A NEW GEOGRAPHY IN A NEW AGE: THE CONSTRUCTION OF LOCAL AND GLOBAL IDENTITY IN THE DISCOURSE OF AN ITALIAN RIGHT-WING PARTY
A NEW GEOGRAPHY IN A NEW AGE: THE CONSTRUCTION OF LOCAL AND GLOBAL IDENTITY IN THE DISCOURSE OF AN ITALIAN RIGHT-WING PARTY

Summary/Abstract: The study analyzes the discourse of the Italian right-wing party Lega Nord ( ‘Northern League’ ) , focusing on a corpus of 12 texts issued between 2007 and 2014. The methodology applied is van Leeuwen’s ( 2008 ) approach to discourse as social practice, within the larger framework of critical discourse analysis. The analysis of the corpus focuses on the construction of legitimation strategies in the party discourse and on the representation of local, national and European identity. Results show that the identity of the party as a social actor remains constant, while the definition of the represented collectivity changes. The party sometimes claims to represent the Italian people confronting the danger of immigration, while at other times it defends the inhabitants of Northern Italy in front of the danger represented by the South. Traits which are characteristic for right-wing political discourse, such as populism and xenophobia ( e.g. Caiani, della Porta 2011 ) are constantly represented, in the Lega Nord texts, by a contestation of current geographical and statal boundaries, and an attempt to impose a new geography, based on a marked delimitation of the North from the South and of Italy from other states.

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