The Day After : Linguistic Constructions of Belonging to 'We'-Identity in German and Czech Press After the Terrorist Attacks in Brussels, March 2016
Abstract
Following Silverstein's notion of indexikality, I analyze language use in German and Czech newspapers with particular focus on "we"-deixis after the terrorist attacks in Brussels on 22 March 2016. How the dynamic notions of "us" reflect upon, and contribute to the formation of, varied senses of belonging to broader collective identities and alterities? Are the linguistic practices of othering used in the Czech press different from those used in the German one? First, I will briefly examine the differences in linguistic practices of belonging as performed by serious press on the one hand and the tabloid press on the other hand.
Combing the methodological framework of (post)Bühlerian linguistics with Silverstein's social semiotics, I shall argue, and show based on examples, that there are striking similarities between the deictic practices of belonging used in the Czech serious and the German tabloid dailies. However, certain types of "we"-deixis present in German serious press has little or no counterpart in Czech dailies.