{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,4]],"date-time":"2026-05-04T23:22:32Z","timestamp":1777936952384,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,4,15]],"date-time":"2019-04-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1555286400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["New Media &amp; Society"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2019,10]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>When conservative media personality and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones warned of an impending Second Civil War to be initiated by Democrats, he instigated a viral hashtag on Twitter \u2013 #secondcivilwarletters \u2013 which drew tweets of political commentary and critique in a style mimicking war letters from the American Civil War. Using a sample of these tweets, this article explores the evocation of discursive illusions already established within mainstream and alternative media discourse about contemporary partisan politics in America \u2013 that is, the divide between the Republicans and the Democrats and how they categorise each other. To do this we adopt Bhatia\u2019s framework of the discourse of illusion and its three main components of linguistic and semiotic action, historicity and social impact. The analysis reveals the extent to which this illusion has permeated the consciousness of the users as they present their ideological beliefs and positions in this new media context.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/1461444819843311","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,4,15]],"date-time":"2019-04-15T05:38:47Z","timestamp":1555306727000},"page":"2222-2241","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["#secondcivilwarletters from the front: Discursive illusions in a trending Twitter hashtag"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7005-9962","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrew S","family":"Ross","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"The University of Sydney, Australia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Aditi","family":"Bhatia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,4,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-1461444819843311","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/pops.12479"},{"key":"bibr2-1461444819843311","unstructured":"Badger E, Chokshi N (2017) How we became bitter political enemies. The New York Times, 15 June. Available at: https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/06\/15\/upshot\/how-we-became-bitter-political-enemies.html"},{"key":"bibr3-1461444819843311","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1075\/jlp.7.2.02bha"},{"key":"bibr4-1461444819843311","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pragma.2008.05.016"},{"key":"bibr5-1461444819843311","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0957926515576635"},{"key":"bibr6-1461444819843311","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4324\/9781315776903"},{"key":"bibr7-1461444819843311","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4324\/9781351263887-8"},{"key":"bibr8-1461444819843311","unstructured":"Bond S (2017) A short history of torches and intimidation. Forbes, 15 August. Available at: https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/drsarahbond\/2017\/08\/15\/a-short-history-of-torches-and-intimidation\/#32d0b26a6762"},{"key":"bibr9-1461444819843311","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1515\/9781503621749"},{"key":"bibr10-1461444819843311","unstructured":"Brodey S (2017) Democrats want an all-out war on Trump. Is that bad news for Sen. Bipartisanship? MinnPost, 17 March. Available at: https:\/\/www.minnpost.com\/politics-policy\/2017\/03\/democrats-want-all-out-war-trump-bad-news-sen-bipartisanship\/"},{"key":"bibr11-1461444819843311","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/1369118X.2011.635214"},{"key":"bibr12-1461444819843311","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/1461670X.2012.664428"},{"key":"bibr13-1461444819843311","first-page":"13","volume-title":"Hashtag Publics: The Power and Politics of Discursive Networks","author":"Bruns A","year":"2015"},{"key":"bibr14-1461444819843311","unstructured":"Carfantan A (2003) Philosophy and spirituality. Available at: http:\/\/philospir.pagesperso-orange.fr\/Lesson7.htm"},{"key":"bibr15-1461444819843311","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/acprof:oso\/9780199759477.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr16-1461444819843311","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1057\/9780230000612"},{"key":"bibr17-1461444819843311","first-page":"195","volume-title":"Psychological Insights and Perspectives","author":"Cialdini RB","year":"1997"},{"key":"bibr18-1461444819843311","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0011392115590082"},{"key":"bibr19-1461444819843311","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/jcc4.12124"},{"key":"bibr20-1461444819843311","unstructured":"Edwards M (2011) How to turn Democrats and Republicans into Americans. The Atlantic, July\/August. Available at: https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/magazine\/archive\/2011\/07\/how-to-turn-republicans-and-democrats-into-americans\/308521\/"},{"key":"bibr21-1461444819843311","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0267323116682802"},{"key":"bibr22-1461444819843311","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4135\/9780857028020.n6"},{"key":"bibr23-1461444819843311","unstructured":"Gilmour