Event Details

A public lecture by Dr Veronika Koller

Politicians, the media and citizens have used language in certain ways to make their arguments in the run-up to and after the EU referendum.

In this lecture, Dr Veronika Koller will address the ways in which language about Brexit has been used in parliament and in speeches by politicians from different parties and with conflicting views. She will also consider how journalists have written about Brexit in news reports and editorials, and how so-called 'ordinary people' discuss the EU referendum on social media, or when interviewed for news and current affairs programmes.

It will be shown how people use metaphors and other language features to make their arguments for Leave or Remain, communicate their identity as British and/or European, and discuss the referendum result and possible ways forward.

About the speaker

Dr Veronika Koller received her PhD in English Linguistics from the University of Vienna in 2003. Before joining Lancaster University in 2004, she worked for the Department of English Business Communication at Vienna University of Economics and Business, as well as working as an assistant marketing manager at a medium-sized company in Vienna. She is now a Reader in Discourse Studies at Lancaster University and does occasional language consulting work.

The lecture will begin at 6.30pm, with doors opening for tea and coffee from 6pm. There will be time for questions after the lecture.

To register for your free tickets, please go to https://language-of-brexit.eventbrite.co.uk or contact the public events team at public-events@lancaster.ac.uk or 01524 592994.