“This World Is Rotten”: An Analysis of Eco-Fascist Discourse
Title
“This World Is Rotten”: An Analysis of Eco-Fascist DiscourseAuthor(s)
Directors
Puente-Castelo, LuisDate
2023Center/Dept./Entity
Universidade da Coruña. Facultade de FiloloxíaDescription
Traballo fin de mestrado (UDC.FIL). Estudos ingleses avanzados e as súas aplicacións. Curso 2022/2023Abstract
[Abstract] The 20th century saw the birth and replication of a new, dangerous ideology:
fascism. Over the past century, it has led to a variety of subtypes, one of which interests
us specially: ecofascism. This dissertation explores how the English language is used by
ecofascists and spread through the internet through the use of discourse analysis. In the
past few decades of the 20th century, discourse analysis appeared and branched into three
main approaches. The last of these approaches, that is, Critical Discourse Analysis
(CDA), utilises a mixed methodology in which linguistic, textual and social elements are
considered. The present study has been carried out by following CDA and, more
particularly, Fairclough’s approach to it, which involves looking into different linguistic
features through the glass of socio-historical context. Fairclough’s model emphasises the
division of the three levels present in CDA: the textual dimension, the discursive
dimension and the social dimension. Corpus studies have also been a part of this analysis
to aid in the creation of the most objective study possible, by comparing a corpus created
with ecofascist texts specifically for this dissertation with two control corpora, the BNC
and the COCA. This dissertation shows how, by scrutinising the published material in as
much detail as a work of this magnitude and kind allows, the use and repetition of certain
terms and other linguistic subtleties has a very real and relevant ideological purpose. To
this end, I have focused on elements such as pronouns, modal verbs and rhetorical devices
used in a linguistic context. This analysis has proven that my initial hypothesis that
linguistic and textual elements are being used for the writers’ own profit, thus influencing
the readership, is correct.
Keywords
Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)
Corpus linguistics
Ecofascism
Global North
Global South
Discourse
Racism
Corpus linguistics
Ecofascism
Global North
Global South
Discourse
Racism
Rights
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