Exploring linguistic representations of Brexiters vs. Remainers’ identities in an online media text

This paper provides an empirical analysis of the way in which the opposing political roles and identities assumed by the British citizens in the context of the EU Referendum in the UK – Brexiters vs. Remainers – were linguistically represented in a media text published in the pre-Brexit period. Our study explores the connections between language and identity and reflects on how media texts contributed to the construction of two opposing identities in the UK at a time of great national divides and personal anxieties. The study is structured into two sections, of which the former examines the linguistic representation of the divergent British identities generated by Brexit by applying Gee’s discourse analytical framework to an online published media text, while the latter employs the scrutinising lens of CDA to consider two relevant aspects: the tense relation between the UK and the EU and the issue of immigration. The article brings conclusive evidence that the two contrastive identities were constructed and represented in the selected media text according to the subjective perspective of an author who was guided by strong ideological views and supported by effectively employed linguistic means.