German vaccine discourse: Changes over time and polarization

Abstract

The paper discusses a segment of modern social and political German communication which can be defined as vaccine discourse. The study considers discourse to be a complex linguistic unit of an overtext level, which includes texts, utterances, and various communication forms that are encompassed by a knowledge system and correspond to a certain social context. In creating the context of a speech act, all its participants are involved. Special role is also devoted not only to the interaction of utterances but also to the social context they are used in. Combined, these factors create a multidimensional discourse space. Discourse, being the result of chains of utterances united by the topic, constitutes the surrounding reality. We studied the formation of the reality with the means of discourse on the materials of the vaccine discourse, with its development being based on different opinions. We analyzed linguistic features of the German vaccine discourse using discussions and debates in the Bundestag, which took place in spring 2022. We detected major features of the vaccine discourse: polarization, diversity, and incompleteness. The examples prove argumentation to be central in forming the discourse, as it is used by the individuals when seeking the truth. We defined the most important argument strategies and characterized linguistic means responsible for the emotionally polarizing part of the discourse. We detected the relationship of different discourse levels having analyzed discourse contextualization. Moreover, we demonstrated how the microlevel of discourse, which is associated with vaccination, creates impulses for its development to the macrolevel reflecting German democratic challenges.