Political Debasement: Incivility, Contempt, and Humiliation in Parliamentary and Public Discourse

Preface
Contents
Contributors
1 Assessing the Politics of Debasement: From Impoliteness to Demonization in Political Communication
	1.1 Introduction
	1.2 Debasement and Political Debasement
	1.3 Debasement and Incivility
	1.4 Assessing Political Debasement
		1.4.1 Narrow Sense Debasement
		1.4.2 Broad Sense Debasement
	1.5 Modes of Interaction Between Debaser(s) and Their Target(s)
	1.6 Model: Elements and Research Questions in Political Debasement
		1.6.1 The Debasers
		1.6.2 The Target
		1.6.3 The Type of Debasement Language That Is Used
		1.6.4 The Setting in Which Debasement Takes Place
		1.6.5 The Manner in Which Debasement Expression Is Presented
		1.6.6 The Motives Behind Expression of Debasement
		1.6.7 The Effect or Potential Effect of Debasement Language
		1.6.8 The Political and Socio-Cultural Environment Context
	1.7 Overview of the Volume
	References
Part I Incivility in Deliberative Bodies
2 Adversarial Attacks in Spanish Politics: Direct and Indirect Forms
	2.1 Introduction
	2.2 Survey of the Literature
	2.3 The Spanish Political Context
	2.4 Methodology and Corpus
	2.5 Analysis and Discussion
		2.5.1 Direct Forms
		2.5.2 Indirect Forms
	2.6 Conclusion
	References
3 Of Toddy, Tongsan, and Bigfoot from Kinabatangan: The Use of Impolite Language in the Malaysian Parliament
	3.1 Introduction
		3.1.1 The System
		3.1.2 Terlajak Perahu Boleh Diundur, Terlajak Kata Buruk Padahnya
		3.1.3 The Political Scene
	3.2 Methodology
	3.3 Case Study: The Use of Debasing Language in the Malaysian Parliament
	3.4 Conclusions
	References
4 Incivility from the UK Prime Minister’s Dispatch Box: A Comparative Study of PM Question Time Attacks, 2010–2020
	4.1 Introduction
	4.2 Political Incivility in British Politics
		4.2.1 Case: Questions to the Prime Minister (PMQs)
	4.3 Data Collection and Method of Analysis
	4.4 Results
	4.5 Conclusions
	References
Part II Disparaging Officeholders, Aspiring Politicians, and Members of the Public
5 Challenging Etiquette: Insults, Sarcasm, and Irony in Japanese Politicians’ Discourse
	5.1 Introduction
	5.2 Communication Etiquette in Japanese Society and Politics
	5.3 Insults, Ridicule and Belittling Expressions in Politicians’ Discourse
		5.3.1 Misogynistic, Insulting and Humiliating Comments Towards Women
		5.3.2 Discriminatory Statement on Gender Equality and LGBT Rights
		5.3.3 Other Comments on Individuals and Groups within Japanese Society
	5.4 Discussion
	5.5 Conclusions
	References
6 Consistency and Change: Derogatory Language in Chinese Leaders’ Speeches
	6.1 Introduction
	6.2 Debasement Language: The Revolutionary Era
	6.3 Removing the Intellectuals’ “Bourgeois Hat” and Vigilance Against Bourgeois Liberalizers
	6.4 Continuous Debasement Against the Corrupt
	6.5 Discussion and Conclusion
	References
7 Rahul Gandhi as “Prince” and Pappu: The Hindu Right's Politics of Ridicule
	7.1 Introduction
	7.2 Theoretical Overview
	7.3 Method
	7.4 The Making of Pappu and Shehzada
	7.5 Discussion and Conclusion
	References
8 Use of Labels and Attributes for Degrading Opponents in Montenegro’s Political Discourse
	8.1 Introduction
	8.2 The Montenegrin Political Context
	8.3 Theoretical Background and Previous Research
		8.3.1 Other-Delegitimization and Lexicalization
		8.3.2 Debasement in Political Discourse
		8.3.3 Previous Related Research
	8.4 Corpus and Analytical Steps
	8.5 Analysis
		8.5.1 Targets of the Debasing Labels and Attributes
		8.5.2 Semantic Classification of Debasing Labels and Attributes
	8.6 Discussion and Conclusion
	References
Part III Humiliating, Ridiculing, and Degrading Power Holders
9 Greek Political Discourse, 2019–2022: Instrumentalizing Impoliteness and Aggression
	9.1 Introduction
	9.2 The Overall Context: Greek Politics 2008–2022
	9.3 Analysis
	9.4 Conclusion
	References
10 Incivility in the Language of the Powerful: Derisive and Debasing Discourse in Polish Politics
	10.1 Introduction
	10.2 The Rise of Populist Incivility in Polish Politics
	10.3 Debasement as Taboo-Breaking Through Offensive Language: Method and Data
	10.4 Analysis
		10.4.1 Debasement in a Parliamentary Debate
		10.4.2 Mediated Materials
		10.4.3 Social Media
	10.5 Conclusion
	References
11 The Israeli National Camp’s Political Rhetoric of Debasement as a New Nationalist Populist (NNP) Tool
	11.1 Introduction
	11.2 Between Debasement and NNP
	11.3 Debasement in the Zionist and Israeli Political Landscape
	11.4 The National Camp and Its Debasing Rhetoric
		11.4.1 Strong and Greater Israel
		11.4.2 An Illiberal Israeli Democracy
		11.4.3 Humiliating Rivals
	11.5 Discussion and Conclusion
	References
Part IV Conclusions
12 The Linguistic and Cultural Ambiguities of Parliamentary Political Invective
	12.1 Introduction
	12.2 The Research Problematics of Debasing Invective
	12.3 An Intensity Scale of Invective
		12.3.1 A Typology of (Political) Invective
	12.4 Factors Determining the Harshness of Political Invective
		12.4.1 Invective Chronology: Semantic Change Over Time
		12.4.2 Invective Comprehension: Dissimilar Audiences
		12.4.3 Invective Context: Different Impact
		12.4.4 Invective Extent: Localized or Across-the-Board
		12.4.5 Invective Medium
		12.4.6 Non-Verbal Attack
		12.4.7 Invective Ambiguity
	12.5 Comparative Studies
	12.6 (Tentative) Conclusions
	References
Index