Hate speech revisited in Romanian political discourse: from the Legion of the Archangel Michael (1927–1941) to AUR (2020–present day)

Abstract

Ultra-conservative, ultra-Orthodox, nationalist and xenophobic, advocating “family, nation, Christian faith and liberty”, the party Alianța pentru Uniunea Românilor (henceforth AUR—which translates as “GOLD” in Romanian) [Alliance for the Unity of Romanians] campaigned in an insidious manner, both in social media and in the poorer rural areas of Romania, gathering a momentum that few could foresee in the 2020 elections. It is in the hands of discourse experts to deconstruct such hate speeches and warn both policymakers and the general population against allowing them to proliferate in the public sphere. Accordingly, drawing on the Discourse-Historical Approach (DHA), this paper aims to analyse samples of a speech of one of the leaders/ideologists of AUR, comparing them with the inflammatory discourse that paved the way to the Legionaries’ coming to power in 1940.