Livin' on a prayer. Representations of the nation and EU in the Albanian political discourse

Master's Thesis from the year 2012 in the subject Cultural Studies - European Studies grade: none Lund University language: English abstract: Europe is together with the nation and state one of the basic concepts around which national political debates are organised as Waever and Hansen put it. Within these debates the term Europe takes different (often oppositional) meanings and nuances depending on the ideological background and interests of the parties involved. The aim of this thesis is to look at how images of nation and EU are put forward on various political declarations of the two largest parties in Albania Democratic Party and Socialist Party. Based on Fairclough's Critical Discourse Analysis I analyse how these two parties define and negotiate the Albanian-EU relations from a national identity angle. I conclude that there is a European hegemonic discourse emerging in Albania and that relations between the country and EU are represented through metaphors of family and journey. Another conclusion deriving from the analysis is the interchangeable use of the words EU and Europe where the economic and political union is equated with the historical and geographical name of the continent.