To die for your ideas

The romantic rhetoric of Kirchnerism (Argentina, 2003-2015)

Abstract

Political rhetoric offers a multisensory experience of politics: we listen political speeches, we watch TV candidates talk, we participate in political rituals, we attend mobilizations and protests, we follow leaders in social media. Studies of political discourse, therefore, can’t be limited to a linguistic description. The purpose of this article is to present the results of an investigation into the public discourses of the so-called “Kirchnerism”, the left-wing ruling party in Argentina from 2003 to 2015. One of the central aspects of its identity is the construction of a romantic rhetoric, involves in its different discursive performances: from oratory, its genres, its rituals, its topics, to the unfolding of a (audio)visual world dominated by scenes and iconographic motifs whose affiliation with romantic aesthetics can be demonstrated unambiguously. The results indicate that for the romantic rhetoric of Kirchnerism politics is conceived as a vital and autonomous act, nourished by ideas, convictions, courage, will. It implies an exaltation of the country or of the nation, a vindication of the causes of the people, understood as collective sovereign; the blessing of charismatic leaderships, the celebration of certain transcendental values ​​that go beyond mere management. The preferred public rituals of the Kirchnerism are the multitudinous ones and they usually involve an epic condition, with a strong adversative dimension. It imagines a democracy – and, therefore, a citizenship – of high intensity. Emotions are indeed fundamental. From an interdisciplinary perspective of work, based on Rhetoric, Semiotics and Linguistics, this article aims to contribute to the debate on political rhetoric and in a general way on the relationship between discourse analysis and linguistics.