Naomi T.

Good morning Mastodon! It’s time for a re #Introduction as a #Newbie, this time with a focus on my book, “The Politics of Person Reference”! 📕

In my #PhD in #Linguistics, I worked on #ParliamentaryDebates in #France, #Germany, and the #UK, and showed how & why #Politicians use third-person forms to target their opponents. For instance, they would say “Those who don’t believe me…” or “One can see it that way…” without addressing (“you”) or naming the concrete Member of Parliament it’s aimed at.

Nov 4, 2022 at 9:08amWeb
Show threadNatalia LevshinaNov 4, 2022
@BerLinguistin Great! Where can one find you thesis? By the way, #Putin referred to #Navalny as “that patient of a Berlin clinic”, after Navalny had been poisoned and brought to Germany. I think that was a trick to show how unimportant N. was.
Show threadNaomi T.Nov 4, 2022

@NataliaLevshina Thank you for your interest! The thesis is at the university library in Leipzig and Berlin, but I’m happy to send you a copy of the book per pdf if you want, as it is a substantially revised (and shorter) version.

You’re right, the third person does all kinds of things, and putting people at a distance / possibly deshumanizing them is one of them.

Show threadNatalia LevshinaNov 4, 2022
@BerLinguistin I’ll be super grateful! An awesome topic.
Show threadNaomi T.Nov 4, 2022
@NataliaLevshina You’re very welcome! You can write your email here or send me a DM and you’ll get post later 📩😊