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Chapter 1. The desire for shelter

Nation- and state-building and the metaphorical discourse of fragile and collapsed states
  • Michael P. Marks
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Metaphor, Nation and Discourse
This chapter is in the book Metaphor, Nation and Discourse

Abstract

Among scholars and practitioners of politics, a common way of thinking about insecure political systems is to conceptualize the lack of political order in terms of metaphorically fragile and collapsed states. The suggested solution to state fragility and collapse is often the policy of nation- and state-building. This chapter uses the theory of conceptual metaphor to understand the discursive and policy relationships between the metaphorical concepts of nation- and state-building and their counterparts in the conceptual metaphors of fragile and collapsed states. The chapter finds that fear of exposure and vulnerability in a world without shelter provides a logic for the physical protection supplied by the state and the remedy that nation- and state-building provide when that structure is in jeopardy.

Abstract

Among scholars and practitioners of politics, a common way of thinking about insecure political systems is to conceptualize the lack of political order in terms of metaphorically fragile and collapsed states. The suggested solution to state fragility and collapse is often the policy of nation- and state-building. This chapter uses the theory of conceptual metaphor to understand the discursive and policy relationships between the metaphorical concepts of nation- and state-building and their counterparts in the conceptual metaphors of fragile and collapsed states. The chapter finds that fear of exposure and vulnerability in a world without shelter provides a logic for the physical protection supplied by the state and the remedy that nation- and state-building provide when that structure is in jeopardy.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgments vii
  4. Metaphors in the discursive construction of nations 1
  5. Part I. Discourses and voices of the powerful elites
  6. Chapter 1. The desire for shelter 35
  7. Chapter 2. Barbed wire around Serbia 59
  8. Chapter 3. Godly Poland in godless Europe 75
  9. Chapter 4. “Let’s work on our Serbian!” 101
  10. Chapter 5. Metaphors for language contact and change 127
  11. Chapter 6. Metaphors of plant cultivation and flowing liquid in German colonialist discourse (1871–1914) 155
  12. Chapter 7. The meaning of state created through symbols and metaphors 177
  13. Chapter 8. “The state of our Union is strong.” Metaphors of the nation in State of the Union addresses 201
  14. Part II. Semi-official and mixed discourses
  15. Chapter 9. The role of metonymy and metaphor in the conceptualization of the nation 227
  16. Chapter 10. Metaphorical and non-metaphorical dimensions of the term nacija in Croatian online discourse 259
  17. Chapter 11. How to do things with metaphors 287
  18. Chapter 12. Guidelines on how to construct a nation 321
  19. Afterword 347
  20. Notes on contributors 349
  21. Index 353
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.82.02mar

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgments vii
  4. Metaphors in the discursive construction of nations 1
  5. Part I. Discourses and voices of the powerful elites
  6. Chapter 1. The desire for shelter 35
  7. Chapter 2. Barbed wire around Serbia 59
  8. Chapter 3. Godly Poland in godless Europe 75
  9. Chapter 4. “Let’s work on our Serbian!” 101
  10. Chapter 5. Metaphors for language contact and change 127
  11. Chapter 6. Metaphors of plant cultivation and flowing liquid in German colonialist discourse (1871–1914) 155
  12. Chapter 7. The meaning of state created through symbols and metaphors 177
  13. Chapter 8. “The state of our Union is strong.” Metaphors of the nation in State of the Union addresses 201
  14. Part II. Semi-official and mixed discourses
  15. Chapter 9. The role of metonymy and metaphor in the conceptualization of the nation 227
  16. Chapter 10. Metaphorical and non-metaphorical dimensions of the term nacija in Croatian online discourse 259
  17. Chapter 11. How to do things with metaphors 287
  18. Chapter 12. Guidelines on how to construct a nation 321
  19. Afterword 347
  20. Notes on contributors 349
  21. Index 353
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