Positioning and Stance in Political Discourse: The Individual, the Party, and the Party Line (Politics)

Within the political sphere, a political actor is often judged by what he or she says, with their verbal performance often perceived as representative of the individual. Hearers accept that, as individuals, they possess a lifetime of experiences and actions which inform, but may also undermine, their aspirations in gaining political capital. Additionally, as representatives of a political party and its ideology, these actors do not exist in isolation; they are members and, at times, potential candidates of a particular party with its own agenda which may, in turn, cause them to modify their personal speech to align with espoused policies of the party.

The various contributions contained in this volume examine the discourse of political actors through the lenses of positionality and stance. Throughout its chapters, clearly defined theoretical perspectives and specified social practices are employed, enabling the authors to elucidate how political actors can situate themselves, their party, and their opponents toward their ostensive public. This book successfully demonstrates how espoused perspectives relate to, or reflect on, the nature of the individual political actor and their truth, the party they represent and its ideology, and the pandering to popular public opinion to gain support and co-operation.

This book will hold particular appeal for postgraduate students, researchers, and scholars of discourse studies, pragmatics, political science, as well as other areas in humanities and the social sciences.

Lawrence N. Berlin is the Academic Director of the Center of Languages at EAFIT University in Medellín, Colombia, and Professor Emeritus in TESOL from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago. Having earned a bachelor's in Drama from New York University (1984), a master's in Foreign Language Education from West Virginia University (1996), and his doctorate in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching from the University of Arizona (2000), he has published numerous manuscripts on the teaching of English as a second language, pragmatics, and discourse analysis. He founded the organization, Dialogue Under Occupation, in 2006 and continues to conduct research in political and media discourse, as well as critical pedagogy and participatory approaches to the teaching of languages.