Form-function dialectics in the analysis of irony in political discourse

Author(s):  
Esperanza Morales-López

Abstract In this paper, I analyze the construction of the trope of irony in a political interview, more specifically the interview with a Spanish politician on television in 2013. Its context is the emergence of the 15M, a citizen’s protest movement against the cuts imposed by the European Union and the Spanish Government. From a theoretical-methodological point of view, I adopt a holistic perspective, inspired by Halliday’s approach of jointly analysing the form-function relationship and White’s constructivism. I also review the different definitions and explanations of irony. After analysing the formal resources that construct irony, I give an account of the cognitive frameworks that are opposed in this discourse, and finally describe their narrative disposition and the communicative functions that those resources fulfill.

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-122
Author(s):  
Ewa Kaczan-Winiarska

The Austrian government is extremely sceptical about the accession negotiations which are conducted by the European Commission on behalf of the European Union with Turkey and calls for the negotiation process to end. Serious reservations of Vienna have been raised by the current political situation in Turkey under the rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as well as by the standards of democracy in Turkey, which differ greatly from European standards. Serious deficiencies in rule of law, freedom of speech and independence of the judiciary, confirmed in the latest European Commission report on Turkey, do not justify, from Vienna’s point of view, the continuation of talks with Ankara on EU membership. In fact, Austria’s scepticism about the European perspective for Turkey has a longer tradition. This was marked previously in 2005 when the accession negotiations began. Until now, Austria’s position has not had enough clout within the European arena. Pragmatic cooperation with Turkey as a strategic partner of the EU, both in the context of the migration crisis and security policy, proved to be a key factor. The question is whether Austria, which took over the EU presidency from 1.7.2018, will be able to more strongly accentuate its reservations about Turkey and even build an alliance of Member States strong enough to block Turkey’s accession process.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 163
Author(s):  
Celeste Perrucchini ◽  
Hiroshi Ito

Empirical evidence suggests an overall convergence in terms of GDP and per capita income occurring among the European Union (EU) Member States. Nevertheless, economic inequalities have been increasing at the regional level within European Union countries. Through the review of relevant literature, this study analyzes the increasing inequalities from an economical point of view, focusing on Italy and the UK as examples. First, a general overlook of the empirical evidence of the GDP and per capita income at national and sub-national levels will be presented. Second, an explanation of the possible causes of the results will be proposed through the use of economical and sociological theories. The findings of this research might uncover the relative inefficacy of EU Cohesion policies and point towards the necessity for deeper and more thoughtful measures to continue the convergence of Member States while preserving internal equilibria. This paper ends with discussions for the future directions of the EU.


2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-282
Author(s):  
Roxana-Maria Nistor-Gâz ◽  
Delia Pop-Flanja

"In a world challenged by cultural diversity, this article aims to look at the great diversity of languages and cultures that coexist within the European Union. Building on the story of the Tower of Babel that explains, from a religious point of view, the cultural and linguistic diversity existing in the European Union, the authors tried to contextualize EU’s motto of “unity in diversity”, interpreted as an ideal involving a lot of effort and sometimes even many conflicts, but one that we should all fight for and strive to maintain. Keywords: linguistic diversity, ethnicity, nation, minority, majority, communication, unity in diversity"


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (11) ◽  
pp. 167-173
Author(s):  
Mihail V. Rybin ◽  
◽  
Alexander A. Stepanov ◽  
Nadezhda V. Morozova ◽  
◽  
...  

The article reveals and analyzes conceptual approaches to the formation of strategic directions of energy policy of the European Union and Poland in the first decades of the XXI century. A critical assess-ment is given from the point of view of international cooperation in the field of energy between the Russian Federation, Poland and the EU as a whole and, in particular, European, national and regional programs for the transformation of the fuel and energy sector in the conditions of decarbonization and transition to green energy.


2005 ◽  
Vol 85 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dejan Djordjevic ◽  
Tijana Dabovic

Although the European Union has no formal authority in the area of spatial policy, in sectoral policies can have a clear spatial impact. In this sense it conducts a de facto - and usually uncoordinated - form of spatial policy. An informal policy document produced six years ago sought to remedy this by offering an embryonic form of European spatial policy: the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP). So far, no follow-up has been produced. Is this because the current document is sufficient for addressing Europe's spatial issues or because interest in this endeavor has waned? Or are we simply in a period of transition towards a new ESDP? This brief review deals with those dilemmas, from a specific point of view of the observers, both curious and worried.


