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17 - Making Our Nation Fear the Powerless

from Part IV - Language, White Nationalism, and International Responses to Trump

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2020

By
Otto Santa Ana ,
Marco Antonio Juárez ,
Magaly Reséndez ,
John Hernández ,
Oscar Gaytán ,
Kimberly Cerón ,
Celeste Gómez  and
Roberto Solís
Edited by
Janet McIntosh  and
Norma Mendoza-Denton
Janet McIntosh
Affiliation:
Brandeis University, Massachusetts
Norma Mendoza-Denton
Affiliation:
University of California, Los Angeles
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Summary

This chapter explores Trump’s language around immigration to determine how he manages to terrorize immigrants while arguing that immigrants should be the source of America’s terror. Drawing on conceptual metaphor theory and over 300 speeches and 6,000 tweets, the authors find that Trump’s primary metaphor represents America as a fortress that is under attack, its cities and towns overrun by polluting invaders. Trump characterizes Mexico as the enemy that sent unauthorized immigrants to wreak havoc, and represents himself as the only hero who can save the nation. Along the way, the chapter explores Trump’s misleading extension of MS-13, the notorious gang, to all Latino gangs and even all young Latinos, and Trump’s extension of the phrase “criminal alien” (immigrants who commit felonious crimes) to all unauthorized immigrants. The authors draw parallels to related conceptual metaphors to be found in the history of Western ethnic nationalism, including Nazi Germany.

Keywords

metaphorimmigrationunauthorized immigrantsMexicoMS-13White nationalismethnic nationalismpollutioninvasionNazi Germany
Type
Chapter
Information
Language in the Trump Era
Scandals and Emergencies
 , pp. 237 - 249
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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References

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