Nacjonalizm jako myślenie metonimiczne
Nationalism As Metonymical Thinking

Summary/Abstract: The first part of the article concerns two well-known theories of nationalism, modernist theory and ethno-symbolic theory, connected with the names of Ernest Gellner and Anthony D. Smith. Discussing the specific features of the two approaches, the authors analyze the strong and weak points from the context of a third approach to nationalism, i.e. as a basic plane for the shaping of subjectivized human identity. A "nationalist theory of nation" is a specific way of thinking about apparently natural ties linking social communities and their territory and state. The article shows how nationalist thinking uses metonyms and metaphors in order to create a mythical picture of a nation as a territorially-rooted community of values. Nationalism is attractive also because it allows a co-existence of metaphorical and metonymical figures which help intensify group identifications.

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