国家意识是公民对从属国家的认知与认同,同时包含政治历史和文化建构,植根于民族国家的历史文化传统。以国家阅读计划为切入点考察特定历史时期在其他国家与国家意识相关话语实践之关联性,有利于我们从全球的视域探寻我国外语教育国家意识话语体系的建构方法与路径。基于国家意识的不同面相,从二战、冷战和“后9.11时代”这三个阶段分别对美国全民阅读计划之缘起、其多重功能以及其政治遗产在新世纪的表征进行的分析考察表明:国家意识所隐含的认知、心理和情感要素通过阅读行动融入教育话语实践,使得阅读计划在个体、社会、国家等多个层面话语的交织互动中产生巨大潜能,从而在不同历史阶段美国的国家认知、国家身份建构和国家认同等方面发挥了不可忽视的作用。

National consciousness is the citizens’ cognition of and identification with their country. It is politically, historically and culturally constructed and is thus deeply rooted in the traditions of the nation state. Taking the national reading program as the starting point to examine its relevance to the national-consciousness oriented discourse practices of other nations in specific historical periods may provide insights from a global perspective on the construction of a national consciousness discourse system in China’s foreign language education. Based on the different facets of national consciousness, this paper investigates the causes and motivations behind the development of a national reading program in the United States after the end of World War II, and analyzes the multiple functions of reading in the specific historical context. The program is further examined in light of its manifestation as a political legacy in the field of reading practice in the post 9·11 era. The paper concludes that the cognitive, psychological and emotional elements inherent in national consciousness are integrated through reading action into relevant educational discourse and practice. In this way, a national reading program derived from the interactions of individual, social and national discourses can play an important role in the shape of national cognition, identity construction and national identification.