Journal of Language and Politics - Volume 24, Issue 5, 2025

Abstract

In this study we capture power dynamics in diplomacy from a pragmatic angle, by examining a closed-door diplomatic mediatory negotiation and its aftermath. We first analyse the transcript of a mediation session between representatives of Slovenia and Croatia and a European Economic Community (EEC) delegation during the breakup of Yugoslavia. While the EEC representatives officially acted as mediators, they had earlier secretly agreed with the Yugoslav side to keep Yugoslavia intact. Second, we examine the transcript of a meeting between Slovenian politicians shortly after the mediation session. Studying these two datasets helps us to capture how power manifests itself in the mediatory negotiation studied, and how it is judged by the powerless afterwards. Focusing on language behaviour in the two datasets provides insight into the presence of power in a diplomatic situation where it should in theory not be played out. We use speech acts to analyse our data.

Abstract

This article tracks the legitimization practices deployed to change the discourse regarding coercive interventions to protect human lives which, at the end of the 1990s, became both acceptable practices discussed in multilateral settings and deeply controversial issues. It focuses on the “Responsibility to Protect” (R2P) and two important strategies. The first is the proposition to change the ways in which we talk about (military) intervention for human protection purposes, i.e. a passage from “humanitarian intervention” and the “right to intervene” towards R2P. The second is the practices that agents hoped would give legitimacy to their ideas, especially regarding postcolonial states, historically skeptical and critical of humanitarian intervention. I argue that the agents were able to reframe the debate using more legitimate discourse while adopting legitimization practices to raise the acceptability of R2P.

Abstract

Although it is almost common sense in Brazil that far-right leaders typically deploy impolite language as part of their rhetoric, the issue is still understudied and lacks empirical evidence. We explore the trendiest hashtags and their accompanying posts used as replies to the Brazilian Supreme Court’s official Twitter/X account between October 2021 and October 2022, which covers a year before the 2022 presidential election. After analyzing 414,652 posts, our results showed that shameless impolite language was deployed in 94.9% of the hashtags. The data confirms that online verbal attacks on the judiciary were a common posting practice on Twitter/X. The strategy’s main element has been combining impolite language with lies and manipulation to defame perceived opponents and attract followers.

Abstract

Populism has been examined in depth in the last decades both from theoretical and empirical approaches. Among the topics that scholars have studied, the ideological flexibility of populist discourses is one of the most controversial and difficult to analyse. Although a large body of research has explored this peculiar characteristic of populist political discourses, this paper provides an original interpretation of populism by assessing this flexibility drawing on the importance of George Sorel’s theory in discourse theory, which could contribute to a better understanding of populist theory. Understanding populism from a discursive framework could explain the intrinsic contingency of populism and the emergence of both radical right and radical left populisms. This study aims to trace the theoretical path from the influence of Sorel’s Theory of Myth on populist discourse theory to its current implications for populist discourses, resulting in the multifaceted nature of populism.

Abstract

Political memes are ubiquitous in social media. They are easy to make, alter and spread, and they are a funny way of sanctioning politicians. This paper seeks to analyze the satirical memes targeting Viorica Dăncilă and to explore the extent to which such memes could be considered a manifestation of political trivialization rather than of criticism. Drawing on qualitative methods of text and image analysis we ask: (1) how is humor constructed in political memes targeting Romania’s former prime minister, and (2) to what extent could the memes be considered either a form of political criticism or a matter of pure entertainment. Our findings show that the humor in the examined memes is largely offensive (including sexist and misogynistic), sometimes at the expense of humor display. We argue that such offensive content triggers a cancellation of the criticizing force of the memes and an amplification of their short-lived amusement value.

This article reviews Critical Conversation Analysis: Inequality and Injustice in Talk-in-Interaction978-1-80041-539-3£ 109.95

This article reviews Discourse Approaches to an Emerging Age of Populist Politics978-981-97-1354-7€ 129.99

This article reviews Manufacturing Dissent: Manipulation and counter-manipulation in times of crisis9789027214447€ 110