Political Discourse Analysis

The course is a series of lectures that, in fact, serve as triggers for discussion with the students of the postgraduate programme on the applications of language at the limits of politics, at the crossroads of the transition from political participation to violence, in the field where, to recall Camus, "words become spheres". It examines, through the use of rhetoric, political discourse analysis and critical discourse analysis, and among other things: the techniques of justifying racism, the constructions of ideological systems of hatred and marginalization, the particular elements of Nazi discourse, extremism, the evolution of Islamist discourse, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism. Particular emphasis is placed on the social, political and linguistic elements of the construction of hate speech: dehumanisation, vivisection, obedience to the Leader, aversion to reason, loss of a sense of responsibility.

Upon finishing the course, the student shall be in position to:

• Comprehend in depth discourse analysis methodology
• Grasp in depth the minutiae of discourse analysis, including the work of critical discourse analysis theoreticians like Fairclough and van Dijk
• Understand how speech works in extreme situations (genocide discourse, hate speech, radicalization, terrorism, Islamic jihadism)

Week 1: Introduction – Ancient Greek and Roman Rhetoric and Political Discourse – Political and Judicial Discourse – Power and Representations (Foucault and Said) – Discourse and Colonialism – Syllabus Trajectory Presentation.

Week 2: Islam and Islamic Fundamentalism – Islam, Islamic Law and Islamic Politics – Islamic Politics and Political Islam – Definitions (fundamentalism, extremism, zelotism, wahhabism, jihadism). The students come in contact (via videos, texts, songs) with the use of symbols and political discourse in the political Islam language.

Week 3: Examination of the different stages of the political Islam “evolution”: the discourse of the Muslim Brethren, al Qaeda, ISIS and Boko Haram. Symbols, terror and the use of technology. Radicalisation theory. Islamic Liberalism.

Week 4: Hate Speech. Genocide Speech. Genocide: definitions (Lemkin, Drost). Historical aspects of Genocide. Genocide speech: preparation and justification. Hate speech: main characteristics. Ethical problems (freedom of expression). Blaming the victim and self - victimization of the perpetrators.

Week 5: The unique character of the Holocausts (industrialization and alienation). LTI and the debates about the character of the Nazi genocides. Hate speech and the Rwanda genocide.

Week 6: Political speech in Turkey – Kemalism (the 6 arrows: nationalism, revolutionalism, secularism). Turkey’s transformation and the marginalisation of Islam – Islam in Turkish politics.

Week 7: Islam in AKP’s discourse. Hate speech in Erdogan’s discourse. Islamophobia in Erdogan’s discourse. The otherness in AKP’ s discourse (enemies, the West, Greece, Hizmet, homosexuality, Kurds).

Week 8: Political Correctness, Racism (KKK, Alt Right), Antisemitism, Conspiracies and phobias.

Week 9: Presentation of students’ projects.

Week 10: Presentation of students’ projects.

Sotiris Livas: Language and Extremism, Papazisis, 2021 (in Greek).

James Waller: Becoming Evil – How ordinary people commit genocide and mass killing, Oxford, 2007.

Sotiris Livas: Aspects of the Middle East, Papazisis, 2017 (in Greek).

Sotiris Livas: Aspects of Turkey, Papazisis, 2017.

John Joseph: Language and Politics, Edinburgh University Press, 2006.

Victor Klemperer: LTI, Bloomsbury, 2006.

Lectures, Seminars, Study & analysis of literature.

Use in teaching and in communication with students.

The evaluation is an ongoing process. Projects’ presentation is evaluated in a 30% percentage of the total. The essay (usually an analytical, in written form, presentation of the project: 40%. The 30% is related to the student’s overall participation in class, his critical stance to the lectures and his in general contribution.