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Utilization of the Us versus Them Dichotomy in 2020 Campaign Speeches of Joe Biden and Donald Trump
Pýcha, Jaroslav ; Pípalová, Renata (advisor) ; Lancová, Klára (referee)
This thesis aims to analyze the camping speeches of the two major candidates running for President of the Unites States in the 2020 general election and to inspect the ways in which both the candidates utilize the Us versus Them dichotomy. In doing so, the thesis provides a critique of the texts produced by the candidates and seeks to unveil their ideological motivation. As categorizing entities has a profound effect on the audience and their perception of reality, the goal is not only to unveil what entities the candidates discuss, but also to determine how they classify these entities. In addition, the strategies used by both the candidates to achieve entity evaluation are compared in order to contrast their rhetorical styles. The theoretical part of the thesis overviews concepts related to the construction of group identities and other ways of reproducing ideology in discourse. Furthermore, Hasan's approach to text analysis, which is employed in the analytical part, is introduced. A brief biography of both the candidates and a description of the US presidential election system are included as well. The analytical part is composed of Critical Discourse Analyses of selected topical segments from campaign speeches of Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Special focus is dedicated to the strategies the...
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Securitising Nuclear Energy: Analysis of speech acts related to the possible construction of a new reactor at the existing Dukovany Nuclear Power Station
Dytrych, Simon ; Holubcová, Jitka (advisor) ; Kučera, Tomáš (referee)
This Master's thesis dealt with securitization attempts related to the planned construction of a new reactor at the Dukovany NPP. Therefore, its aim was to find, analyse and explain securitization speech acts associated with the planned reactor, in the period from summer 2015 to December 2020 using the critical discourse analysis approach. The results show that securitization speech acts of this kind do appear in the Czech public sphere and are articulated mainly by four groups of actors: representatives of Austria, Czech environmental NGOs, Czech governmental representatives, and Czech political opposition. These actors have different goals: to stop the construction of the reactor, to implement the construction of the reactor, or to influence the way in which the construction will be implemented. One case of successful securitization was found in the outcome: The Czech government was able to enforce extraordinary measures that deviated from standard democratic processes using security-based arguments. Their goal was to implement the construction of the reactor. It remains to add that the research also revealed three important functional actors who co-created the discourse: the BIS secret service, the SÚJB nuclear safety office and the company ČEZ.
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Media Image of Designer Vivienne Westwood: Activism versus Branding
Suntychová, Tereza ; Hejlová, Denisa (advisor) ; Klabíková Rábová, Tereza (referee)
This diploma thesis deals with the critical mapping of British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood with a focus on the relationship between her activist actions and branding. The goal of this thesis is to analyse discourse practice and uncover the meaning behind creating Westwood's media image. Westwood is actively involved in political, social and environmental matters. She's known for her critical stance towards the establishment, consumer society as well as economic system. She stood at the beginning of punk and helped to define its visual identity. She belongs amongst known sustainable fashion advocates which reflects her famous quote 'buy less, choose well, make it last'. On the other hand, she built a global fashion brand with annual turnover of more than 40.7 million pounds in 2017 and she herself became the subject of criticism because of this contradiction towards her own actions. Some critics pointed out that she urges the public to consume less but owns a global network of stores under her name at the same time. From a methodological point of view the thesis is based on qualitative research, specifically on critical discourse analysis whose mechanisms help to uncover power relationships and put this issue into a broader context.
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The Contract between "Us" and "Them" on the Aeronet.cz Website
Pýcha, Jaroslav ; Podzimek, Jan (advisor) ; Nečas, Vlastimil (referee)
This thesis focuses on the Aeronet.cz website and the division of society into 'Us' and 'Them' in the context of the website. The thesis is divided into two parts - a theoretical one and a research one. The theoretical part aims to describe the background of the researched website and certain phenomena which are believed to be connected to the website. This part also includes a review of theoretical concepts pertaining to the connection of language and ideology. Furthermore, certain strategies utilized in group identity construction and division of society into differently evaluated segments are described. The research is conducted in the form of a semiotic analysis but incorporates certain elements of critical discourse analysis as well. The analysis has two main goals. The first goal is to describe the composition of 'Us' and 'Them' groups in the context of the portal, the second goal is to investigate which strategies of identity construction are employed to achieve such division. To support the findings, the thesis offers a detailed overview of individual entities and their evaluation. A description of strategies from all levels of the research, which were used to evaluate a certain entity, is also included. The discussion consists of synthesis of all the findings with respect to both...
