Do we have all the necessary data? The challenge of measuring populism through metaphors

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to highlight one possible method how to recognize populism in political communication. The method synthesizes frameworks of content analysis, metaphor analysis and Laclau’s perspective of populism as a style of communication that operates with empty signifiers. Laclau argues that populist statements usually contain stereotypes that are demonstrated as facts. These “facts” serve to strengthen social frustration of the masses, provoke their feeling of social injustice, and continually creating a gap between the elites and the people. All of this serves the populists, who use these “facts”, to gain popularity. Populists use categories like “nation”, “ours”, “theirs”, “migrants”, “good culture”, “bad Islam”, but they do not explain the proper meaning of these terms. The populist rhetoric is only about the style of communication, not the content. We can explain these categories through metaphors that link the reference terms to values. Populists can create implicit metaphors like CZECH NATION IS HUMANE (good) and its opposite—MIGRANTS ARE PSEUDO-HUMANE (evil). Thus, they create specific mentality of evil/good. In order to demonstrate the step-by-step method, the article focuses on the Czech political party called Freedom and Direct Democracy, especially on the speeches of their chairman Tomio Okamura. The data set is based on the discussion of the Czech parliament about the so-called “migration crisis”. According to the analysis, it is possible to distinguish populist rhetoric, and to find all populistic clauses in the examinated text.