The Language of the Right-wing Populism: A Lexical Analysis of the Texts by the Freedom Party of Austria

Abstract

Today politics is only successful if it is successfully communicated. A political trend that has recently achieved great election success in many European countries and beyond is the so-called right-wing populism. In order to understand and respond appropriately to these achievements and changes in the political culture, it is necessary to look more closely at the linguistic policies of right-wing populists. The goal of the study is the analysis of the specific lexis based on the research of representative text corpora, exemplified on the party programs and advertising materials of the Freedom Party of Austria. First of all, for the right-wing populism typical lexis will be identified, furthermore, characteristic high-value words, especially flag words and stigma words, which are of particular importance in political discourse, are determined. The deconstruction of right-wing populist language can also generally contribute to a deeper understanding of political action and culture. The eminent importance of this is especially evident against the background of the currently discussed legitimacy deficits of political actors, especially within the framework of the European Union. In this respect, the study also represents a reaction to the currently often latent distance and skepticism towards pluralistic democracy.



Author Information
Simona Fraštíková, University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava, Slovakia
Ján Demčišák, University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava, Slovakia

Paper Information
Conference: ACCS2019
Stream: Cultural Studies

This paper is part of the ACCS2019 Conference Proceedings (View)
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Posted by James Alexander Gordon