Megalothymic subjectivity as a result of populist narrative strategies Cover Image

Podmiotowość megalotymiczna jako efekt populistycznych strategii narracyjnych
Megalothymic subjectivity as a result of populist narrative strategies

Author(s): Kornel Bielawski
Subject(s): Political psychology, Politics and communication, Politics and society
Published by: Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek
Keywords: subjectivity; megalothymia; thymos; populism; Donald Trump;

Summary/Abstract: The article addresses the phenomenon of megalothymic subjectivity as an indirect effect of the systemic weakness of modern liberal democracy. By using Donald Trump’s narrative strategies as an example, the author shows how populism creates in voters’ minds an imagined reality of conspiracy, danger, and loss of human decency. The process of populist communication takes the form of a story with an upcoming decisive moment, the victory of good or evil. A voter being shaped in such manner sees himself both as a part of a significant and strong community and as a victim of hostile actions of politicians on the national and international scene. The voter in such a position begins to manifest attitudes indicating a desire to regain his supposedly lost subjectivity, the extreme manifestation of which was the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

  • Issue Year: 78/2023
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 238-252
  • Page Count: 15
  • Language: Polish