ABSTRACT
A mixed-method approach of quantitative and qualitative analyses and a new corpus linguistics tool, LancsBox, is used to identify the lexical items of emotion in the common corpus. Concordance lines of the positive and negative lexical items of emotion were examined qualitatively to enable an in-depth, in-context realisation of the uses of emotional lexis in the corpus. To take this research into further depth, collocates of emotion between discourse of the right-leaning newspaper (The Daily Telegraph) and the left-leaning newspaper (The Guardian) were compared. Results of the data analysis show that emotions in the austerity newspaper corpus are exclusively negative. Negative emotions are more linked to the EU austerity than the UK one in both British newspapers, of which the right-leaning newspaper (The Daily Telegraph) has a stronger tendency to link negative emotions to the EU via austerity. There are nevertheless a few instances where positive attitudes are embedded in the negative emotions of austerity. By focusing on the questions of who is to blame for austerity and who experiences emotions in the UK, the analysis shows that The Guardian tends to blame individual politicians whereas The Daily Telegraph blames the government more frequently. Although the disadvantaged, vulnerable groups in the UK have the highest overall percentage of negative emotions to austerity, they only appear in the left-leaning newspaper (The Guardian). The right-leaning newspaper (The Daily Telegraph) focuses more on businesses and industries in writing about austerity negativities.