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Germany in Czech Daily press: Stereotypes and the ,,Image of the Other'' in Comments and Opinions in Polls-Year 2017
Stojanovová, Kamila ; Jirák, Jan (advisor) ; Lütke Notarp, Ulrike (referee)
This thesis bases on an constructivist approach in media studies in context of the role of Germany as a civilian power and hegemon of the European Union and deals with the extent, to which arguments arising from the asymmetric partnership between the Czech Republic and Germany in the past ten years in terms of bilateral relations, foreign policy making of the both states and agenda such as different energy policy conceptions were being reflected in comments and opinions by the Czech daily press in connection with the German parliamentary elections in 2017. In addition to the theory of social construction of reality in this thesis, the concept of role theory serves to explain the role of Germany as a civilian power and the process of shaping its identity. The thesis presents the results of an research, in which a critical discourse analysis (CDA) aimed to formulate hypotheses reflecting the way of image-construction of Germany as "the other," in terms of van Dijk's ideological square "us versus them" and the presence of stereotypes in the comments and opinions in the Czech press. The formulated hypotheses later became the basis for a quantitative content analysis carried out on a research sample of 59 articles published in the daily Mladá fronta DNES, Právo, Lidové noviny and Hospodářské noviny.
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Tatarstan between Moscow and Ankara: An Analysis of Tatarstan's Elite's Stance towards the Changing Relations between Turkey and the Russian Federation
Pospíšil, Tomáš ; Aslan, Emil (advisor) ; Šír, Jan (referee)
The Master thesis is dealing with the external policies of the Republic of Tatarstan, a unit of the Russian Federation, and its relations to Turkey, a nation Tatarstan has cultural ties to, in light of the Russo-Turkish conflict following the shooting down of the Russian fighter jet Su-24 by the Turkish army. To answer questions about the influence of national diplomacy over a region's paradiplomacy, and the possibility to conduct independent paradiplomacy in an authoritarian state, speeches given on topics related to Turkey by the President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov were analysed against the background of the changing Russian relations to Turkey, using the Critical Discourse Analysis. The analysis revealed that although Tatarstani paradiplomacy reflects the developments of Russian diplomacy - it is not possible not to, since the decisions of the Federal government are binding for its subjects - President Minnikhanov continued to advocate for a long-term (and as close as possible) cooperation with Turkey regardless of Moscow's current stance. In fact, he was lobbying the Kremlin for this end, trying to influence the Federal diplomacy.
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The media image of the Six-Day War in the contemporary Czechoslovak and Polish daily newspapers
Tomanová, Kateřina ; Rusin Dybalska, Renata (advisor) ; Junek, Marek (referee)
The diploma thesis aims to describe and reconstruct the media image of the Six-Day War based on the analysis of selected articles from official contemporary Polish and Czechoslovak daily newspapers, which were being published during the event, from 5 to 10 June 1967 until the War of Attrition. An emphasis is placed on the portrayal of the Six-Day War and the comparison of media images of the conflict in Czechoslovak and Polish daily newspapers. The thesis also attempts to show the impact of a different domestic policy situation and historical factors on shaping media discourse in Czechoslovakia and Poland. The thesis is divided into two parts - theoretical and practical. The theoretical part presents the historical context of the event in relation to Czechoslovakia and Poland, the development of the media and selected daily newspapers. The theoretical part is also dedicated to the principles of propaganda, newspeak and critical discourse analysis. This method is used to analyse texts from the Czechoslovak and Polish daily newspapers - Rudé právo, Svobodné slovo, Mladá fronta, Lidová demokracie, Zemědělské noviny, Pravda, Trybuna Ludu, Żołnierz Wolności, Głos Robotniczy, Słowo Polskie, Życie Warszawy, Express Wieczorny. The results of the analysis are presented in the final chapter. Key words...
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Ideology in the protectorate daily press discourse
Veselská, Tereza ; Dufek, Ondřej (advisor) ; Křeček, Jan (referee)
Diploma thesis Ideology in the protectorate daily press discourse deals with the influence of ideology in the discourse of then legally published dailies České slovo, Lidové noviny and Venkov. The theoretical part refers firstly to the historical background of the state formation Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and its political and social status within the Greater German Reich. After having depicted the demonstrations of 28th October 1939 and the events of 17th November 1939 the media character in the protectorate era is introduced, a special emphasis is put on the press. After that the concept of discourse is clarified as well as its origin, meaning and current interpretation. Besides the critical discourse analysis, its origins, aims and three major approaches are described. The last chapter of the theoretical part is devoted to the discourse-historical approach which was developed by Ruth Wodak and her colleagues from the Vienna School. The ideal procedure of this approach is outlined and the discursive strategies of nomination, predication and argumentation are explained. With their aid an analysis of four newspaper articles is carried out in the practical part of the thesis. After having summarised the textual analysis the influence of ideology around the events of 17th November 1939 is compared...
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