Langue, identité et marque pays: La mise en scène de l’identité nationale. Analyse illustrée par une approche contrastive franco-danoise

The article studies the underestimated role of the lexicon in the construction of national identity. This identity is, in fact, a product of narratives from the nation’s history. Since such narratives presuppose language in order to be elaborated and diffused, it is the common (national) language that provides their key concepts and gives them their specificity. The determining role of the lexicon as a system of conceptualisation is also seen in the presentation of the nation to foreigners (nation branding), which is nothing but the staging of the national identity through the words provided by the language. The analysis is illustrated by a comparative approach to French and Danish.