| Abstract [eng] |
Master thesis „Emotions in Politics: A Case Study of Germany in the Context of 2015 Migrant Crisis” analyses the German discourse and the expression of emotions in the context of the migrant crisis, focusing on the country's leader, Angela Merkel, and the speeches she made between the summer of 2015 and the end of 2016. This paper raises the question how emotion environment was created by then-Counselor A. Merkel in the context of the migrant crisis. The aim of this thesis is to identify emotions, how they were expressed in discourse and its (possible) effect on shaping German society’s understanding of the crisis based on discourse analysis. Discourse analysis that was carried out using the model of Emotion Discourse Analysis suggested by S. Koschut was selected as the main research method of the thesis to reveal the dominant emotions of A. Merkel's speeches and the effects associated with them. Kochut’s model is considered to be one of the more effective in analyzing emotions in politics as it allows not only to identify expression of emotions in politicians’ speeches and other related texts, but also to uncover and explaine its emotionalizing effects. The main findings of Emotions Discourse analysis reveal that A. Merkel speeches have deep emotion potential that was used to evoke such emotions as pride, compassion, and hope in German society. In addition, it is found that A. Merkel’s specific emotions discourse was used to form groups that reflect distinction between Self and Other. Self in this context is German society that is responsible, strong, able to overcome any arising difficulties and worth of pride. Groups that are attributed as Other can be described as: 1) instigators of unrest and discord in society who cannot be tolerated and whose ideas must be resisted; 2) criminals, smugglers and human traffickers that are defined as extremely cynical and worthy of disgust. It is important to emphasise that according to the research findings, migrants or refugees are not considered as the Other. The image of migrants entering the country is constructed as people alike Germans, only enduring extremely difficult disasters and trying to take care of themselves and their loved ones. Higher compassion and empathy of Germans is evoked by comparing people entering the country and Germans who had to leave their home after the World War II. Moreover, results also reveal that a discourse filled with emotion potential allows the public speaker, in this case A. Merkel, to unique frame this crisis in European context, project it not as a security crisis, but humanitarian and human rights crisis. This thesis contributes to the importance of the “emotional turn” research field of political sciences by providing data on the importance of emotions, as an essential analytical concept that can be useful for explaining the processes affecting and shaping societies. |
