"A story we agree to tell each other." : Narrativ av den brittiska nationella identiteten under tiden för omröstningen om Storbritanniens medlemskap i EU

• Main Author: Nilsson, Ronja
• Format: Others
• Language: Swedish
• Published: Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för statsvetenskap (ST) 2018
• Subjects: national identity; Brexit; United Kingdom; narrative; discourse; EU; media; nationell identitet; Storbritannien; narrativ; diskurs; Political Science; Statsvetenskap
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-74885

This essay deals with the concept of national identity and the ways by which it is constructed at the time of a political decision. By analysing the opinion pages of some of the United Kingdom’s leading newspapers, the aim of this essay is to understand the different types of narratives of the British national identity that were most prominent during the time before the referendum on Britain’s membership in the EU. Essentially, the goal of the essay is to answer the question of what it meant to be British during the time of Brexit. The research in this essay shows that there were certain differences in the narratives presented by the Brexiteers and the Remainers, but also similarities in core values and to some extent the symbols and references used to argue their respective cause. The most divisive subject is shown to be the notion of the United Kingdom as a multicultural nation or not. Further interdisciplinary research is advised in order to gain a fuller, and more dynamic, understanding of the British national identity.