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Article published In:
Journal of Language and Politics
Vol. 19:5 (2020) ► pp.809–830

“They are just a danger”

Chronotopic worlds in digital narratives of the far-right

ORCID logo | Binghamton University (SUNY)
ORCID logo | Binghamton University (SUNY)

In recent years, there has been much discussion about the role of social media platforms in the reproduction of exclusionary rhetoric leveled against social “others” in far-right contexts across the globe. While scholars have examined the ideologies underpinning exclusionary discourses, few have analyzed the discursive mechanisms through which such ideologies and “othered” social types become meaningful to ordinary citizens. In this article, we extend this conversation by analyzing digital discourses on Facebook and YouTube that pertain to Philippine “drug users” and racialized remarks against migrants in Italy through a chronotopic lens. We demonstrate that despite the historical, economic, and social differences, far-right ideologies are ordered through chronotopes of national crisis in both cases. Through these chronotopic worlds, despicable, “othered” social types such as “extracomunitari” in Italy and drug users in the Philippines, acquire coherence.

Keywords: chronotope, digital narratives, Facebook, far-right politics, Italy, racialized language, scale, The Philippines, YouTube
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Far-right narratives on digital platforms
  • 3.Chronotopes as scaling mechanisms
  • 4.Chronotopes as imagined worlds populated by social types
  • 5.Social “others” in the Philippines and in Italy
  • 6.Constructing the “other”
    • 6.1Chronotopes of national crisis in the Philippines
    • 6.2“Extracomunitari are just a danger”
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 4 May 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.19073.jer
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