Article published In:
Public Debates on ImmigrationEdited by Andreas Musolff
[Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict 5:2] 2017
► pp. 274–294
Edited by Andreas Musolff
[Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict 5:2] 2017
► pp. 274–294
“A great and beautiful wall”
Donald Trump’s populist discourse on immigration
This paper focuses on Trump’s aggressive language on immigration. By analyzing a data set made of public speeches, interviews, and statements from Trump’s official website, the paper will look at how certain lexico-grammatical and intertextual choices in Trump’s representation of immigration display all the typical features of a populist agenda. Trump’s texts will be analyzed according to Wodak’s Discourse-Historical approach: Trump’s own “politics of fear” and language on immigration are evidence of the strong currency held by values associated with right-wing, ethno-nationalist populism, once the core ideological tenets only of certain fringe movements such as the Tea Party, but now firmly established in mainstream politics.
Keywords: Trump, immigration, racism, populism, discourse analysis
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.The Discourse-Historical approach and populism
- 3.Data
- 3.1Theoretical framework
- 4.Analysis and discussion
- 4.1Nomination and predication of social actors
- 4.2“But we need… to build a wall, we need to keep illegals out.” Argumentation in Trump’s discourse
- 5.Borders, walls and nations
- 6.Conclusions
- Notes
-
References
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