How New is the “New” National Front?
Thursday, February 18, 201612:00 PM - 1:30 PM (Pacific)
Encina Hall, Second Floor, Central, C231
616 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford, CA 94305
*Please note room changed to CISAC central*
Abstract:
Since she took over the National Front in 2011, Marine Le Pen has carried the far right party to first place, winning an unprecedented 30% of the votes in France’s latest December 2015 elections. What does she say that resonates with French voters so strongly? And how did she manage to turn the once infamous “FN” into an almost mainstream party that claims to be the last champion of French republican values?
Using text mining software and textual analyses, Cécile Alduy has ciphered more than 500 speeches and texts by Jean-Marie and Marine Le Pen to pinpoint exactly how, and on what topics, the daughter’s discourse differs from that of her father.
In this talk, literary studies meet digital humanities and political science to crack the new National Front rhetorical code and uncover the deeper ideological and mythological structures beyond the stylistic polishing.
Speaker Bio: