The Populist Style: Trump, Le Pen and Performances of the Far Right

Théo Aiolfi

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The Populist Style

Trump, Le Pen and Performances of the Far Right

Théo Aiolfi

Language: English

Published/Copyright: 2025

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About this book

The first interdisciplinary comparative examination of populism in the cases of Donald Trump and Marine Le Pen

Offers an original interdisciplinary perspective on politics that introduces concepts, methods and tools drawn from theatre and performance studies to the literature in political science
Provides theoretical innovations in the study of populism as a performative and stylistic phenomenon
Introduces an original methodological tool: the political performance analysis questionnaire (PPAQ) which synthesises inputs from theatre studies and sociology, while providing a transferable tool for scholars interested in examining political performances
Develops a detailed comparative case study through an analysis of a corpus of diversified political performances (including rally speeches, presidential debates, and political advertisements)
Offers the first book-length comparative analysis of Marine Le Pen and her use of populism in the English language, along with a comparison with Donald Trump

Through a comparative case study analysing the 2016 and 2017 presidential campaigns of Donald Trump and Marine Le Pen, The Populist Style examines the links between far-right ideology and populism. Adopting an interdisciplinary framework combining political science and performance studies, this book develops a critical definition of populism as a style, that is, as a repertoire of political performances that shapes and is given shape by ideological content. The book argues that the populist style relies on three clusters of performances: performances of identity, performances of transgression and performances of crisis. Through an analysis of a corpus including presidential debates, speeches during rallies and political advertisements drawn from the campaigns of Trump and Le Pen, this book shows the adaptability of the populist style and its relevance as discursive-performative strategy across two different national contexts as it was used by far-right political actors to make their reactionary agenda and exclusionary nationalism more appealing.

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Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	v
List of Illustrations Publicly Available Download PDF	vi
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Introduction: Populist Style and Performances of the Far Right Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	1
1 Staging Populism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	21
2 Redefining the Populist Style Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	41
3 Analysing Political Performances Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	72
4 Performing Identity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	108
5 Performing Transgression Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	138
6 Performing Crisis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	170
Conclusion: Comparing the Performances of Le Pen and Trump Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	197
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	212
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	236

Publishing information

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

eBook published on:

January 29, 2025

eBook ISBN:

9781399537438

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

Main content:

256

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781399537438

eBook ISBN: 9781399537438

Keywords for this book

Politics

Audience(s) for this book

For universities and colleges of further and higher education

Creative Commons

BY-NC-ND 4.0

The Populist Style

Overview

About this book

Topics

Table of contents

Bibliographic data