Abstract
Abstract In this paper we analyse how populist leaders in UK and Italy – namely Nigel Farage, Nicola Sturgeon, Giorgia Meloni, and Matteo Salvini – reacted to the first and second lockdowns on their Twitter accounts, communicating directly to their people. The analysis was carried out following a combined qualitative and quantitative approach to discourse. The qualitative analysis focused on comparing populist leaders’ rhetorical and semiotic choices, while the quantitative analysis observed the response by the community of common Twitter users. This work aims on the one hand at unveiling the strategic use of social media by populist leaders and on the other at investigating conflictual interactional dynamics, especially in times of crisis.
Publisher
Led Edizioni Universitarie
Subject
Linguistics and Language,Sociology and Political Science,Communication,Language and Linguistics,Cultural Studies
Reference101 articles.
1. Abt, K., and S. Rummens. 2007. "Populism versus Democracy". Political Studies 55 (2): 405-424.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9248.2007.00657.x
2. Acemoglu, D., G. Egorov, and K. Sonin. 2013. "A Political Theory of Populism". The Quarterly Journal of Economics 128 (2): 771-805.
https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjs077
3. Arienzo, A., P. Chiantera-Stutte, e S. Visentin, eds. 2021. "Introduzione. Covid/19 e politica. Note sul presente". Politics. Rivista di studi politici (Special Issue) 15 (1): 67-73.
4. Blassnig, S., N. Ernst, S. Engesser, and F. Esser. 2020. "Populism and Social Media Popularity: How Populist Communication Benefits Political Leaders on Facebook and Twitter". In Power Shift? Political Leadership and Social Media, edited by R. Davis and D. Taras, 97-111. London: Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429466007-7
5. Bobba, G., and N. Hubé, eds. 2021. Populism and the Politicization of the COVID-19 Crisis in Europe. London: Pagrave Macmillan.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66011-6