Journal of Language and Politics - Volume 25, Issue 1, 2026

Abstract

In this paper, we focus on the context of urban development in Singapore, where some of the country’s remaining forests have been earmarked for development, to examine how discourses of development and conservation are semiotized via multimodal representations of the forest landscape in environmental communication. To show how these discourses interact, we use one of the forests identified for development, Dover Forest, as a case study, employing de Certeau’s (2011) concepts of ‘place’, ‘space’ and ‘spatial stories’ to demonstrate how the Singapore state’s narratives of place emphasize national development imperatives connected to neoliberal market logics, with conservationists utilizing narratives of space that emphasize conservation, though the latter emphasis is not made unproblematically without impact from narratives of place. Implications of the analyses are briefly discussed with reference to de Certeau’s theory in light of the complexity of environmental conservation discourse where a dominant developmental state agenda persists.

Abstract

This paper examines the discursive strategies of Turkey’s emerging far-right political party, the Zafer Partisi (Victory Party). The Party’s leader, Ümit Özdağ, gained unexpected electoral influence in 2023, prominently advocating for the expulsion of Syrian refugees. Combining content and critical discourse analysis, the paper delves into the discursive features of Özdağ’s tweets on refugees. Subsequently, it aims to understand the intricacies of the party’s anti-refugee stance within the context of Turkish politics and its implications for relationships between Turkish society and refugees. The dataset comprises 3008 tweets spanning from November 18, 2022, to November 18, 2023. The analysis reveals Özdağ’s construction of a securitization narrative, framing refugees as a threat and positioning his party as the defender of Turkish identity. His far-right stance, distinguishes itself by strategically targeting Syrian refugees, appealing to public concerns, and casting suspicions on local and international actors, specifically the ruling party in Turkey and the EU.

Abstract

Within the fields of narratology and discourse analysis, this paper proposes a critical narrative analysis of Sir Keir Starmer’s storytelling at the four party conferences he attended as opposition leader. The objective is to assess how Starmer attempted to create the image of a strong and stable leader, in discourse, in a bid, arguably, to differentiate himself from his predecessor, to rebrand his party as an inclusive organisation and to establish his ethos as a credible leader. Maybe more importantly, this paper posits that the narratives at the heart of his keynote speeches served a self-promotional purpose to show that, by focusing on the notion of stability, he could bring to a close a fourteen-year period of electoral and ideological domination by the Conservative Party.

Abstract

The article focuses on anti-Ukrainian narratives spread on Twitter. We performed a Thick Big Data analysis of words and hashtags connected with anti-Ukrainian narratives. We collected 16,700 tweets from 25 January 2023 to 22 February 2023, focusing on the most popular and commented ones. Furthermore, we conducted multi-modal narrative and rhetorical analyses to distinguish the typology of narrations. This article sheds light on how vital narration in disinformation campaigns and media warfare on social media is. Most tweets contained narration highlighting the alleged appropriation of Polish culture by displaying Ukrainian nationality. Such narration strongly influences a sense of insecurity and alienation in one’s own country. We discovered that Ukrainian-related posts have negative sentiment and frequently spread disinformation.

Abstract

This paper examines if and how policy discourses about social service provisions to multicultural communities are affected by the so-called backlash against multiculturalism, which began in Europe and the UK, and how this backlash has influenced Australia. Ideological approaches to social policy changes are often implicit, manifesting through long-term shifts in public discourses. This paper presents a critical discourse analysis of public and policy documents referencing service provision for multicultural communities from 1996 to 2021. The analysis finds that since the 1996 election of the Howard government, Australian public discourse on diversity governance has increasingly emphasised mainstreaming as an approach to diversity governance. These mainstreaming discourses are ideologically expressed in inclusionary and exclusionary forms that either over-emphasise or normalise Australia’s ethno-cultural diversity. Findings also show dissonances between public discourse and policy on this mainstreamed approach, which can have a detrimental impact on intersectional communities facing marginalisation and inequity.

Abstract

is paper traces the terminological shifts in the media representation of immigrants from 2010 to 2020. Using a corpus-based approach to Critical Discourse Analysis, we examine the terms “migrant(s),” “refugee(s),” and “asylum seeker(s)” in the Austrian daily newspaper Der Standard during the refugee crisis (2015) and five years before (2010) and after (2020). Our research, which employs collocation analysis complemented by critical discourse analysis, reveals significant shifts in the connotations of all three terms. The notion of “migrant” evolves from a positive and individualizing portrayal in 2010 to a more negative, stereotypical one by 2020. Conversely, “asylum seekers” shift from being viewed with suspicion in 2010 to being recognized as legitimate beneficiaries of protection in 2020. Only “refugees” remain relatively featureless. We interpret these changes as a reflection of the balancing act between the left-liberal stance of Der Standard and the rising right-wing extremism in society.

Abstract

It has been over ten years since the Chinese Dream was proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2012. This study investigates the representations of the Chinese Dream in The New York Times (hereafter NYT) from the perspective of speech reporting. The analysis shows that four types of sources are favored: the political elites from the Chinese government, ordinary Chinese citizens, western scholars, and Chinese news agencies. Government officials’ speech is quoted to expose the global ambition of the Chinese-Dream-associated policies or practices, while stories from the ordinary Chinese provide contradictory evidence. Scholars’ speech is to warn audiences of the Chinese government’s global aspirations masked by the Chinese Dream. The reports and practices of Chinese news agencies are labeled propaganda to strangle potential discursive competition. In effect, all converge to strengthen and validate China’s world dream representation.

This article reviews The Discursive Construction of Migrant Identities9781350442887£ 85.50

This article reviews The Class and Gender Politics of Chinese Online Discourse: Ambivalence, Sociopolitical Tensions, and Co-option£135.00978-1-032-43531-2