| Abstract [eng] |
This paper examines how French identity was constructed following the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States and the 2015 terrorist attacks in France. Drawing on poststructuralist theory and its assumptions regarding the construction of identity through the opposition between “self” and “the other”, this study identifies the dominant discourses in opinion pieces from the French newspapers "Le Monde" and “Libération” in order to determine how different turning points - terrorist attacks - influenced the formation of French identity. The discourse analysis revealed that following the September 11, 2001, attacks, French identity was constructed through discourses characterized by solidarity with the West, democratic values and the rule of law, as well as a global, shared struggle against terrorism and an abstract enemy. Following the 2015 attacks in France, the importance of the Republic’s values, as well as constructs of an internal enemy within one’s own community and the threat it poses came to the fore. Furthermore, following the 2001 attacks, the importance of freedom over security was emphasized as unconditional, whereas after the 2015 attacks, increasingly stringent security measures were discursively accepted, though without neglecting the fundamental importance of freedom. This demonstrates that terrorist attacks occurring in other countries and within France itself led to different constructions of French identity, depending on the proximity of the threat to French society. |
