engleski

The rhetoric of German chancelor Angela Merkel on the example of narratives about the refugee crisis

This paper discusses the rhetorical possibilities that the media and politicians use to create stories out of events, while at the same time they attempt to impose a specific understanding on the broader public. The paper aims to research the role of conceptual metaphors in constructing narratives concerning the European refugees crisis. The choice of each particular narrative strives to direct public perception towards a humanitarian and/or restrictive approach to the issue. Assuming that politicians and the media, placed under social, political and/or economic influence, choose from which point of view a topic will be presented to the public, the rhetoric level of a conceptual metaphor's narrative role aims to show whether Merkel speaks of the refugees within the frame of the humanitarian and/or restrictive approach to the crisis. The source material includes two interviews from Anne Will's political talk show, aired in October 2015 and February 2016 on ARD Television’s flagship channel Das Erste. The selected interviews are fully dedicated to the problem of the Refugee Crisis. The results show that Merkel uses metaphors to emphasise Germany's positive characteristics and the correctness of its open door policy, which gives German society a concept of power and the refugees a concept of weakness. Narratives about Germany as a fair and humane persona and the refugees as victims of a tragedy, for which they were not responsible themselves, indicate the dominance of a humanitarian approach to the crisis. Furthermore, the analysis shows that the key narratives in Angela Merkel's statements do not change when her approach is criticised by the media or other politicians, thus confirming her consistent attitude as the key characteristic of her rhetoric.

political rhetoric, narratives, the European refugees crisis, German chancelor

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