dc.contributor.advisor |
Rogers, Paul M. |
|
dc.contributor.author |
Parker, Robin A.
|
|
dc.creator |
Parker, Robin A. |
|
dc.date |
2014-05-02 |
|
dc.date.accessioned |
2014-10-14T20:48:37Z |
|
dc.date.available |
2014-10-14T20:48:37Z |
|
dc.date.issued |
2014-10-14 |
|
dc.identifier.uri |
https://hdl.handle.net/1920/9063 |
|
dc.description.abstract |
National identity derives from a sense of sameness and cohesion; however, scholars across fields accept the nation as an “imagined community” and that national identity changes. In this thesis, I conduct a Critical Discourse Analysis of political speeches and informal interviews to investigate the post-9/11 discursive construction of American national identity. With a theoretical backing in social constructionism and Norman Fairclough’s articulation of CDA, I focused on lexico-grammatical features and intertextuality and interdiscursivity. Taking head from Ruth Wodak’s study of Austrian national identity, I also analyzed my corpus for constructive strategies of assimilation. Although many discourses contribute to the construction of national identity, the post-9/11 discourse overtly addresses what it means to be American and constructs a stark “other” in the form of terrorism. This study finds that while citizens criticize politics, their sense of “sameness” becomes most concrete when faced with a threat or opposition in the form of terrorism, or when discussing Muslims not associated with terrorism. |
|
dc.language.iso |
en |
en_US |
dc.rights |
Copyright 2014 Robin A. Parker |
en_US |
dc.subject |
national identity |
en_US |
dc.subject |
critical discourse analysis |
en_US |
dc.subject |
post-9/11 rhetoric |
en_US |
dc.subject |
social constructionism |
en_US |
dc.subject |
American national identity |
en_US |
dc.title |
Discursive Construction of Post-9/11 American National Identity: United by “the Enemy” |
en_US |
dc.type |
Thesis |
en |
thesis.degree.name |
Master of Arts in English |
en_US |
thesis.degree.level |
Master's |
en |
thesis.degree.discipline |
English |
en |
thesis.degree.grantor |
George Mason University |
en |