Publication: An examination of the pro-Brexit discourse : critical discourse analysis of British newspapers
Abstract
Birleşik Krallık’ın Avrupa Birliği’ne üye olması sürecin en başından itibaren tartışmalı bir konu olmuştur. Margaret Thatcer’ın Brugges Konuşması’nda belirttiği gibi Krallık Avrupa Birliği içindeki geleceğini desteklerken, arka planda Birliğe karşı hoşnutsuzluklar ve Avrupa şüpheciliği hem kamuoyunda hem de siyasette artmıştır. AB'nin 2004 ve 2007'de güneye genişlemesi, 2008 ekonomik krizi ve üyelere kemer sıkma politikalarının uygulanması ve son olarak AB'nin 2015 Suriye göçmen krizine karşı yetersiz kalması gibi bir dizi olayın ardından İngiltere, AB üyeliği konusunda referandum yaptı. Brexit süreci, Haziran 2016'da yapılan referandumla kararlaştırıldı. Ardından AB'nin 50. maddesine göre, İngiltere için anayasal hukuka uygun olarak bir çıkış beyanı yapıldı. Brexit konusu, tarihsel sebepleri açısından birçok araştırmacının ilgisini çekmişti. Bu çalışmalar çoğunlukla Brexit kararına neden ve hangi faktörlerin yol açtığını vurgulamaktadır. Bununla birlikte, bu araştırma, referanduma giden süreçte İngiliz gazetelerinde Brexit yanlısı söylemin “nasıl” inşa edildiğine odaklanmaktadır. Çalışmanın örneklemini The Sun, The Daily Mail ve The Daily Express gazetelerinin Ocak 2015 - 23 Haziran 2016 tarihleri arasındaki haber, görüş, köşe yazıları ve başyazıları oluşturmaktadır. Brexit yanlısı söylemin nasıl inşa edildiğini tespit etmek için, niteliksel içerik analizi yöntemi kullanılarak dört tema belirlenmiştir. Bu temalar egemenlik, göç, terör ve güvenlik ve ekonomi konularıdır. Bulgular, The Sun, The Daily Mail ve The Daily Express'in egemenlik, göç, terör, güvenlik ve ekonomi konularını araçsallaştırarak AB hakkında olumsuz bir algı oluşturduğunu gösteriyor. Belirtilen İngiliz gazetelerinin Brexit yanlısı söylem inşası ise şu dört argümanın üretilmesi ve yeniden üretilmesi üzerine kuruludur: AB'den ayrılmak Birleşik Krallık için egemenliğe giden tek yoldur, AB göçmen kriziyle başa çıkmaktan acizdir, AB’nin dışında yer almak terör saldırıları nedeniyle çok daha güvenli, İngiltere ekonomik olarak AB dışında daha güçlü olacak.
It’s notable that being a member of the European Union has become a controversial issue in the United Kingdom because of the ‘uneven’ relations between them, from the beginning. As Margaret Thatcer indicated in her Brugges Speech, the UK proclaims its destiny in the Union while the discontents developing in the background and Eurosceptic view increases among both public and politics despites the opt-outs granted to the UK. After a series of events such as the 2004 and 2007 southern enlargement of the EU, the 2008 economic crisis and implementation of austerity policies to members, and finally EU’s incapability with the 2015 Syrian migrant crisis, Britain conducted a referendum on its membership in EU. The Brexit process was decided by the referendum held in June 2016. Then, according to EU article 50, a declaration of departure for the UK was made in accordance with constitutional law. Many scholars have studied the issue of Brexit. These studies mostly emphasize the reasons why and what factors lead to the outcome. Nonetheless, this research concentrates upon the “how” the pro-Brexit discourse is constructed in British newspapers in the process leading to the referendum. Sample of the study consists of the news articles, opinions, columns and editorials of The Sun, The Daily Mail and The Daily Express between January 2015 and 23 June 2016. Critical Discourse Analysis is used as the theoretical framework of this study. Qualitative content analysis is used to examine the themes and arguments of the pro-Brexit discourse in which four themes identified as: sovereignty, immigration, terrorism and securtiy, and economy. The findings show that The Sun, The Daily Mail and The Daily Express construct a negative perception of the EU by instrumentalisation the issues of sovereignty, immigration, terrorism and security and economy. Their pro-Brexit discourse is built upon the production and reproduction of the following arguments as: Leaving the EU is the only route to sovereignty for the UK, EU is incapable of coping with the migrant crisis. Outside of EU is much safer because of the terror attacks, UK will be economically stronger out of the EU.
It’s notable that being a member of the European Union has become a controversial issue in the United Kingdom because of the ‘uneven’ relations between them, from the beginning. As Margaret Thatcer indicated in her Brugges Speech, the UK proclaims its destiny in the Union while the discontents developing in the background and Eurosceptic view increases among both public and politics despites the opt-outs granted to the UK. After a series of events such as the 2004 and 2007 southern enlargement of the EU, the 2008 economic crisis and implementation of austerity policies to members, and finally EU’s incapability with the 2015 Syrian migrant crisis, Britain conducted a referendum on its membership in EU. The Brexit process was decided by the referendum held in June 2016. Then, according to EU article 50, a declaration of departure for the UK was made in accordance with constitutional law. Many scholars have studied the issue of Brexit. These studies mostly emphasize the reasons why and what factors lead to the outcome. Nonetheless, this research concentrates upon the “how” the pro-Brexit discourse is constructed in British newspapers in the process leading to the referendum. Sample of the study consists of the news articles, opinions, columns and editorials of The Sun, The Daily Mail and The Daily Express between January 2015 and 23 June 2016. Critical Discourse Analysis is used as the theoretical framework of this study. Qualitative content analysis is used to examine the themes and arguments of the pro-Brexit discourse in which four themes identified as: sovereignty, immigration, terrorism and securtiy, and economy. The findings show that The Sun, The Daily Mail and The Daily Express construct a negative perception of the EU by instrumentalisation the issues of sovereignty, immigration, terrorism and security and economy. Their pro-Brexit discourse is built upon the production and reproduction of the following arguments as: Leaving the EU is the only route to sovereignty for the UK, EU is incapable of coping with the migrant crisis. Outside of EU is much safer because of the terror attacks, UK will be economically stronger out of the EU.