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Article published In: Public Debates on Immigration
Edited by Andreas Musolff
[Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict 5:2] 2017
► pp. 274–294

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“A great and beautiful wall”

Donald Trump’s populist discourse on immigration

 | University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Italy
Published online: 23 November 2017
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https://doi.org/10.1075/jlac.5.2.06dem
Abstract
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.
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
References (44)
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