Reviewed by Eric A. Anchimbe, University of Bayreuth, Germany

This second edition of The discursive construction of national identity is a revised and extended version of the 1999 edition (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press), itself a translation of the German original, Zur Diskursiven Konstruktion Nationaler Identität (Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, 1998). It contains a new final chapter, Ch. 8 ‘The “story”continues: 1995-2008’ (203–45), based on ‘new, salient developments that deserve our critical attention’ (vii)

Ch. 1, ‘Introduction’ (1–6), sets the stage for the description of Austrian national identity and its construction in discourse by assuming that ‘discursive constructs of nations and national identities…primarily emphasise national uniqueness and intra-national uniformity but largely ignore intra-national differences’ (4). Ch. 2, ‘The discursive construction of national identity’ (7–48), focuses on the discursive construction of national identity as a general phenomenon that can be studied using critical discourse analysis. Several facets of identity—individual, national, and narrative constructions—are discussed before the authors settle on constructions of nation. A comprehensive review of scholarly literature on Austrian identity follows in Ch. 3, ‘On Austrian identity: The scholarly literature’ (49–69). Historical issues such as Austrian-German relationship (the German-Question), Austria’s socialist past, integration into Europe and her permanent neutrality are discussed. Ch. 4, ‘The public arena: Commemorative speeches and addresses’ (70–105), analyses commemorative speeches and public addresses to show how these discourses construct a common Austrian political history as the speakers ‘drew upon the repertoire of classical rhetorical topoi’ (71).

Ch. 5, ‘Semi-Public discussions: The focus group interviews’ (106–45), turns to the semi-private sphere by analyzing focus group interviews with people of various occupations across Austria. Most speakers emphasize the uniqueness and intranational homogeneity of Austria. Ch. 6, ‘Semi-private opinions: The qualitative interviews’ (146–85), analyzes the semi-private opinions recorded in the focus group interviews and shows how Austrian identity is discursively constructed. Ch. 7, ‘Conclusion: Imagined and real identities–The multiple faces of the homo nationalis’ (186–202), reconciles the notions of imagined and real identities used extensively in the book. In the final chapter, the authors summarize events since 1995 and analyze three recent phenomena that confirm their initial hypotheses, albeit with minor differences: in spite of the populist rhetoric of recent EU-integration years, Austria has still not arrived in Europe (243).

This edition lives up to the praise its earlier editions earned as it describes the construction and reconstruction of Austrian national identities, and it remains a major classic textbook and research companion for the study of the discursive construction of national identities. Among its strengths is the use of authentic data to explicate choices and priorities in identity construction at the national level.