This is polarizing talk. It is also deeply propagandistic language. In this Facebook post by right-wing entertainer Ted Nugent, standing here with former VICE PRESIDENTIAL candidate Palin, Nugent claims he and Palin are engaged in a great battle (a vile culture war) between the good people (Great Americans, great people, great patriots & great warriors on the side of good) and the (very)bad people (America haters & subfleebs on the mongrel left). Austrian linguist Ruth Wodak*, who has analyzed modern anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant discourse in her native country, says that the point of departure of every form of prejudiced discourse is the construction of difference. Painting ones own side as composed of entirely virtuous persons and the other of only the vile, is extremist language. These strategies below (1 - 3 ), identified by Wodak, are characteristic of modern antiSemitic discourse, and below each are examples of how Nugent is using these strategies in his descriptions of the left. (Nugents language is not anti-Semitic, but rather is anti-liberal and expresses hatred based on ideological, not religious, differences.) 1) Identifying the out-group as the enemy, and characterizing differences as black/white (my side = pure, your side = impure, ex.) [Nugent says he & Palin and fellow warriors are in a vile culture war with the left.] 2) Using we discourse (Wir-Diskurs) to build a sense of solidarity among ingroup members (the good guys) by painting the ingroup as having good moral qualities and the outgroup as having bad moral qualities [Nugent paints his company in the photo ~ and his fans ~ as great people... patriots and warriors on the side of good. The gun shop which gifted the guns displayed are Spirit Blood-Brothers. Those who vote differently (Democratic, on the left) are America haters, i.e. bad, unpatriotic people. The culture war is vile : morally bad; wicked.] 3) Positive self-presentation of ingroup members while behaviors of outgroup members are characterized in an intensely negative way [Nugent: patriots vs. America-haters] Unlike modern anti-Semitic discourse, the propaganda of the right-wing of the 1930s in Germany (Nazism), made use of dehumanizing labels. (Jews were : vermin, maggots, bacteria,, a plague, subhuman). And Nugent (as is characteristic for him) uses this most vicious strategy as well, calling (Democrats, liberals) subfleebs and mongrels, not, in his view, as human or as pure as himself, his company in the photo, or his fans. *Wodak was awarded the Wittgenstein Prize, is a professor in Vienna, and writes on the language of Neo-Nazism. (See comments for more on Wodak.) https://facebook/tednugent/photos/a.415262022296.178371.124016042296/10152562961222297/?type=1&theater
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 00:59:54 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015