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Part of
Political Discourse in Central, Eastern and Balkan Europe
Edited by Martina Berrocal and Aleksandra Salamurović
[Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture 84] 2019
► pp. 179–210

Chapter 8
Discursive construction of ‘Us’ and ‘Them’

Analysis of commemorative speeches (2004–2016) on the Croatian Homeland War

Commemorative speeches as an annual ritual play an important role in the memory discourse of a society. They construct political and social realities, as well as a collective identity. The following paper discusses the content and the form of official remembrance of the Homeland War in Croatia, which took place from 1991 to 1995. In particular, I will focus on the constitution of the elements of national identity and collective memory of the 1990s within the selected speeches of Croatian political leaders between 2004 and 2016. Hereby, the emphasis is on the discursive presentation of Self and Others. The analysis draws on theoretical and methodological frameworks of the Discourse-Historical Approach within the Critical Discourse Analysis.
Keywords: Critical Discourse Analysis, Discourse-Historical Approach, commemorative speeches, memory discourse, discursive construction of national identity, collective memory, Croatian Homeland War
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.War and memory in Croatia
  • 3.Theoretical and methodological foundations
    • 3.1Commemorative speeches as a part of political discourse
    • 3.2Discursive construction of identity and difference
  • 4.Discursive construction of ‘Us’
    • 4.1The Croatian Nation: Democratic, independent, modern and European
    • 4.2The Croatian Defenders: Timeless, legitimate and unqestionable heroes
      • 4.2.1The Homeland War: A legitimate and legal defensive war
      • 4.2.2The personification of political events: The visionary Franjo Tuđman
    • 4.3Preliminary conclusions
  • 5.The discursive construction of ‘Them’
    • 5.1Europe and the European Union: Inspiring example and antagonist at once
    • 5.2The Serbian Rebels and the Yugoslavian National Army: Anonymous enemies
    • 5.3Preliminary conclusions
  • 6.Conclusions and discussion
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 23 July 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.84.08rie
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2021. Ceremonial events at non-sites of memory: Seven framings of a difficult past. International Journal of Heritage, Memory and Conflict 1 ► pp. 55 ff. DOI logo

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