ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies the traces left in discourse by the changes that national identity is currently undergoing. It is part of a larger project on British Euro-Discourse, a study based on about 350 leader articles from four national newspapers and covering the period from the early 1970s to the mid-1990s, as well as a host of supplementary data, such as advertisements and political speeches. The island myth is closely connected with the issue of national sovereignty. While what is sometimes referred to as atlanticism may not be as dominant a force as it used to be, incidents like this show that Britain's overseas ties are clearly still a highly active relic of the nation's colonial past and a powerful ingredient of anti-European rhetoric. Federalism is an important keyword in the debate on sovereignty. A host of material symbols plays a key role in establishing, asserting and maintaining national identity.
