Discourse space and proximization in brazilian neoconservative discourse: combining cognitive linguistics and critical discourse studies

Abstract

This paper aims to discuss how the study of spatial, temporal, epistemic and axiological positioning, distance and movement in the discourse space can be productive for the cognitive-discursive analysis of the legitimation and mobilization of social action. To do so, we initially discuss the theoretical grounding of the Cognitive Linguistic approach to Critical Discourse Studies (GONÇALVES-SEGUNDO, 2014; 2017; HART, 2014), the concept of discourse space (CHILTON, 2004) and its further developments into the Proximization Theory (CAP, 2013; HART, 2014). Subsequently, we apply the tools of this theoretical and methodological construct to analyze three instances of the contemporary Brazilian neoconservative discourse. We focus our attention on a particular form of anticommunist stance: the representation of the advancement of the left (their agenda, their ideas, their policies) as a form of legitimizing a military intervention through the support of the people. As a result, we detected that this legitimization effort encompassed, primarily, temporal and axiological proximization and, only secondarily, spatial and epistemic proximization.