1887
Volume 17, Issue 6
  • ISSN 1569-2159
  • E-ISSN: 1569-9862
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Abstract

Golden age myths as an answer to political crises are a recurrent phenomenon. This article demonstrates how the idea of a past golden age as the answer to a crisis of society was employed in the discourses of the Third Way: At the turn of the 20th century, the Social Democrats (SPD) in Germany and New Labour in Britain employed a golden age myth to define their politics. Analysing a corpus of texts from the Labour Party and the SPD between 1990 and 2005, this article demonstrates how global ideological trends are locally legitimized differently through the use of local political myths. The major contribution to the field of political discourse analysis lies in the discussion of mythopoesis as a legitimatory strategy, as well as in the analysis of the local adaptation of the golden age myth, which draws on Laclau’s discourse theory and its idea of empty signifiers.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/jlp.17059.kra
2018-12-14
2025-02-06
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Austin, J. L.
    1956 “A Plea for Excuses: the Presidential Address.” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society57: 1–30. www.jstor.org/stable/454457010.1093/aristotelian/57.1.1
    https://doi.org/10.1093/aristotelian/57.1.1 [Google Scholar]
  2. Bastow, Steve, and James Martin
    2003Third Way Discourse: European Ideologies in the Twentieth Century. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Bauman, Zygmunt
    2017Retrotopia. Cambridge, Malden MA: Polity.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Bax, Stephen
    2011Discourse and genre: Analysing language in context. Perspectives on the English language. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. 10.1007/978‑1‑137‑28562‑1
    https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-28562-1 [Google Scholar]
  5. Bennett, W. L.
    1980 “Myth, Ritual, and Political Control.” Journal of Communication30 (4): 166–79. 10.1111/j.1460‑2466.1980.tb02028.x
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1980.tb02028.x [Google Scholar]
  6. Berger, Peter L., and Thomas Luckmann
    1991The Social Construction of Reality. London: Penguin.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Bevir, Mark
    2000 “New Labour: a Study in Ideology.” The British Journal of Politics and International Relations2 (3): 277–301. 10.1111/1467‑856X.00038
    https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-856X.00038 [Google Scholar]
  8. Blair, Tony
    1995a “Leader’s Speech, Blackpool 1994.” InReport of Conference: Annual Conference 1994, Special Conference 1995, edited byThe Labour Party, 97–106. London: Labour Party. www.britishpoliticalspeech.org/speech-archive.htm?speech=200
    [Google Scholar]
  9. 1995b “Speech to the Special Conference 1995.” InReport of Conference: Annual Conference 1994, Special Conference 1995, edited byThe Labour Party, 289–92. London: Labour Party.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. 1997 “Leader’s Speech, Brighton 1997.” InThe Labour Party Conference Verbatim Report, edited byThe Labour Party, 68–73. London: Labour Party. www.britishpoliticalspeech.org/speech-archive.htm?speech=203
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Blair, Tony, and Gerhard Schröder
    1999Europe: The Third Way/Die Neue Mitte. Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. AccessedJanuary 02, 2013. library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/suedafrika/02828.pdf
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Borchert, Jens
    1996 “Alte Träume und neue Realitäten: Das Ende der Sozialdemokratie.” InDas sozialdemokratische Modell: Organisationsstrukturen und Politikinhalte im Wandel, edited byJens Borchert, Lutz Golsch, Uwe Jun, and Peter Lösche, 39–80. Reihe Europa- und Nordamerika-Studien 2. Opladen: Leske + Budrich. 10.1007/978‑3‑663‑09555‑2_3
    https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-663-09555-2_3 [Google Scholar]
  13. Buckler, Steve, and David P. Dolowitz
    2009 “Ideology, Party Identity and Renewal.” Journal of Political Ideologies14 (1): 11–30. 10.1080/13569310802649102
    https://doi.org/10.1080/13569310802649102 [Google Scholar]
