More than words: Geopolitics and language

Abstract

It's not that I want you / Not to say, but if you only knew / How easy it would be to show me how you feel / More than words is all you have to do to make it real.(Extreme., 1991 'More than Words')More than fifteen years ago, Virginie Mamadouh and Gertjan Dijkink introduced a journal issue on geopolitics and 'the politics of geopolitical discourse' by reflecting on how 'For the past decade most of the work done on geopolitics -in geography at least -deals with discourses, codes, visions, representations, narratives, and other concepts pertaining to the importance of language in geopolitical practices ' (2006, p. 349). Yet somewhat surprisingly, the term 'language' is mentioned only twice in the remainder of their introduction -perhaps presumed already present in terms such as texts and discourses. In this editorial introduction and special section of Area, we contend that 'language' is neither an umbrella term nor an imprecision, but that following language and language-use in their own right may offer new inroads in the study of geopolitics.