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No one needs to teach Macedonians what Europe is: Macedonian opinion makers’ defensive Europeanization of the past amid Bulgaria-North Macedonia bilateral dispute
Title / Series / Name
Journal of Language and Politics
Publication Volume
Publication Issue
Pages
Authors
Editors
Keywords
Discourse historical approach
European identity
Discourse-conceptual analysis
Bulgaria-North Macedonia dispute
Opinion makers
Europeanization of memory
European identity
Discourse-conceptual analysis
Bulgaria-North Macedonia dispute
Opinion makers
Europeanization of memory
URI
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14018/27899
Abstract
This article examines how Macedonian opinion makers engage in the Europeanization of memory to justify North Macedonia’s Europeanness amid the bilateral dispute with Bulgaria. Drawing on a Discourse-Historical Approach-informed analysis of 43 opinion pieces from 2019 to 2023, the study demonstrates how national narratives are recontextualized, either aligning with or challenging the EU memory regime. By invoking antifascism and Yugoslav socialist modernity, opinion makers construct a European identity based on local historical legacies through what the article conceptualizes as defensive Europeanization via justification. The latter concept highlights how memory actors resist hegemonic narratives, suggesting an alternative understanding of (EU)rope. As a result, the article proposes a new lens by which Europeanization and European identity can be comprehended.
Topic
Publisher
Place of Publication
Type
Journal article
Date
2025-09-25
Language
ISBN
Identifiers
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.24229.nik