Under One Sun?

Abstract

The present chapter examines the semiotic transformation of the cognitive model nation as communicated and discursively constructed in commemorative and jubilee speeches concerning the wider context of the 20th Anniversary of Independence in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). Theoretically, it draws on the socio-cognitive approach to collective identity and cognitive pragmatics. The methodological framework is based both on quantitative (using corpus linguistics tools) and qualitative analysis. We focused especially on the use of the metonymy “Macedonia”, which is the most frequent term in analysed speeches. Polysemous referentiality and accompanied semiotic events induce, from the point of view of cognitive pragmatics, great contextual effects of this metonymy. Furthermore, ethnonyms, syntactic structures and argumentation patterns are analysed in order to test the hypothesis of discursively erased distinction between different ethnic groups. Finally, the analysis considers possible differentiations caused by participants involved in practices around text, i.e. political figures delivering jubilee speeches.