. "Good afternoon. We’re near the end of a frenetic campaign”: A Dialogue of Discourse Historical Approach and Cultural Studies on PM David Cameron’s Speech on Brexit
Junaidi Linguistics Department, Faculty of Humanities Universitas Indonesia Abstract Code: ABS-ICOLLITE-20253 Introduction
• 23 January 2013: Bloomberg speech --- new role in the EU • The years 2015 and 2016 = the rise of global insecurities and uncertainties, new answers promised by the rising parties and movements like right-wing and left-wing populist as well as extremist parties (Grabbe: 2014; Wodak: 2015, 2016; Wehling et al: 2015). • 21 June 2016: Cameron’s speech • 23 June 2016: Brexit (British Exit from the EU) • Research question: “How is the British national identity is constructed discursively in this political speech?”. Literature Review
• Wodak, R., De Cillia, R., Reisigl, M. & Liebhart, K. (2009 [1999])The discursive construction of national identities. Edinburgh: EUP (2nd revised edition). • Wodak, Ruth Emily (2016) "We have the character of an island nation":a discourse-historical analysis of David Cameron's "Bloomberg Speech" on the European Union. Working Paper. European University Institute • Buckledee, S. (2018) The Language of Brexit: How Britain Talked Its Way Out of the European Union. London: Bloomsbury • Koller, V. (Ed.), Kopf, S. (Ed.), Miglbauer, M. (Ed.). (2019). Discourses of Brexit. London: Routledge, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351041867 Method
• Data: PM David Cameron’s speech on 24 June 2016 in Independent newspapers. • Aims: o Reconstruct discursive construction of British national identity o Explore language and national identity • Discourse Historical Approach and Cultural Studies o Discourse Historical Approach: content, discursive strategies, linguistics realization (step 1) o Cultural studies: national identity (step 2) Findings & Discussion
• Macro-topics: discourses: (1) Brexit campaign discourse and polarization of opinion about Brexit, (2) globalization discourse, (3) generation discourse, (4) economic security in the EU, (5) neo-liberal discourse with its free-market, (6) values in Europe discourse, and (7) discourse of British national identity. consequences, worries, fears, and hopes for the future of the UK in the EU, focuses more on the economic aspect Cameron defined the UK more as an economic partner of the EU than a political one Findings & Discussion
• Discursive strategies o Nomination strategy which is used to construct social actors, objects/phenomena/events, and processes/actions in the speech both positively and negatively. o Predication strategy also implies opportunities and threats. o The assimilation strategy aims to create temporal, interpersonal, or spatial concerning various thematic dimensions discussed above --“we”, “our”, “your prime minister”, “us” o Dissimilation strategy; on the contrary, is used to create the opposite– The French o perspectivization strategy to position his perspective through statements, assumptions, and/or interdiscursivity – topos of responsibility o Argumentative structure: UK in EU (opportunities & threat)---threats, can be avoided -- remain • Linguistic realization Using pronoun and possessive adjectives like “we”, “us”, “our”, “you”, and “your”, PM David Cameron constructed British national identity. Conclusion
• Different discourses, sequence of macro-topics, discursive strategies, and linguistic realization used to create solidarity, unity and belonging in the UK • This discursive national identity is constructed personally and emotionally to win the vote in the Referendum: Remain in Europe • In constructing national identity the political context and historical past are used to convince the voters. References
• Adler-Nissen , R , Galpin , C & Rosamond , B 2017 , ' Performing Brexit : How a Post-Brexit World is Imagined Outside the UK ' , British Journal of Politics and International Relations, vol. 19 , no. 3 , 11 , pp. 573-591 . https://doi.org/10.1177/1369148117711092 (2017) • Anderson, B (1983) Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism, London: Verso • Barker, C and Galasinski, D (2001) Cultural Studies and Discourse Analysis: A Dialogue on Language and Identity, London and Thousand Oaks: Sage • Beck, U. (2000) What is Globalization? Malden, MA: Polity. • Benjamin, D. C & Yannis, S (2017) Distinctions and Articulations: A Discourse Theoretical Framework for the Study of Populism and Nationalism, Javnost - The Public, 24:4, 301-319, DOI: 10.1080/13183222.2017.1330083 • Hall, S. (1996) ‘who needs identity?’, in Hall, S. and du Gay, P., Questions of Cultural Identity, London: Sage • Koller, V. (Ed.), Kopf, S. (Ed.), Miglbauer, M. (Ed.). (2019). Discourses of Brexit. London: Routledge, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351041867 • Leung, R.C (2019) Analysis of the UK Prime Ministerial Discourse on Brexit:Thematic Choices and Their Implications” in Discourse and Interaction; Vol 11, No 2 (2018); 45-64 ; 1805-952X ; 1802-9930 • Lilleker, D.G, and Bonacci, D (2017) The Structure of Political E-expression: What the Brexit Campaign can Teach Us about Political Talk on Facebook, International Journal of Digital Television, Volume 8, Issue 3, 1 November 2017, hal. 335-350 • Wodak, Ruth Emily (2016) "We have the character of an island nation":a discourse-historical analysis of David Cameron's "Bloomberg Speech" on the European Union. Working Paper. European University Institute. • Open Knowledge Maps (2019). Overview of research on Brexit discourse analysis. Retrieved from https://openknowledgemaps.org/map/19456368ef6161275cfd68940cb5ec09/ [07 Mar 2019].