
Constructing Brexit Britain
A Corpus-Assisted Approach to National Identity Discourse
Tamsin Parnell(Author)
Bloomsbury Academic (Publisher)
Published on 11. July 2024
Book
Hardback
248 pages
978-1-350-43694-7 (ISBN)
Description
Combining corpus linguistics, critical discourse analysis, and a discourse analysis of narratives, this book considers one aspect of the Brexit process: the language that journalists, politicians and individuals used to write and talk about what it means to be British and European around the time of Brexit. It reveals a trajectory towards a discourse of national division in Brexit Britain in three datasets: pro-Brexit newspaper articles, UK Government documents, and interviews with individual citizens.
Demonstrating the important role that (supra-)national identity discourses played in discussions about Brexit, the book traces a shift towards a representation of Brexit Britain as divided and in decline at a time when the construction of a collective identity is likely to be paramount. The emerging representation is a direct contradiction of the great global trading nation narrative that the Vote Leave campaigners - and later the UK Government - promised, questioning the discursive success of the Global Britain project.
Constructing Brexit Britain demonstrates that the transition from pre- to post-Brexit Britain was a crucial period of destabilisation for institutional and lay national identity narratives. It also illustrates that the coming years are likely to be just as important, as the UK forges its post-Brexit place in the world amid declining levels of trust in politicians, calls for a second Scottish membership referendum, the COVID-19 pandemic, and a cost of living crisis.
Demonstrating the important role that (supra-)national identity discourses played in discussions about Brexit, the book traces a shift towards a representation of Brexit Britain as divided and in decline at a time when the construction of a collective identity is likely to be paramount. The emerging representation is a direct contradiction of the great global trading nation narrative that the Vote Leave campaigners - and later the UK Government - promised, questioning the discursive success of the Global Britain project.
Constructing Brexit Britain demonstrates that the transition from pre- to post-Brexit Britain was a crucial period of destabilisation for institutional and lay national identity narratives. It also illustrates that the coming years are likely to be just as important, as the UK forges its post-Brexit place in the world amid declining levels of trust in politicians, calls for a second Scottish membership referendum, the COVID-19 pandemic, and a cost of living crisis.
Reviews / Votes
The author pulls together different discourses on Brexit into a holistic study, showing differences and overlaps between how the media, the British government and citizens constructed national identity during the long process of the UK leaving the EU. I have been waiting for a book like this. -- Veronika Koller, Lancaster University, UKMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
10 bw illus
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
520 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-350-43694-7 (9781350436947)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
06/2024
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Academic
€31.99
Available for download

E-Book
06/2024
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Academic
€31.99
Available for download
Person
Tamsin Parnell is Research Assistant on the EDIFY project in the School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies at the University of Nottingham, UK.
Content
List of Figures
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
2. The Discursive Construction of Britishness and Europeanness
3. Researching the Language of National Identity in Times of Brexit
4. Pro-Brexit Newspaper Representations of the UK and EU-rope
5. Constructing Britain and Europe in UK Government Documents
6. Discursive Constructions of Britain and Britishness in Oral Interviews
7. Concluding Remarks
References
Appendix
Index
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
2. The Discursive Construction of Britishness and Europeanness
3. Researching the Language of National Identity in Times of Brexit
4. Pro-Brexit Newspaper Representations of the UK and EU-rope
5. Constructing Britain and Europe in UK Government Documents
6. Discursive Constructions of Britain and Britishness in Oral Interviews
7. Concluding Remarks
References
Appendix
Index