Nuove ideologie, nuove autorità in contesto europeo: i discorsi polemici di Grillo e Dieudonné

Abstract

This study focuses on the communicative strategies that Dieudonne and Grillo use in their public discourse. Both the Italian and the French leader have been comedians, and have recently become protagonists of public debates in their countries. Both of them exploit the Web to spread their polemical discourses, which have proven to be viral in the era of liberalization of obscene language, insults, cries, and provocative gestures against the establishment. The polemical ethos which characterizes Grillo’s and Dieudonne’s discourses tend to become more and more violent, and to acquire features typical of the pamphlet. This study shows that their well-organized rhetoric has been able to awaken a negative pathos in their followers, who appreciate their new and more modern forms of authority. That is why they become all-out supporters and easily tend to adhere to new ideologies, which become viral due to the new media.