A corpus study of outgrouping in Greek radical right computer-mediated discourses

Abstract

This paper reports on a large-scale study on how “enemies” are linguistically constructed by Greece’s radical right. The research combines corpus linguistics approaches and insights from critical discourse analysis, with the aim of analysing the referential/nomination and predication strategies used to delineate “others” as outgroups. Drawing on a 90 million-word corpus comprising the full set of texts from 13 radical right web-based platforms from 2001 to 2019, the research identifies and statistically classifies principal designators and qualifiers. By closely examining their diachronic variations and correlation with significant sociopolitical events, we critically categorise and discuss the empirical findings and thus unveil topics, as well as aspects of the argumentation, pooled by Greece’s radical right in their discursive constructions.