Lexicon and double discourse of Chilean political conservatism in the first half of the 20th century

Abstract

The reasons for political conservatism are associated with mobilizing signifiers and rhetorical strategies for handling conceptual ambiguity. This article aims to explore the lexicon and double discourse modalities of the Chilean Conservative Party of the first half of the 20th century. The study is based on a discourse analysis of ideographs (McGee, 1980) and the fallacies of terminological ambiguity (Bentham, 1986) displayed in political proclamations of the Conservative party in 1878, 1918, 1932 and 1953. There is an oscillation between a party political lexicon and a confessional doctrinal lexicon, as well as transformations of the political vocabulary, depending on the associated antagonistic signifier (liberalism, radicalism, socialism, communism). There are also changes in the persuasive use of double discourse through the different political and historical conjunctures.