Abstracts
Abstract
This article compares contemporary political rhetoric from and around Donald Trump with early modern discourse on witchcraft. Trump frequently and explicitly positions himself as the victim of political “witch hunts.” I will argue that he also deploys rhetoric that parallels early modern arguments connecting the persecution of witches with the exercise of sovereign authority, implicitly putting him in the position of the witch hunter. The article focuses on two Renaissance texts, Jean Bodin’sOn the Demon-Mania of Witches (1580) and King James VI and I’s Daemonologie (1597), highlighting the ways in which both the contemporary and early modern discourses appeal to disruptive conspiracies, the threat of political and epistemic chaos, and the targeting of legitimate political authority. The language and logic of witchcraft, past and present, provides Trump and Trumpians with a powerful rhetorical resource.
Keywords:
- Witch hunts,
- Political rhetoric,
- Demonology,
- Jean Bodin,
- King James VI and I,
- Donald Trump
Résumé
Cet article compare la rhétorique politique de Donald Trump et de son entourage avec les discours tenus autour de la sorcellerie dans les premiers temps modernes. Trump se présente fréquemment et explicitement comme la victime de « chasses aux sorcières » politiques. Je soutiens qu’il déploie en même temps une rhétorique rappelant les arguments des premiers temps modernes qui associaient la persécution des sorcières à l’exercice de l’autorité souveraine. Ce faisant, il se met implicitement dans la position d’un chasseur de sorcières. À partir de deux textes de la Renaissance, De la Démonomanie des sorciers (1580) de Jean Bodin et Daemonologie (1597) du roi Jacques VI et Ier, cet article montre en quoi tant les discours contemporains que ceux des premiers temps modernes font référence à des complots subversifs, à la menace d’un chaos politique et épistémique, et à la lutte contre l’autorité politique légitime. Le langage et la logique de la sorcellerie, dans le passé comme aujourd’hui, offrent à Trump et aux trumpistes une puissante ressource rhétorique.
Appendices
Bibliography
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