Propaganda in TIME Magazine : A diachronic corpus-assisted discourse study

While propaganda has been considered an age-old phenomenon, its conceptualisations differ historically and culturally. This contribution explores how the concept of propaganda is constructed in American news discourse, drawing on the TIME Magazine Corpus (1923-2006). The study adopts the approach of Corpus-Assisted Discourse Studies, combining corpus-linguistic methods with the more qualitatively oriented perspectives of (Critical) Discourse Analysis. Bringing together academic perspectives and mass media discourse about propaganda as exemplified by TIME, the study delineates key components of propaganda and tests (near-)synonyms, which shape the conceptual field of propaganda. The results indicate that, though negative connotations prevail, the semantic prosody and discourse prosody of propaganda are more variable than often acknowledged in both lay and expert definitions. Quantitative developments show a decreasing usage of the labels investigated in the 21st century, hinting at changing metadiscursive practices in TIME.