In our paper we will present some methodological considerations, which we developed in a project on antisemitic rhetoric in the Austrian parliament. In this study, parliamentary debates are examined for antisemitic tropes and argumentative strategies, building on the methodological framework of critical historical discourse analysis (according to Wodak et al.). This approach employs a concept of discourse that emphasizes its role in the reproduction of power, and regards language as a form of social and political action.
We analyse how the discourse of antisemitism is realized in parliamentary rhetoric. Parliamentary discourse negotiates and shapes understandings of democracy and pluralism, and represents a struggle over the meanings of citizenship and political community. Therefore the plenary assembly provides an arena for the spreading and normalizing of antisemitism as a political strategy. As examples for the productivity of our approach, we will present two debate analyses from different historical contexts of post-war Austria.
