the Crisis of the Caucasus in fall 2008. This case study shows how discourses on security are intertwined with the social construction of national identity in discursive practices during an international crisis. Representations and renewal of Finnish national identity in the discursive practices of security are observed by using the theory of Finnish national identity project, as defined by Harle and Moisio, as the general framework of the study.
Seen as a part of contemporary, highly mediatized public society, political communication acts as the single most important public interface of competing discourses concerning national security and subsequently, national identity. In order to discuss on political stances and actions on a national level, a constant identification of the Self is unavoidable. This identification of the Self takes place also in the media by a construction of national identity in i.e. news discourses. With the help of a specific discourse analysis defined by Teun A. van Dijk, this study implements a descriptive analysis of data which consist of newspaper articles, all dealing with Finland role in relation to the events of the Caucasus, as represented here as an international crisis. By approaching the thematics of the study from a social constructionist perspective, the study introduces four different discourses of the security/identity puzzle observed in the research data. All the four discourses have a different position in regard to Finnish nationality and thus take part in forming the dimension of the country's political scene. In addition to differences, a universal discourse can be observed from the research data. As national identity is often argued to have diminished from the accounts of social reality in the post-modern world, this thesis argues that the case is somewhat to the contrary. However, this statement owes to a perception which emphasizes the multi-dimensional nature of collective identities.
The theoretical framework of this study leans on the constructivist approach to IR, namely in the consistent constructivism articulated by Alexander Wendt shortly after the end of the Cold War. Deeper accounts of the security/identity puzzle are given by the Copenhagen School, as Ole Wæver and Barry Buzan have focused on the research on securitization in discourses and the construction of identities in the discipline of International Relations.
Asiasanat:Social construction of national identity, discourse analysis in political communication, securitization in discursive practices
Seen as a part of contemporary, highly mediatized public society, political communication acts as the single most important public interface of competing discourses concerning national security and subsequently, national identity. In order to discuss on political stances and actions on a national level, a constant identification of the Self is unavoidable. This identification of the Self takes place also in the media by a construction of national identity in i.e. news discourses. With the help of a specific discourse analysis defined by Teun A. van Dijk, this study implements a descriptive analysis of data which consist of newspaper articles, all dealing with Finland role in relation to the events of the Caucasus, as represented here as an international crisis. By approaching the thematics of the study from a social constructionist perspective, the study introduces four different discourses of the security/identity puzzle observed in the research data. All the four discourses have a different position in regard to Finnish nationality and thus take part in forming the dimension of the country's political scene. In addition to differences, a universal discourse can be observed from the research data. As national identity is often argued to have diminished from the accounts of social reality in the post-modern world, this thesis argues that the case is somewhat to the contrary. However, this statement owes to a perception which emphasizes the multi-dimensional nature of collective identities.
The theoretical framework of this study leans on the constructivist approach to IR, namely in the consistent constructivism articulated by Alexander Wendt shortly after the end of the Cold War. Deeper accounts of the security/identity puzzle are given by the Copenhagen School, as Ole Wæver and Barry Buzan have focused on the research on securitization in discourses and the construction of identities in the discipline of International Relations.
Asiasanat:Social construction of national identity, discourse analysis in political communication, securitization in discursive practices