Leiden University Student Repository

Blommaert, Femke Loes Carola (2021)

Alleen samen krijgen we corona onder controle: Een kwalitatieve stilistische analyse over hoe de referenten in de persconferenties over het coronavirus in Nederland solidariteit bewerkstelligen

Master thesis | Linguistics (MA)

This master thesis investigates what stylistic features within the Dutch Covid-19 press conferences held between March 2020 and October 2020 contribute to creating a sense of solidarity. This research will use a qualitative approach, analyzing what certain pronouns and the word ‘people’ refer to and how they are used. The study found that the stylistic features that contribute to creating solidarity within the public are explicitly marking the inclusive form of ‘we’ and using a first-person plural possessive pronoun when referring to health care and those who suffer from the corona virus. The stylistic features contributing to creating solidarity between the speaker and the public is using ambiguous clusivity and using a form of the second-person singular that has a more general meaning, therefore reducing the distance between the speaker and the public.

solidarity

clusivity

stylistics

Dutch

covid-19

Author

Blommaert, Femke Loes Carola

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

Linguistics & Communication

Supervisors

Dr. M.G. Kossmann

ECTS Credits

20

Language

nl