A Comparative Discourse Analysis of political speeches in Poland and the Czech Republic during the Eurocrisis with regard to European integration

Mgr. Dagmar Olszewski, B.A.

Master's thesis

Abstract:

The issue of European integration is inevitably intertwined with the effects of the on-going European Sovereign-Debt Crisis and the future of the eurozone. The Eurocrisis is therefore of special concern also for those EU member states, who do not use the common currency, but are necessarily affected by the discussions on the development of the Euro and the future of the European Union. The aim of this work is to analyse and compare the discourse of two non-eurozone members, namely Poland and the Czech Republic, reflecting their positions regarding the integration process during the Eurocrisis. For the sake of this work 17 political speeches and one interview are chosen, thus 9 documents for each state, representing the positions of the political elite in power, respectively the Prime Minister, President and Foreign Minister of Poland and of the Czech Republic. The discourse analysis, conducted according to the theory of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDS) is framed by two minor research questions, addressing Polish and Czech overall positions on European integration and their roles during the Eurocrisis. This work concludes that both states stress the importance of defending national interests, going in line with tendencies noted in the period before the Eurocrisis. Yet doing so, national interests are differently framed, as the contemporary Polish and Czech discourse result in contrasting visions on the future of the EU, categorising Poland as rather Euro-enthusiastic and the Czech Republic as Euro-sceptic state.

Keywords

Discourse Analysis, Czech Republic, Poland, European integration, Eurocrisis

Jazyk práce: English

Datum vytvoření / odevzdání či podání práce: 14. 12. 2012

Obhajoba závěrečné práce

• Obhajoba proběhla 17. 1. 2013
• Vedúci: prof. PhDr. Vít Hloušek, Ph.D.
• Oponent: PhDr. Zdeněk Sychra, Ph.D.

Masaryk University

Faculty of Social Studies

Master programme / odbor:
Political Science / European Politics (Eng.)