Conférence invitée de Robert Butler

Multimodal political discourse analysis: The example of Nigel Farage and Reform UK.

Robert Butler (IDEA, Université de Nancy)

Over the last decade, Critical Discourse Studies (CDS) has increasingly expanded its focus on text and the spoken word to incorporate the analysis of visual and audial modes of communication. A significant part of this trend comes from Gesture Studies (GS). This seminar provides an insight into the ways in which GS can enhance the linguist’s understanding of the discursive processes at work. Two speeches by Nigel Farage from June and September 2024 are analysed qualitatively. A number of linguistic categories are explored, including negation, modality and the role of the subject, in addition to cognitive-linguistic concepts, such as force dynamics. A multimodal approach to CDS makes it possible to provide a more comprehensive account of the speaker’s ethos and how he is able to reach out to voters and supporters in order to facilitate the growth of Reform UK as a new political party. The seminar starts with an introduction to GS, including seminal work by Adam Kendon on the main types of gesture and the different phases of gesturing. It then analyses the role of negation as an area of identity-building in the context of Reform UK before highlighting the gestures used in relation to other linguistic strategies. This will lead to a broader discussion of the discursive dimension of Farage’s speeches in the context of political identity and power.

Keywords: Critical Discourse Studies (CDS), gesture, linguistics, multimodality, political discourse, Reform UK