Unmasking the Catalan independence discourse: an analysis of Josep Borrell’s speech during the unity rally in Barcelona, Spain, in October 2017

Abstract

This paper analyses Josep Borrell’s speech during the unity rally in Barcelona mainly under the light of Blommaert and Gofmman. It explores Blommaert’s sociolinguistic scales and the (re)evaluation of language practices and functions across social and physical mobility in a globalized context, as well as Goffman’s ‘interaction order’ and performative view of language, to understand how this particular piece of discourse constructs social difference and produces authoritative knowledge. It considers the activities performed by the text and the registers being mobilized —understanding the text as a dialogue between Borrell and the audience —, by problematizing why it is enacted very specifically, its conditions of production, circulation, consumption and interpretation and the social reality the text produces as a result of the latter considerations.