Guiding metaphors of nationalism: the Cyprus issue and the construction of Turkish national identity in online discussions

Abstract

This article is a study of three major metaphors organizing nationalistic discourse about Cyprus in two online forums for Turkish university students. The analysis suggests that discussants symbolically warranted their constructions of the future of Cyprus and Turkish Cypriots with metaphors of blood and heroism that emphasized their personal and collective memory of sacrifice. Sports metaphors were used predominantly to convey a sense of the strategic importance of Cyprus. In addition discussants employed gender and sexual metaphors to structure the tension between nationalist feelings associated with motherland Turkey as a pure virgin female and the geopolitical demands of the nation-state portrayed as a father faced with uneasy choices.