STRATEGIC USE OF CONTEXT IN THE INTERPRETATION OF POLITICAL DISCOURSES: AN ENCOUNTER BETWEEN THEORY OF HEGEMONY AND LINGUISTIC CONTEXTUALISM

The aim of this paper is to critically assess Quentin Skinner's linguistic contextualism by using the perspective of Laclau and Mouffe's theory of hegemony. It strives to show that the theory of hegemony can offer a sort of middle way in the currently dominant discussion between so-called textualists and contextualists. By insisting on the strategic aspect of context in the interpretation of political discourses, Laclau and Mouffe are introducing a model of contextualization that does not follow traditional dichotomies between history and philosophy or particularity of context and universality of ideas. The strategic role of context would simultaneously represent a symptom of the deeper stratification of political language and meaning, and would function as a tool of the transformation of that very context.