Der Offene Brief in der politischen Kommunikation: kontrastive Betrachtungen einer politischen Textsorte am Beispiel populistischer Parteien

Abstract In research on political discourse, the text genre “open letter” has received little attention. Widespread in France, it is used by political parties and private individuals. Some parties employ the “open letter” more often than others. Contrasting studies on the form and function of this particular text type have become increasingly important as the “open letter” is frequently used as a means of communication in the context of EU politics. Appellative texts, in particular, may not be decoded by readers coming from different cultural backgrounds. This lack of comprehension might cause intercultural misunderstandings. The aim of this article is to explore the function of “open letters” used by French, German, Italian and Spanish populist parties. The analysis shall be carried out from an ideological and culturally comparative perspective.