La retorica politica contemporanea: analisi dei discorsi di Berlusconi e di Stoltenberg

Abstract

This study compares the political discourses of Silvio Berlusconi and Jens Stoltenberg. These two politicians represent different political ideologies and belong to two different countries—and, hence, to different cultures. However, both of them were in power for a long time and almost in the same historical period. What kinds of differences and similarities can be found in the language used in their discourses when talking to people? Three discourses produced by each politician under similar circumstances are analyzed. This paper focuses on the lexical items used in the discourses, describing them from a quantitative (frequency) and qualitative point of view. The differences in the use of metaphors is explained by affiliation to two different cultures, whereas the lexical choice is often based on linguistic and individual properties.