Linguistic realization of the ‘we–they’ opposition in the campaign materials of the alternative for Germany party

Abstract

Introduction. This article examines the ‘we–they’ opposition and the related ‘friend–stranger’ opposition. The study aims to determine the linguistic means of realizing the universal psychological opposition ‘we–they’ in the German-language election campaign materials of the Alternative for Germany party. It considers how this opposition helps shape the political identity of German voters and enhances the manipulative effect on the recipients of the texts. It also traces the links between the images of ‘we’ and ‘they’ and key concepts in German culture.

Materials and Methods. The study examines the linguistic means used to realize the ‘we–they’ opposition in political campaign texts. The research material comprises campaign texts published on the official website of the Alternative for Germany party. The study employs lexico-cultural, semantic, and stylistic analyses.

Results. The article traces the evolution of the ‘friend–stranger’ images in the recent election campaigns of the Alternative for Germany party. It examines the specifics of the ‘we–they’ and ‘friend–stranger’ oppositions, describing the transformation of the neutral ‘we–they’ dichotomy into positively and negatively charged images of ‘friends’ and ‘strangers’, and analyzes their manipulative potential. The study establishes a connection between these images, the core concepts of German culture, and traditional values. The image of ‘we’ is found to be associated with concepts such as ‘order’, ‘security’ and ‘protection’, while the image of ‘they’ is linked to ‘fear’ and ‘the struggle for existence’. The article demonstrates that the ‘we–they’ opposition in the campaign texts is realized primarily through antithesis. This is achieved through antonyms, the juxtaposition of personal pronouns denoting ‘friends’ and ‘strangers’, numerous repetitions of vocabulary naming core concepts of German culture, and grammatical parallelisms built on the same syntactic model as the party’s name.

Conclusions. The findings can be applied in practical seminars on German stylistics and text interpretation when examining the specific features of political discourse. They can also be used in intercultural communication seminars focused on the core concepts of the German mentality. Future research may focus on the linguistic realization and manipulative potential of the ‘we–they’ opposition in the campaign and policy texts of other parties in Germany and the European Union.