Language in the Trump Era

Reviews / Votes

'An indispensable resource for anyone troubled by the polarizing and demagogic political discourse of the Trump era, this book illuminates many features of Trumpian rhetoric and shows how its flagrant misrepresentations, fractured syntax, torrential flow, racist metaphors, and misogyny appeal to some people, co-opt others, and prove resistant to critique. If you hope to counter these forms of current political rhetoric, start by understanding how they work - and start here.' Judith T. Irvine, Edward Sapir Distinguished University Professor Emerita of Linguistic Anthropology, University of Michigan 'Donald Trump's version of making a speech is not only a source of surprise and disgust, but also, for many, confusion. Why does he talk this way? Is it on purpose? And is it contagious? Language in the Trump Era answers all of those questions and more about America's magnificently, manipulatively inarticulate Commander-in-Chief.' John McWhorter, Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University 'This excellent volume is a 'must-read' for scholars and students alike. The first comprehensive, very well researched and well-argued book which allows insight in to the 'Trump-phenomenon'; a phenomenon which dominates politics, media and everyday lives in the US and beyond.' Ruth Wodak, Distinguished Professor and Chair in Discourse Studies, Lancaster University/University Vienna 'Language in the Trump Era is a very topical and most welcome publication on the (negative) effects of the Trump presidency on language use and understanding. The book can be seen as an important contribution to the emerging research on Trump's language that came into being since he ran for the US presidency. It provides an accurate and detailed description of the linguistic transformations brought about by the Trump era while also, importantly, accounting for the range of complex and interlaced motivations for the attested changes in language and indicating possible repercussions of the newly installed linguistic habits on society at large, including the potential legitimization of certain, social behaviors.' Marta Degani, Discourse & Society 'Overall, the book provides fascinating insight into the language of Trump and would be of interest to postgraduate students, scholars/researchers in linguistics, as well as the broader social sciences and/or those who are interested in understanding the discursive features of one of the world's most controversial presidents.' Neda Salashour, Language in Society