Performing populist style in context
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Year of publication | 2020 |
Type | Article in Proceedings |
Conference | Jezik, književnost, kontekst: Language, Literature, Context |
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Keywords | populism; style; discourse; social media; scandal talk; pragmatics; critical discourse analysis; political discourse |
Description | Adopting the definition of populism as a political style and performance, this article deals with the contextualized performance of populist rhetoric. Drawing on data from a videoblog on current affairs produced by the head of the most prominent Czech populist party, the analysis documents some of the typical features of populist discourse, e.g. the discursive construction of a narrative of threat, the intentional production of scandal talk, and the extreme othering of outgroups, particularly elite social actors (the mainstream media, the EU) that are deemed not to represent the real interests of the people. The paper argues that public performances of populist politicians skilfully exploit various forms of context and intertextuality in order to foster their anti-establishment agenda. |
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