Journal of Language and Politics - Current Issue

Abstract

The article proposes an original conceptual framework that captures the discursive logic of self-legitimation and applies it to the empirical case of European Union soft law and the process of Brexit. Adopting the general orientation of Discourse Historical Approach in Critical Discourse Analysis and working with a dataset of all European Parliament (EP) resolutions on Brexit in the 2016–2023 period, the article investigates how, and interprets the particular ways in which, the EP legitimised itself as an actor vis-à-vis Brexit, through different linguistic and discursive devices in its resolutions. The analysis illustrates that the EP’s use of soft law for self-legitimation purposes is an intriguing case of how legal instruments can be leveraged in multifaceted ways beyond their traditional function for broader communicative and political purposes. As such, the article extends the traditional understanding of the purposes of EP resolutions by explicitly acknowledging them as powerful discursive resources for self-legitimation.

Abstract

Passage of Israel’s Jewish nationality law in 2018 shined more than usual light on the Druze citizens of Israel. It put into painful question their integration into Israeli society. Key to that integration is Druze mastery of the Jewish State’s official language; hence the question, “How do Israeli Druze learn Hebrew?” The answer is multivariable: pedagogy, gender, bilingualism, technology, religion, conscription, and socialization are all factors. Druze mastery of Hebrew through the IDF is being replaced by formal language education. This is reinforced through growing participation of Druze females in Israeli institutions. Arabic being the maternal tongue of Druze, unlike among the nation’s Jewish majority Hebrew surpasses English as their second language. Increasing use of social/digital media in Hebrew, particularly among the young, reinforces the bilingual identity of Israeli Druze. So do Hebrew language textbooks, which “Israelize” Druze by teaching about Judaism and emphasizing similarities between Jewish and Druze traditions.

Abstract

The study analyses YouTube comments attached to an episode of Benefits Street (a British factual welfare television programme) which enregister two figures of personhood: “The static, unmotivated British benefits claimant” and “the dynamic, driven migrant”. Using Park’s (2021) critical heuristic of time, space and affect, the study finds that the welfare claimant figure is constructed as a social failure, and the migrant as both a yardstick (to measure the failure) and a rattan stick (to punish it). The key factor is mobility: The migrant experiences social mobility via mental mobility (i.e., motivation) and spatial mobility (i.e., travelling for opportunities). The welfare claimant’s lack of mental and spatial mobility prevents their social mobility. Ultimately, the paper argues that contrasting the figures represents an attack on rootedness and a celebration of neoliberal mobility based in ideals of meritocracy and the erasure of social class as a relevant construct.

Abstract

This study examines Trump’s depiction of Hispanic and Latinx immigrants, highlighting his use of moral panic to activate fear and thereby deepen societal divisions within a broader right-wing populist agenda. Analyzing nearly half a million words from Trump’s tweets using corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis, the research reveals that he portrays Hispanic and Latinx immigrants as the ‘object of offence,’ amplifying their perceived threat while ‘scapegoating’ political adversaries and other nations. As a ‘moral entrepreneur,’ he and his allies position themselves as protectors against this perceived danger, warning of severe ‘consequences’ for national security and the economy if left unaddressed. Their ‘corrective action’ involves implementing strict immigration policies, with the ‘desired outcome’ being enhanced security and economic prosperity. The study demonstrates how the deployment of moral panic generates public fear and insecurity, legitimizing anti-immigrant sentiments and justifying stringent measures. This, in turn, reinforces right-wing populism narratives with significant societal implications.

Abstract

This paper examines equivocation in Arabic and global interviews using interviews with Saudi politician Adel Al-Jubeir as a case study. The study has three main objectives: to assess the applicability of existing frameworks for coding responses in Arabic interviews, to explore the potential discrepancy in question design between Arabic and global interviews and its potential impact on equivocation, and to identify the most frequently recurring responses in these interviews. Rasiah’s (2010) framework is employed to analyse equivocation and coding responses. The dataset includes 2 hours and 45 minutes of Arabic interviews and an equal duration of global interviews. The findings indicate the effectiveness of the proposed frameworks in coding responses in Arabic interviews. Likewise, they show that Arabic interviewers adopt a less adversarial questioning style compared to their global counterparts, and that aggressive questioning contributes to higher equivocation rates. Furthermore, the coded responses vary between the two interview settings.

Abstract

The paper deals with the role of antagonism within post-structuralist discourse theory, and does so by revisiting the genesis and transformations of the conceptual couple limit/frontier. The first paragraphs introduce the conception of discourse put forward by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, and explain why they envisaged the necessity of discursive closure in antagonistic terms. The central sections deal with the emergence of the concept of antagonism in Hegemony and Socialist Strategy (1985) and its connection with the notions of limit and frontier, highlight the theoretical problems arising thereof and follow the refinements advanced by discourse-theoretical critics and scholars. The last paragraph draws the consequences of this debate and argues for a rehabilitation of the concept of antagonism: not to be intended as a fate inherent to the constitution of any discourse, but as a useful political tool for questioning concrete discursive formations.

This article reviews Translation and Decolonisation: Interdisciplinary Approaches978-1-003-35198-6£ 33.29

This article reviews Fighting Words: A Critical Approach to Linguistic Transgression$ 49.99978-1-003-22742-7

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This article reviews Universality and Translation: Sites of Struggle in Philosophy and Politics9781531508562