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Article published In:
Anglo-German Discourse Crossings and Contrasts
Edited by Sylvia Jaworska and Torsten Leuschner
[Pragmatics and Society 9:1] 2018
► pp. 52–74

Conflicts in comparison

Scottish and German discursive perspectives on the Scottish independence referendum

| University of Heidelberg

In a globalised world, national discourses are also perceived and commented on in other countries and languages. This paper focuses on newspaper coverage of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum in both Scotland and Germany, comparing two print media corpora in two languages. The linguistic depiction of the arguments and conflicts in Scottish newspapers is compared to the discussion of Scottish independence in German newspapers. In order to find conflictive ‘hotspots’ in both corpora, adversative and concessive connectors of both languages are taken as a starting point for a comparative conflict-oriented discourse analysis in seven steps. Differences and similarities of the most important conflicting concepts as well as the role of stereotypes and language difference are then compared and discussed.

Keywords: linguistic discourse analysis, comparative discourse analysis, concessive/adversative connectives, agonality, qualitative and quantitative methods, conflict analysis, discourse grammar, media discourse
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical background
  • 3.The corpora
  • 4.The method
  • 5.Analysis 1: The Scottish debate
  • 6.Analysis 2: The German depiction
  • 7.National stereotypes
  • 8.Comparison and conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
  • The following articles from the corpora were quoted directly
Published online: 26 March 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.16023.mat
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The following articles from the corpora were quoted directly

Edinburgh Evening News
18 March 2014 “Scottish Independence: 20 questions answered.”Google Scholar
25 August 2014 “Scottish Independence debate: Salmond needs win.”Google Scholar
22 September 2014 “David Cameron hosts Tory summit over Scotland.”Google Scholar
Scotsman
18 May 2013 “Alf Young: Treasury will be trouble for the SNP.”Google Scholar
2 December 2013 “John Major warns of cost of Britain leaving EU.”Google Scholar
5 March 2014 “Scotland’s economy needs austerity after Yes vote.”Google Scholar
17 September 2014 “Scottish independence: Military warning over Yes.”Google Scholar
Spiegel Online
8 September 2014 “Camerons riskanter Schottenpoker.”Google Scholar
14 September 2014 “ ‘Sorgfältig über die Zukunft nachdenken.’”Google Scholar
17 September 2014 “Unabhängige Wirtschaft: Davon wollen die Schotten leben.”Google Scholar
17 September 2014 “ ‘Archaische Angst des kleinen Bruders’”.Google Scholar
18 September 2014 “Neue Flagge, neue Währung ‒ doch die Queen bleibt.”Google Scholar
19 September 2014 “Noch mal davongekommen.”Google Scholar
20 September 2014 “Trachten, Moorhuhn und die Scotties.”Google Scholar
Welt
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18 September 2014 “Calm down and carry on.”Google Scholar
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