Make leave, not war. Intertextual references in the British press coverage of Brexit

Abstract

In the so-called Brexit referendum which took place on 23 June 2016, a slim majority of British citizens voted in favour of the United Kingdom leaving the EU. Following this decision, the United Kingdom officially withdrew from the European Union on 31 January 2020. On both occasions, British newspapers responded with a series of articles and front pages where they elaborated on various arguments for and against Brexit and declared sides in the Brexit campaign. The following study, which focuses on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, is based on Brexit-related front pages and articles from print and online editions of British newspapers published in both June 2016 and late January/early February 2020. The analysed periodicals represent diverging viewpoints: some argued against Brexit, whereas others backed the Leave campaign. The main points of interest are the intertextual techniques implied in the analysed media texts, ranging from direct quotation to (visual) allusion. They are viewed and discussed as means of (1) revealing the stance of the analysed newspapers; (2) extending the meaning of a given text; (3) attracting attention; and, last but not least, (4) “infotainment”, i.e. involving and entertaining the readership.

The conducted analysis proves visual allusions based on British and European national symbols as well as structural allusions to films, songs and works of literature, proverbs and fixed phrases to be a widely applied journalistic strategy in the British media coverage of Brexit. Carefully targeted by producers of media and appropriately decoded by the readership not only do they fulfil a meaningmaking and evaluative function but first and foremost provide entertainment, enhance the attractiveness and thus maintain and/or increase the circulation of the newspaper in question.