Bioderecho.es ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gloria María González Suárez

Con motivo de la situación actual a la que nos enfrentamos por la pandemia de la COVID-19 se ha planteado en diversas ocasiones la implantación de un certificado verde digital. El 17 de marzo de 2021 la Comisión Europea presentó una propuesta de creación del certificado con el fin de facilitar el ejercicio del derecho a la libre circulación dentro de la Unión Europea durante la pandemia. Todo ello plantea diversas cuestiones jurídicas en cuanto a la protección de datos sanitarios, el derecho a la libre circulación y la eficacia y proporcionalidad de medidas que deben ser objeto de análisis tanto desde el punto de vista jurídico como del punto de vista ético ya que, en ciertas ocasiones la aplicación de medidas puede afectar al derecho a la igualdad de los ciudadanos. Due to the current situation we are facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the implementation of a digital green certificate has been proposed on several occasions. On March 17, 2021, the European Commission presented a proposal to create the certificate in order to facilitate the exercise of the right of free movement within the European Union during the pandemic. All this raises various legal questions regarding the protection of health data, the right of free movement and the efficacy and proportionality of measures that must be analyzed from both the legal and ethical point of view since, on certain occasions the application of measures may affect the right of equality of citizens.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 343-356
Author(s):  
Andréa Arruda VAZ ◽  
Marco Antônio Lima Berberi ◽  
Tais Martins

The research presents in a practical way the impacts of the crisis of 2008 and following years in Europe and the action of the economic block, to mitigate the crisis through austerity measures, which last to date. The search for a solution to the crisis that has plagued the European Union, the possible conflict with unavailable rights and the imposed need for flexibilization of rights, especially in labour law, deserves debate. The measures put forward by the member countries of the European Union to solve the economic crisis are also partly linked to the idea of the suppression of rights. For example, we mention the reduction of working hours, an increase in the retirement age, among other fundamental precepts inherent to the dignity of the human person, which have been made more flexible during the crisis. This article discuss the legality of these flexibilities in the face of the protection of fundamental human rights and European Community law, from the point of view of international law, of the Convention OIT, ONU, which have been ratified by the various countries of Europe. Over the years, the European Union has been going through a series of crises and consequent precarious labour law, one of the most recent and relevant, the UNITED KINGDOM’s withdrawal from the European Union through so-called Brexit.


Author(s):  
Marios Papandreou

This chapter examines the relationship between Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and transparency in the public sphere. The link between the two is rather easy to conceive: ICTs facilitate flow and management of information, which is crucial to achieve openness and accountability and advance public debate. In this chapter, the issue is examined in the context of the European Union (EU), from the point of view of public access to documents and the role of the European Ombudsman (EO). The author presents the applicable legislative framework and discusses the role of the EO in facilitating and promoting public access to documents, with emphasis on the EO's mandate, the procedure followed, and its possible outcomes. The last part of the chapter examines the decision of the EO on a recent case concerning public access to documents of interest to a wide public, whereby it is illustrated that ICTs, by facilitating access to documents and information, advance openness, transparency, good governance, and accountability.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 231-247
Author(s):  
Louisa Haugaard Pedersen

This article is based on a school experiment of three local makerspaces that connected and turned into a global makerspace online. The three municipal schools were from Australia, United Kingdom and Denmark and participated in the Global Makerspace project, which was a part of the European Union project Makerspaces in the early years: Enhancing digital literacy and creativity. The Global Makerspace project was conducted over 4 days in the Autumn 2018. The schools’ participating teachers and pupils belonged to the first years of primary level. In this article, the Danish experiences from the project are explored. The data collection analysed draws on a micro-ethnographic study of the experiences from the Danish makerspace completed by the Danish facilitator from the project Makerspaces in the early years: Enhancing digital literacy and creativity. The article identifies the teachers’ and pupils’ maker activities out from a play cultural point of view and reckon making as connecting to describe how offline maker communities connected into one online maker community. The baseline of the school experiment was to explore and stress the potential of how communities like teachers and pupils across time and space in collaboration can transform and develop play cultures with different combinations of technologies by sharing local maker activities into global activities online.


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