"Language is more than blood" is an aphorism of the philosopher Rosenzweig, taken up by the philologist Klemperer in his book on the language of the Third Empire (Third Reich; 2018, original edition 1947). The meaning of this expression is to be found in the great importance that language has for Jewish religion and culture (the sound of the word emitted by God created the world) and lends itself very well to investigating particular aspects of contemporary neo-populism. Personally, I consider neo-populism a specific political attitude (Tarchi 2019) based on the following two evident characteristics. Presence of a first fundamental low/high cleavage, people/elite, for which the low is intrinsically better than the high, the people better than the elite; difference of value in turn anchored on a moral basis (often with judicial implications). Presence of a second essential cleavage offered by the demarcation/integration distinction (Kriesi et alii 2012), whereby the global is intrinsically evil, while what is demarcated, specifically the national sovereignty of peoples, is good.
The Tongue is more than Blood. A Sociological Inquiry on the Neo-Populist Language
Daniele Ungaro
2020-01-01
Abstract
"Language is more than blood" is an aphorism of the philosopher Rosenzweig, taken up by the philologist Klemperer in his book on the language of the Third Empire (Third Reich; 2018, original edition 1947). The meaning of this expression is to be found in the great importance that language has for Jewish religion and culture (the sound of the word emitted by God created the world) and lends itself very well to investigating particular aspects of contemporary neo-populism. Personally, I consider neo-populism a specific political attitude (Tarchi 2019) based on the following two evident characteristics. Presence of a first fundamental low/high cleavage, people/elite, for which the low is intrinsically better than the high, the people better than the elite; difference of value in turn anchored on a moral basis (often with judicial implications). Presence of a second essential cleavage offered by the demarcation/integration distinction (Kriesi et alii 2012), whereby the global is intrinsically evil, while what is demarcated, specifically the national sovereignty of peoples, is good.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
