A discursive reading of the emergence of Asturian nationalist ideology

Why and when do nationalist ideologies emerge? What is the background against which the need for the articulation of a given nationalist fantasy in pursuit of communitarian closure arises? Are they creations ex nihilo ? These are some of the general and still unresolved questions that this article explores. These questions are examined not in abstract terms but with reference to a particular discursive construction: the Asturian nationalist ideology. I shall argue that in order to understand better the emergence of nationalist ideologies, and in particular the Asturian nationalist ideology, it will be necessary gradually to shift our attention from more mainstream accounts to an alternative approach, drawn upon recent developments in discourse and Lacanian theory of ideology.