Constructing ‘the French people’ – On Sarkozy’s populism

Bibliographic Data

ID6084392
AuthorsDamon Mayaffre (0000-0003-0792-5973), Ronny Scholz (0000-0002-4868-5761)
Year2017
Volume16
Issue5
Pages683-705
Publication date2017-10-26
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Language and Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1569-2159 • E-ISSN: 1569-9862
PublisherJohn Benjamins Publishing Company (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1075/jlp.16009.may
OpenAlexW2615706212
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited30

Election campaigns represent a particular moment of political practice in democracies where political strategy and political discourse become one activity. Campaigns take effect through the speeches of candidates communicated to the electorate. This article analyses speeches of Nicolas Sarkozy’s presidential campaigns in 2007 and 2012. Based on text statistical methods developed in French discourse analysis it examines his political position and his rhetorical techniques. In comparison to other presidents of the Fifth Republic, Sarkozy’s discourse seems to be freed from typical party political positions. Whilst favouring direct encounters with the audience and pretending to speak to the whole nation he is embodying a form of populism which bestows his image of a charismatic leader

Charisma · Charismatic authority · Linguistics · Media studies · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Populism · Presidential campaign · Presidential system · Rhetorical question · Sociology · Communism, Protests, Social Movements · Linguistics and Discourse Analysis · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Law · Philosophy

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