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POLITICAL DISCOURSE
When we talk about political discourse, we talk about different kinds of language, different kinds of media as well, we only focus onto. BUT we have to keep in mind we have all sorts of political discourse: Manifestos, posters and campaign statements materials mostly produced for elections presenting the views of the party and/or of the candidate Pre-scripted speeches prepared ahead of delivery (hence, consciously planned) (possibly) closer to spoken language first person pronoun used more frequently spontaneity markers (ex: you know) direct address (you…) contractions written to be read aloud Non pre-scripted speeches, debates, press conferences, political talk shows
INCLUSIVE TECHNIQUES
Connected to political discourse we have the inclusive techniques : the idea of in groups and out groups, the idea of creating a me, an us and a them. This is super relevant in politics, whereas it’s not as relevant for example in business communication. So, creating a notion of togetherness based on nationality, race, religion, location, … we are creating this sort of tie of relationship with the audience. Achievements of one’s party You normally hear very laudatory discourse when you hear political discourse, because the best way to show you are the best candidate is to show your achievement. The politician creates a list of achievements that make it look super good. Avoid any positive attributes found in opponents and loudly decry their negative traits and failings This is the opposite of the achievements. Here the politician talks about the negative points he can find on his opponents. “Fear” technique Politicians appeal to fear and it works. You create a fear and then you say: “don’t worry, vote for me, this is not going to happen”. EXAMPLE: I face the world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people. For make no mistake: Evil does exist in the world. A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies. Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda's leaders to lay down their arms. To say that force may sometimes be necessary is not a call to
cynicism -- it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason. (Obama’s Nobel speech, December 9, 2009) KEEP IN MIND Remember, in politics we use most of the rhetorical devices: metaphor and simile, metonymy + synecdoche, alliteration, listing (Rule of three), parallelism + antithesis, repetition, rhetorical questions. Use of pronouns: 1st and 2nd person pronouns – bringing speaker and audience together 3rd person pronouns – creating distance Deny any flaws or negative aspects in one’s own character or set of beliefs, common / national / universal values, justice vs injustice/good vs bad.
POLITICAL DEBATES (TRUMP vs CLINTON)
Trump’s part (tax cuts) (In 2016, Trump was a wild card (=somebody we can’t really understand)) impression: he is convincing (self confident); he gives numbers without giving evidence he is claiming (allege) the use of “everybody” creating a group, we are on the same page inclusion facial expression macro and micro expression he looks very over confident (he says something as it is claim used a lot, especially by republicans) and disgusted. Exaggeration and repetition tremendous job, billions and billions, bureaucratic red tape (=difficult do to something) Antithesis (contrast) it’s not great thing for the rich, it’s a great thing for the middle class Simile and us vs them politicians like secretary Clinton won’t allow them (he in a sense mocking her). The use of a title can be positive, neutral and negative. It depends on the situation. Blaming the other candidate and the president (Obama) they’re leaving because we have a president that can’t sit them around a table. With a little leadership you’d get in it there very quickly what is he implying? He’s trying to prove that he’s better. He’s a fantastic leader and the other not. He interrupts and comments when not supposed to We’re in a big, ugly bubble (response) overlexicalization He’s deflecting (f.) / dodging (inf.) The register is informal Clinton’s part (tax increase) she’s giving examples about what she wants to do (college) she’s more practical. Actually the proposes are a bit utopian. she has second embarrament (?) she highlights Trump’s personal interests she’s using logic and rationality
POLITICAL DISCOURSE AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Facebook , Twitter, Instagram and Twitch are the most used social networks for political discourse. A young politician used them, she’s called AOC. But she’s not the first.
WHO’S AOC?
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a democrat and she is the youngest elected congress woman in the history of the US, she was 28/29 when she was elected. She represents a part of NY and she has become very famous as a member of the “squad”: is a group of four democrat women that are trying to push very leftist reforms projects. The most vocal policy she advocated for was called the new green deal , it evokes the new deal (a project to rebuild the economy of the USA). She “updated” it in a green way, it’s a new deal but it’s green, it’s for the environment. She advocated very strong changes to the way that the US produces and consumes energy. She’s against weapons and she’s advocated for everything you put on the left side of the political spectrum. Her way of doing politics has being described as a “ home-style ” politics, she’s very approachable lady (you can contact her, you can talk to her, you can find her,…), she’s very rooted in the community. The all set of discourse strategies she puts in place surround the idea of group identification, recognition and support. She’s leveraged Puerto Rican origin to find a community, so when we have to look what she says expect mentions to this minorities belongings. AOC truly built her political persona on this idea of personal color, of Puerto Rican origin, coming from a very working background and making it, achieving success. This is quite a nod to the American dream: this idea that if you work hard, you can get what you want. In addition, her personal and cultural identity acts as a trait d’union between her political activism (identity-politics) and her populist image (identity-populism). Populism has to do with a form of political discourse that appeals to the masses , to the general average person, not to the élite.