  14. Burnham, Walter D.
    1996 “Woher kommt und wohin treibt die Sozialdemokratie?” InDas sozialdemokratische Modell: Organisationsstrukturen und Politikinhalte im Wandel, edited byJens Borchert, Lutz Golsch, Uwe Jun, and Peter Lösche, 23–38. Reihe Europa- und Nordamerika-Studien 2. Opladen: Leske + Budrich. 10.1007/978‑3‑663‑09555‑2_2
    https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-663-09555-2_2 [Google Scholar]
  15. Carstairs-McCarthy, Andrew
    2002An Introduction to English Morphology: Words and Their Structure. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Chilton, Paul, and Christina Schäffner
    1997 “Discourse and Politics.” InDiscourse as Social Interaction, edited byTeun A. van Dijk, 206–30. Discourse studies 2. London: Sage.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Dahrendorf, Ralf
    1988The Modern Social Conflict: An Essay on the Politics of Liberty:University of California Press. books.google.de/books?id=x7gqEoMLY2EC10.1007/978‑1‑349‑19543‑5_8
    https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-19543-5_8 [Google Scholar]
  18. Fairclough, Norman
    2000New Labour, New Language?London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. 2003Analysing discourse: Textual analysis for social research. London, New York: Routledge. 10.4324/9780203697078
    https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203697078 [Google Scholar]
  20. Fairclough, Norman, and Isabela Fairclough
    2012Political discourse analysis. New York: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Finlayson, Alan
    2003Making sense of New Labour. London: Lawrence & Wishart.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Flood, Christopher
    2002Political Myth: A Theoretical Introduction. Theorists of Myth. New York: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Giddens, Anthony
    1998The Third Way: The Renewal of Social Democracy. Cambridge: Polity Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Girnth, Heiko
    2015Sprache und Sprachverwendung in der Politik: Eine Einführung in die linguistische Analyse öffentlich-politischer Kommunikation. 2. überarbeitete und erweiterte Auflage. Germanistische Arbeitshefte 39. Berlin: de Gruyter Mouton. 10.1515/9783110338669
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110338669 [Google Scholar]
  25. Hermanns, Fritz
    1989 “Deontische Tautologien: Ein linguistischer Beitrag zur Interpretation des Godesberger Programms (1959) der Sozialdemokratischen Partei Deutschlands.” InPolitische Semantik: Bedeutungsanalytische und sprachkritische Beiträge zur politischen Sprachverwendung, edited byJosef Klein, 69–149. Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag. 10.1007/978‑3‑322‑91068‑4_3
    https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-322-91068-4_3 [Google Scholar]
  26. Heywood, Andrew
    2007Political Ideologies: An Introduction. 4th ed.Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Hombach, Bodo
    1998Aufbruch: Die Politik der neuen Mitte. München: Econ.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. 2000The politics of the new centre. Cambridge, Malden, MA: Polity Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Howarth, David R.
    2000Discourse. Concepts in the social sciences. Buckingham [England], Philadelphia, PA: Open University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Klein, Josef
    2000 “Komplexe topische Muster: Vom Einzeltopos zur diskurstyp-spezifischen Topos-Konfiguration.” InTopik und Rhetorik: Ein interdisziplinäres Symposium, edited byThomas Schirren and Gert Ueding, 623–49. Tübingen: Niemeyer. 10.1515/9783110958355.623
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110958355.623 [Google Scholar]
  31. Klein, Wolfgang
    1980 “Argumentation und Argument.” Zeitschrift für Literaturwissenschaft und Linguistik38 (3): 9–57.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Kopperschmidt, Josef
    1989Methodik der Argumentationsanalyse. Problemata 119. Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt: Frommann-Holzboog.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Koch, Eric
    (3/3/1964): Einde bezoek bondskanselier dr. Ludwig Erhard en gaf persconferentie in het Haagse Nieuwspoort, prof. dr. Erhard met sigaar [End of the visit of German Chancellor Dr Ludwig Erhard, who gave a press conference at Nieuwspoort in The Hague, Prof. Erhard with cigar]. National Archives of The Netherlands, 916–1335. Available online atproxy.handle.net/10648/aa5cf56e-d0b4-102d-bcf8-003048976d84, accessed9/3/2018.
  34. Kranert, Michael
    2016 “Text and Context in the Discourses of the Third Way in Germany and the UK: A comparative Study of the Language of ‘New Labour’ and ‘Die Neue Mitte’.” PhD Thesis, School of European Languages, Culture and Society, UCL.
  35. Krzyżanowski, Michał
    2010The discursive construction of European identities: A multi-level approach to discourse and identity in the transforming European Union. Sprache im Kontext Bd. 35. Frankfurt am Main, New York: Peter Lang.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Kuck, Kristin, and David Römer
    2012 “Metaphern und Argumentationsmuster im Mediendiskurs zur ‚Finanzkrise’.” InKrise, Cash & Kommunikation: Die Finanzkrise in den Medien, edited byAnja Peltzer, Kathrin Lämmle, and Andreas Wagenknecht, 71–93. Konstanz: UVK.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Laclau, Ernesto
    1990New reflections on the revolution of our time. Phronesis. London, New York: Verso.
    [Google Scholar]
  38. Laclau, Ernesto
    2000 “Constructing Universality.” InContingency, hegemony, universality: Contemporary dialogues on the left, edited byJudith Butler, Ernesto Laclau, and Slavoj Žižek, 281–307. Phronesis. London: Verso.
