National identity in King Michael’s anniversary speech in the Romanian Parliament

Abstract

In this study, I examine the construction of national identity in King Michael’s 90th anniversary speech, held in the Romanian Parliament in October 2011. This speech represents the quintessence of all His Majesty’s efforts to promote Romania as one lawful European member that earned its place next to the other European countries not only by returning to democracy in 1989 but also through its constant endeavour to promote the core values of the European Union. Using theories on national identity rooted in linguistics and sociology, in this study I investigate if and how national identity was emphasised and linguistically constructed in this speech. Given the political situation in Romania and the European context, the King’s speech comes as an attempt to unite people around a common goal: to create a stronger Romania for the future generations, in which a strong national identity might play a crucial part. Through the analysis, it became obvious to various extents that the speech emphasised and linguistically constructed national identity.