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

<p>Since the entry of the far-right party VOX into the Spanish government administrations in 2018, Spain's political scene has gone through a deep transformation. The disparity in opinions among the different parties concerning migration seems to tear the country's democratic foundation apart. This paper is a study of the language and discursive strategies used by VOX's leader, Santiago Abascal, articulating the party's populist propaganda for a united country to “make Spain great again.” The analysis was grounded on the theoretical underpinnings of <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="j_jnmlp-2022-0005_ref_052">Wodak's (2001)</xref> discursive strategies and <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="j_jnmlp-2022-0005_ref_017">Van Dijk's (1993)</xref> “<italic>Us” vs. “Them”</italic> framework. The data were based on Abascal's closing political campaign speech during the Madridlenian elections, which was televised in May 2021. The 30-minute video recording was transcribed, annotated, coded, and analyzed. The findings suggest a pattern of discursive practices aimed at diminishing other political parties and their representatives, vilify immigrants, and impugn government measures that were against VOX's authoritarian conservatism and nationalism. There was a predominant use of predication strategies to positively present VOX while denigrating its political rivals. Referential/nomination strategies were also used to divide the society between in-groups and out-groups. Strongly embedded in these strategies were perlocutionary acts used to incite hate toward the out-groups and evoke fear and anxiety toward the in-group, strategically employed as tools to gain votes in the elections.</p>
</abstract>

Since the entry of the far-right party VOX into the Spanish government administrations in 2018, Spain's political scene has gone through a deep transformation. The disparity in opinions among the different parties concerning migration seems to tear the country's democratic foundation apart. This paper is a study of the language and discursive strategies used by VOX's leader, Santiago Abascal, articulating the party's populist propaganda for a united country to “make Spain great again.” The analysis was grounded on the theoretical underpinnings of Wodak's (2001) discursive strategies and Van Dijk's (1993) “Us” vs. “Them” framework. The data were based on Abascal's closing political campaign speech during the Madridlenian elections, which was televised in May 2021. The 30-minute video recording was transcribed, annotated, coded, and analyzed. The findings suggest a pattern of discursive practices aimed at diminishing other political parties and their representatives, vilify immigrants, and impugn government measures that were against VOX's authoritarian conservatism and nationalism. There was a predominant use of predication strategies to positively present VOX while denigrating its political rivals. Referential/nomination strategies were also used to divide the society between in-groups and out-groups. Strongly embedded in these strategies were perlocutionary acts used to incite hate toward the out-groups and evoke fear and anxiety toward the in-group, strategically employed as tools to gain votes in the elections.

The Dangerous Discourse of “Us” vs. “Them:” Spain's VOX Discursive Practices

Journal of Nationalism, Memory & Language Politics

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Since the entry of the far-right party VOX into the Spanish government administrations in 2018, Spain's political scene has gone through a deep transformation....

The Dangerous Discourse of “Us” vs. “Them:” Spain's VOX Discursive Practices

Publicado en línea: 01 oct 2022

Páginas: 211 - 233

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jnmlp-2022-0005

Palabras clave
VOX, Spanish government, discursive strategies, perlocutionary acts, discourse analysis

© 2022 Francisco de Borja Navarro et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The Dangerous Discourse of “Us” vs. “Them:” Spain's VOX Discursive Practices

Publicado en línea: 01 oct 2022

Páginas: 211 - 233

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jnmlp-2022-0005

Palabras claveVOX, Spanish government, discursive strategies, perlocutionary acts, discourse analysis

© 2022 Francisco de Borja Navarro et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Palabras clave
VOX, Spanish government, discursive strategies, perlocutionary acts, discourse analysis