Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 2010-03-19 Nationalism in Charles de Gaulle's Speeches During World War II Mayavel Amado Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the French and Francophone Language and Literature Commons, and the Italian Language and Literature Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Amado, Mayavel, "Nationalism in Charles de Gaulle's Speeches During World War II" (2010). Theses and Dissertations. 2037. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/2037 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. NATIONALISM IN CHARLES DE GAULLE’S SPEECHES DURING WORLD WAR II Mayavel Amado A thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Yvon LeBras Kirk A. Hawkins Corry Cropper Department of French and Italian Brigham Young University April 2010 Copyright © 2010 Mayavel Amado All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT NATIONALISM IN CHARLES DE GAULLE’S SPEECHES DURING WORLD WAR II Mayavel Amado Department of French and Italian Master of Arts In a world where conflicts and supranational entities have emerged, nationalism has become an important topic for scholars in different fields. While much debate exists on what this term actually means and encompass, little attention has been paid to the rhetoric of nationalist leaders. Through scholarly and popular literature nationalism has often been confused with patriotism and populism. This work intends to look at what nationalism is, based on patterns drawn from observations in the rhetoric of nationalist leaders (sometimes opposing them to populist rhetoric) and at the same time it intends to expose Charles de Gaulle’s nationalism in his speeches during the years of World War II. Keywords: nationalism; nationalist; de Gaulle; discourse; speech analysis; holistic approach ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to Dr. Corry Cropper for his insightful comments; to Dr. Yvon LeBras, the committee chair of my thesis, for taking time to sit with me and give me good feedback even for months before my defense. I am especially grateful for Dr. Kirk Hawkins for working with me for a long time, even from the beginning of my thesis, for believing in me and my project and giving me encouragement and ideas on how to carry out this work. Dr. Hawkins has truly walked extra miles to tutor me and help me in my intellectual and academic development in my undergrad and graduate years. I would also like to thank Joni Hansen, whose help was invaluable in the polishing of my thesis. I thank her for her words of encouragement, her service and her interest in my success in the academic and other areas in my life. I am grateful to my grandmother Aura Marina García de Pineda and all of my siblings who gave me ideas, showed interest and were so supportive of me and this work. To my Mom and Dad, I fall short in expressing my love and gratitude for them in all aspects of my life. Their righteous and exemplary lives, their love, support, encouragement and help encompassing all aspects of my life, ranging from the academic, financial, to the emotional and spiritual, have meant everything to me. It is impossible to express my gratitude to and for them. I thank Brigham Young University for the opportunity to do pursue my studies in here. To my family, friends and colleagues I express my thanks for their listening ears, their encouragement and support in the process of earning my Master’s degree, including the process of writing my thesis. Thank you all! Brigham Young University SIGNATURE PAGE of a thesis submitted by Mayavel Amado The thesis of Mayavel Amado is acceptable in its final form including (1) its format, citations, and bibliographical style are consistent and acceptable and fulfill university and department style requirements; (2) its illustrative materials including figures, tables, and charts are in place; and (3) the final manuscript is satisfactory and ready for submission. ________________________ ________________________________________________ Date Yvon LeBras ________________________ ________________________________________________ Date Kirk A. Hawkins ________________________ ________________________________________________ Date Corry Cropper ________________________ ________________________________________________ Date Anca Sprenger ________________________ ________________________________________________ Date Ray Clifford Table of Contents I. Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 8 II. On nation and nationalism .................................................................................................... 13 A. Events and thoughts usually linked to nationalism ........................................................ 13 B. The problem with definitions of nationalism ................................................................... 14 C. Defining “nation” ............................................................................................................... 16 1. The problem of defining “nation” in terms of religion language and ethnicity or race .... 17 2. The problem of defining “nation” in a material manner ................................................ 19 3. Weber’s definition of “nation” .......................................................................................... 20 D. Needed characteristics in a nation .................................................................................... 21 E. Differentiating nationalism, patriotism, and populism................................................... 23 F. A few elements of nationalism ........................................................................................... 29 G. Summary and conclusion .................................................................................................. 32 III. On elements of nationalism ................................................................................................. 34 A. Morals and values .............................................................................................................. 34 B. The celebration of victorious moments and people as a source of identity ................... 38 C. A nation’s destiny and missions as a reformation from a rich past leading to a glorious future ........................................................................................................................................ 43 D. Sacrifices and sorrows ....................................................................................................... 48 E. Enemies ............................................................................................................................... 55 F. Opposition ........................................................................................................................... 58 G. Summary and conclusion .................................................................................................. 59 H. Elements of nationalism: Rubric ...................................................................................... 61 IV. On de Gaulle’s speeches: an overview ................................................................................ 62 A. Methodology for the selection of de Gaulle’s speeches ................................................... 62 1. Considerations of geography, themes, and chronological order for the sample ............... 62 2. De Gaulle’s three periods .................................................................................................. 64 3. Selecting ten speeches per period ..................................................................................... 66 B. Analytical Approach .......................................................................................................... 67 C. Overview of de Gaulle’s speeches: preliminary results .................................................. 69 1. Rubrics: Summary of classification and elements of nationalism in de Gaulle’s speeches during World War II ............................................................................................................. 69 D. Important considerations .................................................................................................. 74 1. The overlapping of elements, cosmic proportions and transcendence ............................. 75 2. Consistency in the presence of elements of nationalism .................................................. 78 E. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 79 IV. On de Gaulle’s vision of the world: morals and values ..................................................... 80 A. The general or specific references to morals and values ................................................ 80 1. The specificity of morals and values in nationalist speeches ........................................... 80 2. The specificity of morals and values in Charles de Gaulle’s speeches ............................. 81 v 3. The meaning of de Gaulle’s specificity or generality when addressing morals and values for nationalism