Home Linguistics & Semiotics Chapter 3. Under fire
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Chapter 3. Under fire

Pronominal use and leadership in the discourse of Helle Thorning-Schmidt
  • Sharon Millar
View more publications by John Benjamins Publishing Company
To Publisher Page
Discourse, Politics and Women as Global Leaders
This chapter is in the book Discourse, Politics and Women as Global Leaders

Abstract

The chapter addresses Helle Thorning-Schmidt’s performance of leadership through an analysis of her use of 1st person pronouns in two news interviews, one in Danish and the other in English. The analysis reveals a preference for the collective perspective, particularly in the Danish interview. Through strategies of shifting, blurring, aligning and contesting perspective, Thorning-Schmidt deals with issues of crisis and identity management. There are indications that she is operating with notions of transformational leadership, blended with characteristics of transactional leadership. Although a transformational leadership style is argued by some to be more feminine, I suggest that gender aspects are more apparent in relation to Thorning-Schmidt’s authenticity and legitimacy as a social democrat in the national, but not the international, context.

Abstract

The chapter addresses Helle Thorning-Schmidt’s performance of leadership through an analysis of her use of 1st person pronouns in two news interviews, one in Danish and the other in English. The analysis reveals a preference for the collective perspective, particularly in the Danish interview. Through strategies of shifting, blurring, aligning and contesting perspective, Thorning-Schmidt deals with issues of crisis and identity management. There are indications that she is operating with notions of transformational leadership, blended with characteristics of transactional leadership. Although a transformational leadership style is argued by some to be more feminine, I suggest that gender aspects are more apparent in relation to Thorning-Schmidt’s authenticity and legitimacy as a social democrat in the national, but not the international, context.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Discourse, politics and women 1
  4. Part I. Discursive features of leadership
  5. Chapter 1. “Why can’t a woman be more like a man?” 21
  6. Chapter 2. Breaking the glass & keeping the ceiling 43
  7. Chapter 3. Under fire 67
  8. Part II. Discourse, media and power
  9. Chapter 4. Twitter as political discourse 93
  10. Chapter 5. Gender and political discourse in Tunisia 121
  11. Chapter 6. Julia Gillard 149
  12. Chapter 7. Women in politics and the media 169
  13. Part III. Leadership, identity and the public
  14. Chapter 8. “Thank you for heckling me” 195
  15. Chapter 9. Governors debating 217
  16. Chapter 10. Discourses of female leaders in postcolonial Hong Kong 251
  17. Part IV. Styling the leader
  18. Chapter 11. Governing in the gendered structure of power 275
  19. Chapter 12. The ball is in the women’s court 293
  20. Chapter 13. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf 315
  21. Conclusion 345
  22. About the authors 353
  23. Index 359
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.63.04mil

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Discourse, politics and women 1
  4. Part I. Discursive features of leadership
  5. Chapter 1. “Why can’t a woman be more like a man?” 21
  6. Chapter 2. Breaking the glass & keeping the ceiling 43
  7. Chapter 3. Under fire 67
  8. Part II. Discourse, media and power
  9. Chapter 4. Twitter as political discourse 93
  10. Chapter 5. Gender and political discourse in Tunisia 121
  11. Chapter 6. Julia Gillard 149
  12. Chapter 7. Women in politics and the media 169
  13. Part III. Leadership, identity and the public
  14. Chapter 8. “Thank you for heckling me” 195
  15. Chapter 9. Governors debating 217
  16. Chapter 10. Discourses of female leaders in postcolonial Hong Kong 251
  17. Part IV. Styling the leader
  18. Chapter 11. Governing in the gendered structure of power 275
  19. Chapter 12. The ball is in the women’s court 293
  20. Chapter 13. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf 315
  21. Conclusion 345
  22. About the authors 353
  23. Index 359
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2026 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 8.2.2026 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/dapsac.63.04mil/html
Scroll to top button