Nebulous Utopias. From “Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer” to “China Dream”. The Use of Catchwords and Slogans in Constructing Imaginary Utopian/Dystopian Communities

Abstract

The paper offers a preliminary study of a phenomenon that could be termed nebulous utopia, an attempt to project an image of the ideal state based on the use of catchwords and slogans. In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, their extensive use, originally limited mainly to totalitarian states and war propaganda, has become the dominant rhetorical device employed by a wide range of both left-wing and right-wing populist movements aimed at winning popular support by appealing to a set of vaguely defined general values and objectives.

Keywords

• utopia
• dystopia
• totalitarian states
• political slogans and catchwords
• the third reich
• china dream
• brexit