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Laclau, Ernesto
    2007On populist reason. [New pbk. ed.]. London, New York: Verso.
    [Google Scholar]
  40. 2014The rhetorical foundations of society. London, Brooklyn, NY: Verso.
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Mandelson, Peter, and Roger Liddle
    1996The Blair Revolution: Can New Labour Deliver?London: Faber & Faber.
    [Google Scholar]
  42. McGuire, Michael
    1987 “Ideology and Myth as Structurally Different Bases for Political Argumentation.” Journal of the American Forensic Association24 (1): 16–26.
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Nonhoff, Martin
    2006Politischer Diskurs und Hegemonie: Das Projekt „Soziale Marktwirtschaft”. Sozialtheorie. Bielefeld: Transcript. 10.14361/9783839404249
    https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839404249 [Google Scholar]
  44. Perelman, Chaïm, L. Olbrechts-Tyteca, John Wilkinson, and Purcell Weaver
    1969The New Rhetoric: A Treatise on Argumentation. Notre Dame, Ind: University of Notre Dame Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Reisigl, Martin
    2014 “Argumentation Analysis and the Discourse-Historical Approach: A Methodological Framework.” InContemporary Critical Discourse Studies, edited byChristopher Hart and Piotr Cap, 66–96. London, New York: Bloomsbury.
    [Google Scholar]
  46. Reisigl, Martin, and Ruth Wodak
    2001Discourse and Discrimination: Rhetorics of Racism and Antisemitism. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  47. Seawright, David
    2010The British Conservative Party and one nation politics. New York: Continuum.
    [Google Scholar]
  48. Seldon, Anthony
    2005Blair. [2nd ed.]. London: Free.
    [Google Scholar]
  49. Smith, Anthony D.
    1997 “The ‘Golden Age’ and National Renewal.” InMyths and Nationhood, edited byGeoffrey A. Hosking and George Schöpflin, 36–59. New York: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  50. Stötzel, Georg, and Thorsten Eitz
    eds. 2002Zeitgeschichtliches Wörterbuch der deutschen Gegenwartssprache. Hildesheim, New York: Olms.
    [Google Scholar]
  51. Tannock, Stuart
    1995 “Nostalgia critique.” Cultural Studies9 (3): 453–64. 10.1080/09502389500490511
    https://doi.org/10.1080/09502389500490511 [Google Scholar]
  52. The Labour Party
    The Labour Party ed. 1995Report of Conference: Annual Conference 1994, Special Conference 1995. London: Labour Party.
    [Google Scholar]
  53. The Labour Party
    The Labour Party 1997New Labour – Because Britain Deserves Better. Labour Manifesto. AccessedMay 29, 2012. www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/man/lab97.htm
    [Google Scholar]
  54. Torfing, Jacob
    1999New theories of discourse: Laclau, Mouffe and éZiézek. Oxford: Blackwell.
    [Google Scholar]
  55. Toulmin, Stephen
    1958The uses of argument. Cambridge Eng.Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  56. Tudor, Henry
    1972Political myth. Key concepts in political science. London: Pall Mall. 10.1007/978‑1‑349‑01048‑6
    https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-01048-6 [Google Scholar]
  57. van Eemeren, F. H., and R. Grootendorst
    [1992] 2016Argumentation, communication, and fallacies: A pragma-dialectical perspective. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  58. van Leeuwen, Theo
    2007 “Legitimation in Discourse and Communication.” Discourse & Communication1 (1): 91–112. 10.1177/1750481307071986
    https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481307071986 [Google Scholar]
  59. 2008Discourse and Practice: New Tools for Critical Discourse Analysis. Oxford studies in sociolinguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195323306.001.0001
    https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195323306.001.0001 [Google Scholar]
  60. Vorstand der SPD
    Vorstand der SPD 1998Wir sind bereit: Fünf sichere Zeichen:Politisches Archiv der SPD.
    [Google Scholar]
  61. Walter, Franz
    2009Die SPD: Biographie einer Partei. Überarb. und erw. Taschenbuchausg. Reinbek: Rowohlt.
    [Google Scholar]
  62. Weber, Max
    1947The theory of social and economic organization. 1st American ed.Edited byTalcott Parsons. New York: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  63. Wengeler, Martin
    2003Topos und Diskurs: Begründung einer argumentationsanalytischen Methode und ihre Anwendung auf den Migrationsdiskurs (1960–1985). Reihe Germanistische Linguistik 244. Tübingen: Niemeyer. 10.1515/9783110913187
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110913187 [Google Scholar]
  64. Williams, Raymond
    1983Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. London: Fontana.
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/jlp.17059.kra
Loading
/content/journals/10.1075/jlp.17059.kra
Loading

Data & Media loading...

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error