THREE QUESTIONS
I. What sort of linguistic and visual semiotic features that AOC uses as self- representation on her social media profile? (A politician for the most part nowadays is advertising him or herself) II. In what way do these features embody expressions of AOC’s personal, cultural and political identity? III. Is it possible to detect the forms and styles of populist rhetoric that resonate with a populist identity? in current times it’s a hot topic
In the political arena, identity is a significant presence as it plays an essential role in people’s thinking about, voting for and supporting political actors who are called to represent them in government. Populist discourse has become mainstream in the politics of western democracies mostly owing to the populist allure, which consists in the promise of standing up for the ordinary people whose voice has been forgotten.
POPULISM
Three definitions from three different scholars:
- A discursive and performative construction of the people against the system (population vs élite), specifying that this construction is done “in the prerogative dimension of naming” and is therefore grounded in discourse. (Laclau, 2005) The core message of populism is that there is the people (the vast majority) and then there’s the system (the élite). This is a construction that depends on discourse and performance. It is through defining us as people and defining them as the élite that we built a populist politics.
- A “ thin-centred ideology ” whose core value depicts society as divided into two antagonistc groups: “the people” deprived of their rights, values and identity, and the ususrping elite and dangerous “others”. (Mudde, 2004) In this case, the people are also described in a negative situation (they are oppressed). In fact, when you say that populism is an ideology, you imply that you have specific set of values, content, opinions, a set of things that you would like to get or things that you would like to avoid (regrets), and so on.
- A communication style characterized by the use of identity, rhetoric, and media, allowing political actors to project their persona in public, private and institutional spheres through a variety of media channels. (Moffitt, 2016) Removing the idea of ideology from populism and making it all about a communication style rather than the ethical push that drives the communication itself, so making it just about the style and not about the contents and motivations of such a communication, shows how empty the message is. In other words, if you tell someone that populism is a communication style, you are removing the content of the ideological content from the equation, you are just telling that it’s a way to put words in a sequence and creating a nice speech or nice message. Populism is what you like, it depends on which of these definitions you prefer. Plus, these things mean that we have different take, different opinions and we have to choose one and stick to it. Or maybe we don’t choose one and we try to understand something along all three of these options.
long shots in order to showcase her exact positioning in the crowds. These centered compositions do not create social distance but give her salience among the people, without placing her above the people. her elevated arm emphasizes that the people are big, to mean they are strong, resilient, and hard working. transactional-reactional processes (transitivity) realized by using her arm and her whole body as vectors that reach out to the people. Community belongingness → AOC descends from Sephardic Jews who fled to Puerto Rico during the Spanish Inquisition inclusive pronouns we and our Jewish terms Chanukah (=the holiday) and Shamash (=the candle). the word Shamash is next to her name in the image, followed by the words: “ the light which sparks all others .” → does she perceive herself as a light among the people? She occupies the right panel, which, according to Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006), indicates what is new, what is to be. the last line of her tweet expresses her future expectation that tonight’s light (or her light) may spark many others. use of slogan-like language is foregrounded. The exclamatory statement, experience doesn’t pay the bills , is strongly voiced by gazing straight at the viewer, and cupping her hands around her mouth. This utterance is also voiced by the other two politicians in the image →AOC uses the inclusive we when she peremptorily adds that this is what we have to say about that. Regarding the involvement of Rep. Tlaib and Rep. Pressley, although AOC is not looking at them directly, the enacted narrative process can be considered transactional-reactional as they are connected by smiles and eyeline, as well as by the circumstance of context. mix of informal and formal register→ Mr. President, you’re from Queens, and I’ll call your bluff polarization of ‘ you ’ (the President, the establishment), vs ‘ I ’ (we, the country). She ends by stating exactly [graduation: force] what we must do , using inclusive action and deontic (=evoking morality) modality to challenge a President who commits impeachable acts he obstructs [material] and advises [verbal] to ignore [mental cognitive].
In the tweet on the right, AOC clearly establishes that she is [relational] of the people and she knows [mental] that she has more strength than others and signs off as Evita Peron , in a humorous confrontation with the President.
