Abstract
This well thought-out edited collection showcases the research undertaken by the Eurling Group, an interdisciplinary scholarly community established in 2005 at the University of Bergen, Norway, with members from other European universities. The contributors share an interest in the study of political discourse from a linguistic perspective, and have joined their forces to develop a set of theoretical and methodological approaches suitable for tackling the complexities of contemporary European political communication.
The book opens with a substantial introductory chapter that provides a clear rationale for the book and outlines the key components of the overarching theoretical framework that links the individual contributions into a coherent whole. The book’s aim is fourfold. First, it presents a set of theories and methodologies suitable for the analysis of European political discourse, ranging from discourse analysis and corpus linguistics to text statistics and metaphor analysis. Second, it seeks to offer an explanation of the complexities encountered in European political discourse, and to this end, distinguishes between three levels of discourse: the historical-political level (encompassing issues of legitimacy, identity and community), the situational-rhetorical level (which encompasses different situational and rhetorical contexts that shape political discourse in Europe) and the linguistic-textual level (which focuses on particular linguistic tools and strategies, including e.g. the use of personal pronouns, metaphors). Third, the book seeks to offer a new take on the interplay of national and European perspectives in discourse, highlighting the importance of ambiguity as a key strategy that allows European politicians to address their multiple constituencies. Fourth, the book also aims to introduce new perspectives on the role of audiences in influencing European discourse.
In line with these aims, the individual contributions introduce different methodological and theoretical frameworks, applying them to selected cases studies, including Tony Blair’s speech delivered to the European Parliament in 2005, longitudinal trends in Nicholas Sarkozy’s speeches and the history of heart-based metaphors in European political discourse. Empirically, all contributions are based on the analysis of European Parliamentary discourses, with occasional additions of the analysis of media coverage. While this narrow empirical focus has its disadvantages – most notably, it is difficult to comprehend the full complexity of European political discourse by focusing on parliamentary debates alone – it also secures greater internal coherence and allows the reader to draw meaningful comparisons between the different theoretical frameworks and methodological procedures proposed by individual chapters. Thanks to this, the book has the potential to serve as a useful toolkit for researchers and advanced-level students interested in linguistically informed studies of political discourse, especially in Europe but possibly also in other political settings characterized by multi-level governance. Beyond that, the value of the book also lies in its attempt to bring into dialogue linguistic approaches to political discourse rooted in different academic traditions – Anglo-American, Romance and Scandinavian.