Just Before the Fall

Abstract

The article tries to develop a better understanding of the role of discursive formations in the establishment of a nationalist claim. Nationalist discourses are defined as a distinctive subset of those discursive practices directed to transform, through the drawing of a boundary, a given audience in a solidary community, characterized by an internal, socially constructed similarity and by an external, socially constructed difference. It is argued that such a cultural approach may also help clarify some controversial issues in the sociology of nationalism, such as the meaning of the frequently made distinctions between `ethnic' and `civic' nationalism. It is argued that, while useful in identifying two crucial rhetorical resources, such distinction is troublesome when applied to nationalist actors. The empirical focus of the article is an analysis of a sample of articles published in the main Italian newspapers about the secessionist campaign of the Northern League in 1996. An analysis of their contents makes it possible to highlight the plurality of discursive strategies employed by social actors in order to advocate or oppose a nationalist claim. It is shown how all the actors involved adopt rhetorical themes belonging both to `ethnic' and `civic' templates.