Violenza verbale e ethos: le ingiurie di Umberto Bossi e Beppe Grillo

The studies on verbal violence have mostly focused on the argumentative function of the insult, both highlighting its role of “last resort” in the absence of other evidence and seeing it as a performative tool apt to persuade the audience to adhere to a negative judgment against an adversary. The perspective adopted in this article intends to consider a less studied aspect of verbal violence, relating to the construction of the ethos of the person who employs it, that is, her/his self-image created in the speech. In particular, I will look at the use made of it by Umberto Bossi and Beppe Grillo, founders and charismatic figures respectively of parties Lega Nord and 5 Stelle Movement. The two political characters examined are well--known cases of copious use of insults and derisions, and are emblematic examples of the overall degeneration and coarsening of political language in the “Second Republic”, where obscene language and verbal insults of any kind have entered the everyday political communication.