University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School April 2019 Right-wing, Nationalist Discourses and Counter-Discourses on Twitter during the European Migrant Crisis Ramona Kreis University of South Florida, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the Anthropological Linguistics and Sociolinguistics Commons Scholar Commons Citation Kreis, Ramona, "Right-wing, Nationalist Discourses and Counter-Discourses on Twitter during the European Migrant Crisis" (2019). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/8379 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Right-wing, Nationalist Discourses and Counter-Discourses on Twitter during the European Migrant Crisis by Ramona Kreis A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics and Applied Language Studies Department of World Languages College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Major Professor: Camilla Vásquez, Ph.D. Jennifer Wolgemuth, Ph.D. Nicole Tracy-Ventura, Ph.D. Tara Deubel, Ph.D. Date of Approval: March 28, 2019 Keywords: digital discourse, critical discourse analysis, multimodal discourse analysis, social media, Germany Copyright © 2019, Ramona Kreis ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am incredibly grateful to Dr. Camilla Vásquez, who has been an inspiration and a role model for me. She supported me during all the difficult times and made my Ph.D. journey a wonderful experience. She made me the scholar I am and I will be forever grateful for all the opportunities she provided for me. I would like to express my gratitude to my committee members, Dr. Jennifer Wolgemuth, Dr. Nicole Tracy-Ventura, and Dr. Tara Deubel for broadening my horizon and showing me different perspectives, and for all the valuable feedback during this process. I would like to thank the German section at USF for always supporting me as a teaching assistant and for providing great opportunities for me as an educator. I am also very grateful to Janie Barner, who has been my mentor and a true friend. My journey in the U.S. started because of you and I am so thankful for all the experiences we have shared. I am deeply grateful to my husband, Jhon Cuesta, for helping me find my research topic and for his continuous and unconditional support, encouragement, and love. ¡Gracias por todo lo que hemos compartido y lo que nos falta por compartir! And finally, danke Mama, für deine Liebe und Unterstützung. Du hast mich zu dem Menschen gemacht, der ich bin, und ohne dich wäre meine Promotion nicht möglich gewesen. Deshalb widme ich dir diese Dissertation. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. iv List of Figures ..................................................................................................................................v Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... vi Chapter One: Introduction ...............................................................................................................1 The Revitalization of Right-wing, Nationalist Discourses ..................................................1 The Role of Social Media for Right-wing, Nationalist Discourses .....................................4 Purpose and Significance of the Study ................................................................................5 Research Questions ..............................................................................................................7 The Context of Twitter .........................................................................................................8 Definitions of Terms ..........................................................................................................10 Discourse and Discursive Strategies ......................................................................10 Filter Bubble ..........................................................................................................11 Intertextuality, Interdiscursivity, and Recontextualization ....................................11 Multimodality ........................................................................................................12 Nationalist ..............................................................................................................12 Right-Wing ............................................................................................................13 Social Representations ...........................................................................................14 Topoi ......................................................................................................................14 Xenophobia and the Other .....................................................................................14 Chapter Two: Literature Review ...................................................................................................16 Right-wing, Nationalist Discourse in Elite Discourses ......................................................16 Political Discourse .................................................................................................17 The Discourse in Mass Media ................................................................................19 Right-wing, Nationalist Discourses in Digital and Social Media ......................................21 Commentaries to Online Newspapers ....................................................................23 Discussion Forums and Participatory Websites .....................................................25 Social Networking Sites .........................................................................................33 Reactions to Right-wing, Nationalist Discourses in Digital and Social Media .....41 Summary of Right-wing, Nationalist Discourses in Digital and Social Media .....45 Perceived Gap ...................................................................................................................53 Chapter Three: Method ..................................................................................................................55 Purpose of the Study and Research Questions ...................................................................55 Research Design and Theoretical/Analytical Framework .................................................57 Sampling Strategy ..............................................................................................................62 i Data Management and Storage ..........................................................................................67 Data Analysis .....................................................................................................................68 Sample Analysis .................................................................................................................71 Validity Criteria .................................................................................................................73 Ethical Considerations .......................................................................................................75 Chapter Four: Findings for Right-wing Discourses .......................................................................77 #wirschaffendas .................................................................................................................78 Referential/nomination ..........................................................................................78 Predication .............................................................................................................82 Argumentation .......................................................................................................86 Perspectivization ....................................................................................................93 Intertextuality .........................................................................................................97 Semiotic and multimodal resources .......................................................................99 #openborders ..................................................................................................................107 Referential/nomination and predication ...............................................................107 Argumentation and perspectivization ..................................................................109 Semiotic and multimodal resources .....................................................................112 #MerkelsTote ..................................................................................................................113 Referential/nomination ........................................................................................114 Predication ...........................................................................................................116 Argumentation .....................................................................................................119 Perspectivization .................................................................................................125