Speaker
Description
Disasters create liminal and in-between scenes characterised by significant disruptions and uncertainty in the social order (Turner, 1969). Such scenes signify the transition from one social order to another, in which various forces converge to make sense of the situation and reattain the social order as quickly and feasibly as possible. As part of this recovery process, both old and new symbols are imagined, mobilised, and constructed (Turner, 1969; Berger & Luckmann, 1966). In this way, rather than occurring in everyday and overt manifestations, national symbols take part in intentional and overt performances of the nationhood. Here, political discourse becomes a critical aspect of the (re)imagination, (re)mobilisation, and (re)construction of the (contested) symbols tied to the nation, as well reflecting and reinforcing related notions of ideology and power (Foucault, 1972). Within this framework, this doctoral research employs critical discourse analysis to investigate the (competing) idea(s) of nationhood that are (re)imagined, (re)mobilised, and (re)constructed through politicians' discourse. In particular, its analysis focuses on the post-disaster contexts of the flooding in Wallonia, Belgium, in 2021; the earthquake in Southeastern Turkey in 2023; and the wildfires in Hawaii, USA, in 2023.
| Keywords | nationalism, disaster, discourse, national symbols, ideas of nationhood |
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| ebru.akgun@vub.be |