Heimat Lexis and Heimat Discourses in AfD Election Programs
Abstract
This article examines the role that the topic of Heimat (homeland) plays in the election programs of the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD). For this purpose, a corpus of election programs from the years 2016 to 2020 is used as a basis. First, it is shown that the topic of Heimat is given high importance in the programs studied. However, a statistical analysis of the occurrence frequencies also shows a strong differentiation within the corpus. A prevalence of the Heimat topic in the programs from the southern and eastern German states is recognizable. Furthermore, it can be shown that AfD uses the term Heimat in a closed understanding. With this concept, Heimat is positioned against migration. On the other hand, Heimat discourses are used to motivate the repatriation or keeping away of migrants. Xenophobic messages are euphemistically portrayed with Heimat discourses. Finally, programs of the CDU and Bündnis90/Die Grünen are examined for comparison. In contrast to the AfD, an open and integrative understanding of Heimat is found.
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