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Ján Demčišák, University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava, SlovakiaAbstract
A clear trend toward populist and nationalist parties is evident in many European countries. This development is part of a larger pattern of political polarization also observed in Austria and Slovakia. In these countries, the Freedom Party of Austria (FPA) and the Slovak National Party (SNP) have achieved considerable success in recent elections. This study examines the language and rhetoric of these two parties based on their official Facebook communications from 2021 to 2024. Particular attention is paid to statements based on so-called "alternative truths"—claims that appear factual but lack evidence or are manipulative due to oversimplification and selective presentation. Methodologically, the analysis combines corpus-based evaluations with sketch engine, qualitative coding, and discourse analysis methods. A total of 5,347 posts were analyzed, including text posts, text-image combinations, and shared posts by party representatives. Our study focuses on widespread posts about topics such as the Coronavirus pandemic, migration, national sovereignty, and international organizations. The study demonstrates how linguistic strategies such as emotionalization, polarization, and simplification reinforce certain narratives. Despite linguistic and cultural differences, the hypothesis is that similar rhetorical strategies occur in the populist discourse of both parties. These strategies serve to mobilize supporters, criticize elites, and construct binary patterns of interpretation. The goal is to reveal the mechanisms of linguistic manipulation in digital political communication.
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Conference: ACSS2025Stream: Linguistics
This paper is part of the ACSS2025 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Demčišák J. (2025) Political Language in Austria and Slovakia Under the Sign of Alternative Truths ISSN: 2186-2303 – The Asian Conference on the Social Sciences 2025: Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 347-359) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2186-2303.2025.29
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2186-2303.2025.29
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