has a cluster of related words and images, noted here in terms of: name-calling (attack words, demonizing the enemy);"horror stories"& "atrocity pictures" (telling and showing what the enemy does, or will do). Note the common problem/solution sequence: Threat (stirring up emotions, intensifying fears); Bonding (getting together a group); for a Cause (a sense of duty, idealistic purpose); Response (targeted action). Such "committed collective action" is here called the "pep talk."
from Persuasion Analysis | Hugh Rank | ©2008 | http:// faculty.govst.edu/pa [Home]
Naming & describing the threats, the feared actions, and the agents
aliens
attack
blockbusters
breach
carpetbaggers
colonialists
displace
dispossess, dispossession
encroach
evict, eviction
exclude, exclusion
exile
expulsion
foreign, foreigners
homelessness
imperialists
infiltrate, infiltration
infringe
interfere
intrusion, intrude, intruders
invade, invaders, invasion
landlessness
meddle
outsiders
penetrate
raid
strangers
trespass, trespassers
The feared threat is loss of territory or space to another. Many
people have strong sense of possession or ownership of the area around
them, ranging from close "personal" space ("My room . .
. my house . . . my seat . . . my place in line . . . my parking place")
extending outward to their region (neighborhood, hometown, state) and
to the often-artificial political boundaries of a nation.
Border wars, disputed boundaries, and conflicting claims of land ownership
are common (Palestine, Kashmir, Northern Ireland, Korea, China, Russia,
Poland, South Africa) with both sides seeking "justice" for
past generations.
In addition to border competition, invasion fears also occur when "outsider"
groups are introduced into a group, as in immigration, e.g., 19th
century USA, anti-immigrant xenophobia; racial integration ("there
goes the neighborhood"). Future population increase will intensify
these fears as more people compete for limited territory.
Religious "Turf Wars": Religious sects often proselytize in areas "claimed" by other religions, causing great friction. Latin America, for example, had long been "Catholic territory," but recently Protestant evangelicals have penetrated and made many converts there. Likewise, Orthodox churches in Russia and Greece are disturbed by Roman Catholic and Protestant newcomers. Mormon missionaries are active in the territories of "others." Islam has long had border wars, not only with their Christian neighbors to the north and west, but also with Animists in Africa and Hindus in India. The Old City of Jerusalem is a prime example of such religious turf wars. Not only is the city sharply divided into four religious sectors, but even within the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is so sub-divided that a constant bickering goes on as to which sect has jurisdiction in the various parts of the building.
Conservative rhetoric of those who HAVE certain benefits (land, territory, space) stresses protection (keep the "good") and prevention (avoid the "bad"). HAVES fear loss of land (eviction, dispossession) and others moving into their area (intruders, invaders).
Progressive rhetoric of those who HAVE-NOT certain benefits (land, territory, space) stresses acquisition (get the "good") and relief (change, get rid of the "bad"). HAVE-NOTS fear continued deprivation (exile, displacement, homelessness); in land conflicts, HAVE-NOTS are angry either at being dispossessed from the space, or denied access.
Images common in "atrocity pictures":
of tension (straining, resisting, trying to hold back)
of disintegration (dam bursting, gates breaking, doors smashed in, walls crumbling, home-invaders)
of being overwhelmed (by large numbers, masses, hordes, crowds, throngs, troops, refugees)
of water (flooding, unstoppable rising tide, seeping through cracks)
of break-ins: border-crossers, climbing fences, scaling walls, digging tunnels, running through deserts; refugee camps, shelter huts, migrant camps, slums, beggars, homeless, wanderers.
Protect our Motherland!
