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Part of
Metaphor, Nation and Discourse
Edited by Ljiljana Šarić and Mateusz-Milan Stanojević
[Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture 82] 2019
► pp. 177–200

Chapter 7
The meaning of state created through symbols and metaphors

German Heimat and Russian Motherland

This chapter compares the role of symbols and metaphors in constructing the meaning of the state in its relation to the nation. Building on Paul Ricœur’s theory, it considers symbols and metaphors as two different discursive devices and applies this theoretical approach to the analysis of pre-Nazi German (1871–1933) and late imperial Russian (1860s–1917) political discourses as reflected in political speeches, policy documents, government records, correspondence, and other texts produced by political leaders and thinkers. The findings are that the symbol of the German Heimat and the metaphor of the Russian Motherland contributed significantly to the discursive development of two distinct types of state-to-nation relations: in Germany, the nation legitimized the state, while in Russia the state dominated the nation.

Keywords: state, nation, nationhood, metaphors, symbols, Heimat , Motherland, Germany, Russia, political discourse analysis
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Imagining a state in symbols and metaphors
  • 3.The symbol: From individual of home to of
  • 4.The Motherland metaphor: Consolidating the vertical state authority
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Note
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 20 May 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.82.08cep
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