Politische Identität. Der Fall DIE LINKE anhand einer linguistischen Untersuchung des Parteiprogramms

The identity issue is approached in this essay within the framework of political language studies and concentrates on the analysis of the party program of the German leftwing party DIE LINKE or Linkspartei. This relatively new party was founded in 2007 from the fusion of various German left-wing parties, and presents itself as a feasible alternative to the growing populism and as the only one that can solve the problems afflicting the German society and – more generally – the Western world. The linguistic and textual analysis of the party program shows how and through which linguistic strategies the party forges its own identity, which must be approved both internally by its members and externally by possible electors.