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Keys to populism? Exploring varieties of mainstream populist discourse through key item analysis

Data publikacji: 30.04.2026

Studies in Polish Linguistics, Volume 21 (2026), Vol. 21, Issue 1, s. 19-46

https://doi.org/10.4467/23005920SPL.26.002.23411

Autorzy

,
Natalia Zawadzka-Paluektau
Instytut Podstaw Informatyki Polskiej Akademii Nauk
, Polska
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4969-2039 Orcid
Kontakt z autorem
Wszystkie publikacje autora →
Witold Kieraś
Instytut Podstaw Informatyki Polskiej Akademii Nauk
, Polska
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8062-5881 Orcid
Kontakt z autorem
Wszystkie publikacje autora →

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Tytuły

Keys to populism? Exploring varieties of mainstream populist discourse through key item analysis

Abstrakt

Despite extensive research, populism remains one of the most strongly contested concepts relating to political language. This study aims to contribute to its understanding by putting forward an approach to identifying markers of populist communication, which draws on the Corpus-Assisted Discourse Studies toolkit. In order to test the “populist Zeitgeist” hypothesis (Mudde, 2007), and to fill the gap in research on populism in Eastern Europe, this methodology is then applied to a corpus of Polish mainstream politicians’ election campaign speeches. The results point to the populist contagion, provide counter-evidence to the claims of a transitory nature of populism and show significant variation, despite the relatively subtle ideological differences between the analysed parties. This suggests that populism should not be considered merely as an attachment to a “host” (usually extreme) ideology, but rather as a complex discursive phenomenon in its own right.

Bibliografia

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Informacje

Informacje: Studies in Polish Linguistics, Volume 21 (2026), Vol. 21, Issue 1, s. 19-46

Typ artykułu: Oryginalny artykuł naukowy

Tytuły:

Angielski: Keys to populism? Exploring varieties of mainstream populist discourse through key item analysis

Autorzy

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4969-2039

Natalia Zawadzka-Paluektau
Instytut Podstaw Informatyki Polskiej Akademii Nauk
, Polska
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4969-2039 Orcid
Kontakt z autorem
Wszystkie publikacje autora →

Instytut Podstaw Informatyki Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Polska

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8062-5881

Witold Kieraś
Instytut Podstaw Informatyki Polskiej Akademii Nauk
, Polska
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8062-5881 Orcid
Kontakt z autorem
Wszystkie publikacje autora →

Instytut Podstaw Informatyki Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Polska

Publikacja: 30.04.2026

Status artykułu: Otwarte __T_UNLOCK

Licencja: CC BY 4.0  ikona licencji

Udział procentowy autorów:

Natalia Zawadzka-Paluektau (Autor) - 50%
Witold Kieraś (Autor) - 50%

Korekty artykułu:

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Języki publikacji:

Angielski

Keys to populism? Exploring varieties of mainstream populist discourse through key item analysis

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