{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/130088"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/130088","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"\"If the people vote, the people win!\": The radical right in France","abstract":"Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2027-08-01","abstract_html":"Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2027-08-01","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Seitz, Lauren N."],"institution":"University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Communication","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Murphy, John M.","Murphy, John M","Cisneros, Josue David","Finnegan, Cara A","O'Gorman, Ned"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-07-08","date_published":"2025-07-08","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:06Z","subjects":["Populism","Nationalism","Marine Le Pen","Éric Zemmour","France"],"languages":["en","eng"],"rights":["Copyright 2025 Lauren Seitz"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2142/130088","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Murphy, John M.","Murphy, John M","Cisneros, Josue David","Finnegan, Cara A","O'Gorman, Ned"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Seitz, Lauren N."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2025-07-08","2025-08"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Communication"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Populism","Nationalism","Marine Le Pen","Éric Zemmour","France"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en","eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2025 Lauren Seitz"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/130088"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2027-08-01","The student, Lauren Seitz, accepted the attached license on 2025-07-08 at 11:03.","The student, Lauren Seitz, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2025-07-08 at 11:12.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2025-07-08 at 11:35.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #22438 on 2025-10-25 at 15:30:52","This dissertation explores contemporary right-wing populist nationalism by analyzing the role national identity discourse played in the 2022 French presidential election. My project examines the campaign discourse of two radical right presidential candidates: Marine Le Pen and Éric Zemmour. Through a combination of textual analysis and rhetorical field work, I argue that nationalism and populism intertwine to sustain contemporary right-wing discourse. I draw attention to the rhetorical strategies integral to this discourse and explain how Le Pen and Zemmour customized these strategies to French politics, history, values, and culture. In doing so, I explain how the rhetors relied on national identity rhetoric to support populist nationalism. My dissertation highlights the rhetorical strategies that the candidates deployed to constitute the nation, its in-group, and out-groups. First, this dissertation examines the ways radical right rhetors constituted ‘the people’ while scapegoating perceived political enemies. I show how the rhetors relied on identification, dissociation, nativism, and anti-elitism to position the election as a mass purification ritual, one that would cast out scapegoats while restoring ‘the people’s’ primacy. Second, my project explores how the rhetors invoked nationalist understandings of space and time in order to constitute the nation as an idealized national community. I describe the ways the rhetors appealed to shared national place, space, and time to create a co-constitutive relationship between the nation and ‘the people.’ Finally, this dissertation analyzes how the candidates crafted political personae designed to align with ‘the people’ and against their enemies. My project highlights how Le Pen and Zemmour portrayed themselves as modern-day embodiments of grand French leaders. In doing so, I illustrate how they created a complementary relationship with voters, as their supporters provided the candidates with political legitimacy. Through my analysis, this dissertation draws attention to the ways that politicians and other public figures define national identity through exclusionary rhetorical strategies. By analyzing how nationalist ideology enables populist political logic, this project expands our understanding of contemporary transnational right-wing discourse."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["\"If the people vote, the people win!\": The radical right in France"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Murphy, John M.","Murphy, John M","Cisneros, Josue David","Finnegan, Cara A","O'Gorman, Ned"],"dc:creator":["Seitz, Lauren N."],"dc:date":["2025-07-08","2025-08"],"dc:description":["Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2027-08-01","The student, Lauren Seitz, accepted the attached license on 2025-07-08 at 11:03.","The student, Lauren Seitz, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2025-07-08 at 11:12.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2025-07-08 at 11:35.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #22438 on 2025-10-25 at 15:30:52","This dissertation explores contemporary right-wing populist nationalism by analyzing the role national identity discourse played in the 2022 French presidential election. My project examines the campaign discourse of two radical right presidential candidates: Marine Le Pen and Éric Zemmour. Through a combination of textual analysis and rhetorical field work, I argue that nationalism and populism intertwine to sustain contemporary right-wing discourse. I draw attention to the rhetorical strategies integral to this discourse and explain how Le Pen and Zemmour customized these strategies to French politics, history, values, and culture. In doing so, I explain how the rhetors relied on national identity rhetoric to support populist nationalism. My dissertation highlights the rhetorical strategies that the candidates deployed to constitute the nation, its in-group, and out-groups. First, this dissertation examines the ways radical right rhetors constituted ‘the people’ while scapegoating perceived political enemies. I show how the rhetors relied on identification, dissociation, nativism, and anti-elitism to position the election as a mass purification ritual, one that would cast out scapegoats while restoring ‘the people’s’ primacy. Second, my project explores how the rhetors invoked nationalist understandings of space and time in order to constitute the nation as an idealized national community. I describe the ways the rhetors appealed to shared national place, space, and time to create a co-constitutive relationship between the nation and ‘the people.’ Finally, this dissertation analyzes how the candidates crafted political personae designed to align with ‘the people’ and against their enemies. My project highlights how Le Pen and Zemmour portrayed themselves as modern-day embodiments of grand French leaders. In doing so, I illustrate how they created a complementary relationship with voters, as their supporters provided the candidates with political legitimacy. Through my analysis, this dissertation draws attention to the ways that politicians and other public figures define national identity through exclusionary rhetorical strategies. By analyzing how nationalist ideology enables populist political logic, this project expands our understanding of contemporary transnational right-wing discourse."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/130088"],"dc:language":["en","eng"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2025 Lauren Seitz"],"dc:subject":["Populism","Nationalism","Marine Le Pen","Éric Zemmour","France"],"dc:title":["\"If the people vote, the people win!\": The radical right in France"],"dc:type":["text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Communication"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:06Z"}