Sanitary segregation imposed by Big Brother - a Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis of Grzegorz Braun's radical anti-vaccine rhetoric

• Published in: Journal of contemporary European studies Vol. 33; no. 2; pp. 567 - 589
• Main Author: Kosman, Marcin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 03.04.2025
• Subjects: COVID-19 conspiracy theories; Grzegorz Braun; Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis; Right-wing radicalism; the Confederation Liberty and Independence
• ISSN: 1478-2804; 1478-2790
• DOI: 10.1080/14782804.2024.2420948

The coronavirus pandemic greatly impacted political communication. Operating within the framework of Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis, this paper discusses the discursive strategies of Grzegorz Braun, one of the leaders of the Confederation Liberty and Independence - a Polish coalition of right-wing parties - by investigating 97 YouTube thumbnails and video titles. The present paper offers an in-depth investigation of Braun's radical and anti-vaccine discourse, focusing on both the verbal and visual components, and how they form a coherent meaning. The findings indicate that Braun's main strategy was to instill a sense of fear and danger. Similarly to other right-wing populists, Braun created narratives that the pandemic was a conspiracy crafted by global elites and that the vaccines were a tool for controlling society. However, Braun did not just copy the discourse of other politicians, but adjusted his message to the viewers, as he would make frequent references to the People's Republic of Poland and compared the Polish government to communists. Overall, while Braun's message was rather straightforward, the politician used a large variety of semiotic choices, focusing on potent cultural symbols, size, color, as well as intensification and predication strategies.