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Article published In:
Journal of Language and Politics
Vol. 18:2 (2019) ► pp.291–311

National identity premises in Pakistani social media debate over patriotism

| Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan

This paper focuses on critical discourse analysis of national identity premises as they enter in Pakistan’s social media debate over patriotism and treason. Drawing on a theoretical framework that calls attention to the embeddedness of religious and nationalistic ideas in identification paradigm of a society, the analysis emphasizes the naturalized link in motivational/inspirational and factual/circumstantial premises and the discursive and non-discursive practices of a culture. It also shows how (supposed) lack of a clear sense of national identity is intrinsically connected to a politicized understanding of national and anti-national identities, since anti-national identity is made salient as an obstacle in path toward national acceptance, and thus as a threat to national security. This, it is argued, is achieved through certain discursive strategies and non-discursive acts which serve to position undesirable anti-nationals as simultaneously in need of proving their patriotism and ineligible for integration into a broader national identification paradigm.

Keywords: critical discourse analysis, national identity, Pakistan, social media, patriotism, treason
Article outline
  • 1.Preliminary considerations
  • 2.Discourse, national identity and social media
  • 3.Nationalism and individual/collective commitments as integral reasons for loyalty towards state: Treason vs. patriotism
  • 4.Theory and method
  • 5.Analysis
    • 5.1National identity, identification of traitors and high form of patriotism: Use of attributive phrases and relational-attributive clauses
    • 5.2Extreme nationalistic sentiments, attribution of blame and types of patriotism
      • 5.2.1Uncritical patriotism: Expressions of polarity
      • 5.2.2Constructive patriotism: Typical mood in clause
    • 5.3Martyrdom: A yardstick to measure good patriotism
  • 6.Summary of the findings
  • 7.Conclusion
  • References
Published online: 18 April 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.17020.riz
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