<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>One of the most controversial issues during the 2015 migrant crisis and the subsequent process of reformulating immigration policies by the European Union was that of the mandatory resettlement quota. Hungary and Romania formulated very different positions related to migration, but both were critical regarding the mandatory quota. This study analyses parts of declarations and speeches of two heads of state, Viktor Orbán for Hungary and Klaus Iohannis for Romania, concerning the quota issue, by employing the framework of evaluative language, which focuses on the dialogic, interpersonal aspects of utterances. Beyond the fact of rejecting the quota, Martin and White’s (2005) taxonomy brings to the forefront the linguistic means through which the two speakers evaluate the subject (a problem of logistics that needs a pragmatic approach or a matter of cultural and national identity) and establish (dis)alignment as representatives of their countries (“official voices” of Hungary and Romania) with regard to the EU position.</p>
</abstract>

One of the most controversial issues during the 2015 migrant crisis and the subsequent process of reformulating immigration policies by the European Union was that of the mandatory resettlement quota. Hungary and Romania formulated very different positions related to migration, but both were critical regarding the mandatory quota. This study analyses parts of declarations and speeches of two heads of state, Viktor Orbán for Hungary and Klaus Iohannis for Romania, concerning the quota issue, by employing the framework of evaluative language, which focuses on the dialogic, interpersonal aspects of utterances. Beyond the fact of rejecting the quota, Martin and White’s (2005) taxonomy brings to the forefront the linguistic means through which the two speakers evaluate the subject (a problem of logistics that needs a pragmatic approach or a matter of cultural and national identity) and establish (dis)alignment as representatives of their countries (“official voices” of Hungary and Romania) with regard to the EU position.

Saying ‘No’ to Immigration Quota: An Analysis of Evaluative Language in Hungarian and Romanian Political Discourse

Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics

Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Philologica

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

One of the most controversial issues during the 2015 migrant crisis and the subsequent process of reformulating immigration policies by the European Union was...

Saying ‘No’ to Immigration Quota: An Analysis of Evaluative Language in Hungarian and Romanian Political Discourse

Published Online: Dec 30, 2021

Page range: 161 - 176

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ausp-2021-0019

Keywords
evaluative language, value position, alignment, European migrant crisis, resettlement quota

© 2021 Kinga Kolumbán, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Saying ‘No’ to Immigration Quota: An Analysis of Evaluative Language in Hungarian and Romanian Political Discourse

Published Online: Dec 30, 2021

Page range: 161 - 176

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ausp-2021-0019

Keywordsevaluative language, value position, alignment, European migrant crisis, resettlement quota

© 2021 Kinga Kolumbán, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
evaluative language, value position, alignment, European migrant crisis, resettlement quota