D (2013) Alex Jones pushes another baseless, grossly inaccurate school shooting conspiracy. The Daily Dot, 20 February. Available at: https:\/\/www.dailydot.com\/layer8\/alex-jones-pushes-another-school-shooting-conspiracy\/"},{"key":"bibr24-1461444819843311","volume-title":"Categorization and the Moral Order","author":"Jayyusi L","year":"1984"},{"key":"bibr25-1461444819843311","unstructured":"Kis E (2018) Alex Jones starts a war: the best #secondcivilwarletterstweets. Metro, 3 July. Available at: https:\/\/www.metro.us\/news\/the-big-stories\/best-secondcivilwarletters-tweets-alex-jones"},{"key":"bibr26-1461444819843311","volume-title":"Metaphors We Live by","author":"Lakoff G","year":"1980"},{"key":"bibr27-1461444819843311","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1461444811422894"},{"key":"bibr28-1461444819843311","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0957926504041018"},{"key":"bibr29-1461444819843311","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0957926510382840"},{"key":"bibr30-1461444819843311","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/1369118X.2013.871571"},{"key":"bibr31-1461444819843311","first-page":"305","volume-title":"Twitter and Society","author":"Maireder A","year":"2012"},{"key":"bibr32-1461444819843311","unstructured":"Meyerson H (2016) Reaping as they sowed: how the culture wars are smiting the GOP. Reuters, 8 April. Available at: http:\/\/blogs.reuters.com\/great-debate\/2016\/04\/08\/reaping-as-they-sowed-how-the-culture-wars-are-smiting-the-gop\/"},{"key":"bibr33-1461444819843311","unstructured":"Murphy PP (2017) White nationalists use tiki torches to light up Charlottesville march. CNN, 14 August. Available at: https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2017\/08\/12\/us\/white-nationalists-tiki-torch-march-trnd\/index.html"},{"key":"bibr34-1461444819843311","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/15295036.2016.1266686"},{"key":"bibr35-1461444819843311","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/acprof:oso\/9780199999736.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr36-1461444819843311","unstructured":"Reiss J (2018) Here\u2019s why #secondcivilwarletters is trending (and a look at some of the funniest tweets). The Boston Globe, 3 July. Available at: https:\/\/www.bostonglobe.com\/news\/nation\/2018\/07\/03\/here-why-secondcivilwarletters-trending-and-look-some-funniest-tweets\/o1OJtQV2Mj40Nnpygi1hfP\/story.html"},{"key":"bibr37-1461444819843311","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.dcm.2017.01.001"},{"key":"bibr38-1461444819843311","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/2056305118776010"},{"key":"bibr39-1461444819843311","volume-title":"The Psychology of Stereotyping","author":"Schneider DJ","year":"2005"},{"key":"bibr40-1461444819843311","unstructured":"Seitz-Wald A (2013) Alex Jones: Conspiracy Inc. Salon, 2 May. Available at: https:\/\/www.salon.com\/2013\/05\/02\/alex_jones_conspiracy_inc\/"},{"key":"bibr41-1461444819843311","unstructured":"Vallee V (2000) The roots of sound rational thinking. Available at: http:\/\/plusroot.com"},{"key":"bibr42-1461444819843311","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0957926593004002006"},{"key":"bibr43-1461444819843311","unstructured":"Wang AB (2018) \u2018No place to recharge my Kindle\u2019: letters imagine the front lines of America\u2019s \u2018second civil war\u2019. The Washington Post, 3 July. Available at: https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/retropolis\/wp\/2018\/07\/03\/no-place-to-recharge-my-kindle-letters-imagine-the-front-lines-of-americas-second-civil-war\/?utm_term=.cc11507c442f"},{"key":"bibr44-1461444819843311","unstructured":"Woloshyn T (2018) Donald Trump\u2019s orange face may be funny, but this tanning historian says it masks something deeper. The Conversation, 1 August. Available at: https:\/\/theconversation.com\/donald-trumps-orange-face-may-be-funny-but-this-tanning-historian-says-it-masks-something-deeper-100282"},{"key":"bibr45-1461444819843311","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1461444810385097"},{"key":"bibr46-1461444819843311","unstructured":"Zuesse E (2013) The philosophical war between Democrats and Republicans. Huffington Post, 15 June. Available at: https:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/eric-zuesse\/the-philosophical-war-bet_b_3086370.html"}],"container-title":["New Media &amp; Society"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/1461444819843311","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1177\/1461444819843311","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/1461444819843311","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,2]],"date-time":"2026-05-02T03:48:25Z","timestamp":1777693705000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/1461444819843311"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2019,4,15]]},"references-count":46,"journal-issue":{"issue":"10","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2019,10]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1177\/1461444819843311"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/1461444819843311","relation":{},"ISSN":["1461-4448","1461-7315"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1461-4448","type":"print"},{"value":"1461-7315","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2019,4,15]]}}}