Polyphony and polarization in public discourses: hegemony and dissent in a Slovene policy debate

ABSTRACT

Contemporary public discourses are, despite the growing array of technologies and spaces for participation, becoming increasingly characterized by polarization – the formation of two distinct and relatively homogeneous ‘sides’. However, while such polarization may be commonplace, it is not an inherent property of discourse but rather a result of strategic polarizing actions taken by specific actors in order to establish control over the debate. In order to describe the process of polarization in a public discourse about language policy in Slovenia, this paper presents a theoretical framework based on Bakhtin’s concepts of heteroglossia (diversity of voices), polyphony (diversity of ideology) and dialogicality (relatedness of voices and ideologies) and on the central concepts of critical discourse studies (CDS). The case study is based on a qualitative analysis of a sample of 48 newspaper articles reporting on the language policy debate, collected from two major Slovene newspapers during 2016. Additionally, the case study also relies on field notes and transcripts obtained from a public hearing held in the Slovene parliament. The analysis of these two data sources uncovers a debate which was heavily polarized due to both ideological difference as well as continuous reinforcement of the Manichean dichotomy. In particular, the paper shows that this polarization was strengthened by explicit practices of identity construction and suppression of dissent which allowed the construction of a homogeneous Self and Other in discourse.

KEYWORDS:

• Polyphony
• heteroglossia
• polarization
• hegemony
• language policy
• language in higher education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Kristof Savski currently works as a lecturer at Prince of Songkla University in Thailand and has previously studied and taught part-time at Lancaster University in the UK. His research is located at the intersection of critical discourse studies, language policy and sociolinguistics, and has thus far examined how language policies are written, debated, recontextualized and implemented, stressing particularly the diverse and often unpredictable nature of how these processes unfold. Faculty of Liberal Arts, Prince of Songkla University, 15 Karnjanavanich, 90112 Hat Yai, Songkla, Thailand.

Notes

1 Circulation data available at http://www.soz.si/projekti_soz/rpn_revidiranje_prodanih_naklad (Accessed 11 October 2018)

2 The Slovene parliament is bicameral, but the main legislative power is granted to the National Assembly. The National Council’s primary function is to provide representation to a number of different special interest groups (labour unions, employers, local communities, higher education, etc.), and it therefore often organizes public consultations of this type.

3 In the original Slovene text, the gender-explicit noun bralka was used.

4 This quote (sl. ‘stati inu obstati’) is taken from the writings of 16th Century Protestant writer Primož Trubar and is often used in support of nationalist rhetoric in Slovenia.