Dr Jonathan Kasstan, Lecturer in French and Linguistics, was quoted in an article about the use of Boris Johnson’s language in Parliament.
![Jonathan-Kasstan](/sites/default/public-files/styles/panel_image_1_2_768px_/public/general-images/EDIT-Jonathan-Kasstan.jpg?itok=fu-86owV)
In the article, Dr Kasstan comments on research that analysed the Commons’ journal Hansard, which found a rise in the frequency of terms such as “traitors”, “betrayal” and “surrender” in the last two years.
Talking about the research, he said: “[the researcher] suggests that [the rise in frequency] can be pegged closely to Brexit-based research debates.”
He added: “In a sense, she is right to point out, too, that increased use of such terms could be understood as invoking a confrontational or combative style, where the EU is caricatured as foe, not friend.
“Such a narrative is clearly designed to be reductive, because it frames an ‘us and them’ binary narrative around a referendum with an equally reductive binary choice.”