Looking-glass game or the semiotics of otherness in Andalucía contra Berbería by Emilio García Gómez

Babel ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 374-398
Author(s):  
Anna Gil-Bardají

Abstract This article analyses the semiotic construction of the Other in the peritexts of three Medieval Arabic chronicles from al-Andalus (the Arabic name for the Iberian Peninsula governed by Muslims from 711 to 1492), published under the title Andalucía contra Berbería by the outstanding Spanish Arabist Emilio García Gómez. Few studies have dealt, from a critical perspective, with the discourse (or discourses) concerning Arabic cultures and societies constructed by European academic Orientalism in general, or by the Spanish Arabism in particular. Assuming that translation, given its hybrid nature, plays a crucial role in the construction of othering discourses, this article attempts to analyse the identification and othering strategies used by García Gómez on the basis of a methodological approach that combines Genette’s notion of paratext (1987), the notions of text, context and pretext proposed by Widdowson (2004 and 2007) and the “Model of semiotic construction of the Other” developed by Carbonell (2003 and 2004), all within the general framework of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The results of this analysis show a significant othering of Berber and/or African references. This is further reinforced by García Gómez’ identification with al-Andalus, which pivots between his own identification with the medieval authors of the three chronicles, and the parallels he establishes between medieval al-Andalus and the Spain of the first half of the 20th century.

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Kojo Fenyi ◽  
◽  
Georgina Afeafa Sapaty ◽  

This study sets out to investigate, examine and understand the hidden ideologies and ideological structures/devices in the 2013 State of the Nation Address of President John Dramani Mahama. The study specifically aimed to (i) ascertain the ideologies embedded in the speech and (ii) investigate linguistic expressions and devices which carry these ideological colourations in the speech under review. It uses Critical Discourse Analysis as the theoretical framework to examine the role of language in creating ideology as well as the ideological structures in the speech. These hidden ideologies are created, enacted and legitimated by the application of certain linguistic devices. The researchers deem a study of this nature important as it will expose hidden motives that Ghanaian presidents cloth in language in order to manipulate their audience through their speeches in order to win and/or sustain political power. Through thematic analysis, it was revealed that Mahama projected these ideologies in his speech: ideology of positive self-representation, ideology of human value, ideology of economic difficulty, ideology of power relations and ideology of urgency. It also revealed that Mahama projects his ideologies through the following ideological discursive structures: pronouns, biblical allusion and metaphor. The study has shown that language plays a crucial role in human existence as a means of socialisation. Language has been revealed as a means of communicating ideologies and events of the world. In the tradition of CDA, this study has confirmed that text and talk have social and cultural character and that discourse functions ideologically.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1036-1057
Author(s):  
Muireann Prendergast

While the importance of journalism in memory studies has often been overlooked in academic scholarship, media discourses can be considered ‘memory’s precondition’ on both active and passive levels. First, journalists record events as they happen building on narratives and testimonies. Second, sometimes decades later, these can be invoked in legal and social post-dictatorship processes. Applying the theoretical framework of critical discourse analysis to memory studies, this research explores the relationship between counter-journalism and counter-memories as a response to and rejection of the ‘echo chamber’ of authoritarian discourse which dominated the mainstream media and promoted official memory during Argentina’s last dictatorship. The methodological approach of the study is mixed, combining qualitative synchronic-diachronic text analysis with a corpus analysis of concordance lines to trace strategies of counter-discourse in two newspapers which opposed the dictatorship. The motivations of their editor-journalists for challenging official discourse and institutional memory in the climate of state terrorism are framed in the context of Margalit’s ‘moral witnessing’.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Rhoma Dwi Aria Yuliantri ◽  
Anggit Darmatadara

This research finds that the language used by Suara Partai Masjumi and Bintang Merah using direct and clear statement in delivering their own ideology. Both also have contrast differences in the vocabulary choices. Suara Partai Masjumi presents Islamic party using the vocabulary influenced by Islam for instance the use of Arabic language for example Muktamar, Djihad, etc . This magazine also cites holy Al-Qu’ran ayat and brings Islamic leaders inside the articles. In the other hand, Bintang Merah magazine as its party ideology intentionally uses marxis term like revisionis, trotskisme, materialisme, etc. This magaizne cites communism and the communist leader. The intention of their publication is to campaign their ideologis and political party’s ideas, they are Partai Masjumi and Partai Komunis. Besides, as the informative magazine, it is also as a material source of their members only to educate their members however in society education it does not give any contributions.


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 11-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bianka Plüschke-Altof

Despite often being used interchangeably, the dominant equation of the rural with the peripheral is not self-evident. In order to critically scrutinize the discursive node, the aim of this article is twofold. On one hand, it argues for overcoming the prevalent urban‒rural divide and dominant structural approaches in sociological and geographical research by introducing discursive peripheralization as a conceptual framework, which allows the analysis of the discursive (re-)production of socio-spatial inequalities on and between different scales. On the other hand, this article explores how rural areas are constituted as peripheries within a hegemonic discourse naturalizing the ascription of development (non-)potentials. Following a critical discourse analysis approach, this will be illustrated in the case of periphery constructions in Estonian national print media.


Balcanica ◽  
2011 ◽  
pp. 165-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helena Zdravkovic-Zonta

Through perpetuating negative stereotypes and rigid dichotomous identities, the media play a significant part in sustaining conflict dynamics in Kosovo. Examining their discourse in terms of ideological production and representations is crucial in order to understand the power relations between the majority and the minority, the identity politics involved in sustaining them, and the intractability of the conflict. In an effort to provide a deeper understanding of the intractable conflict in Kosovo, and the role of the media in protracting it, this study uses critical discourse analysis to examine articles related to issues affecting the Serb community, published in Albanian language print media. The master narrative that comes out of the analysis is that of ?threat? - the threat that Kosovo Albanians continue to face from Serbs and Serbia; a threat that is portrayed as historical and constant. The discourse further strengthens the conflict dynamics of opposition, polarization and even hatred. This master narrative implies that Serbs are enemies, to be feared, contested, fought against; conflict is thus the normal state of affairs. The study also looks at the implications of media discourse for reconciliation efforts and the prospects of the Serb minority in Kosovo society, arguing that when the Other is presented as dangerous and threatening, fear of the Other and a desire to eliminate the threat, physically and symbolically, become perceived as a ?natural? response, and thus constitute a significant conflict-sustaining dynamic.


JURNAL BASIS ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Andri Fernanda ◽  
Ranto Ranto

The goal of this study was to break down gender issues and stereotypes towards women constructed in Bangka Belitung society from the perspective of female authors. In analyzing the data, researchers carried out a qualitative descriptive method with feminist theory. The researchers also conducted critical discourse analysis on writings that have been published by Bangka Belitung’s female authors. The results showed that there were still gender inequality and inferiority of women in society. The identity crisis faced by women when they are not married since marriage is seen as an ideal as well as a complement to their life as real women in society. On the other hand, the picture of how women had no rights over themselves was demonstrated in a situation when matchmaking and marriage were performed one-sidedly and suddenly, women did not have enough power to question these, even refused them. Besides, how strong a patriarchal system and culture was shaped by women, their closest people and the community was proven in the novels of the Bangka Belitung’s female authors.


Author(s):  
Bob Hodge

This chapter investigates and endorses the integration of two existing research traditions, electronic discourse analysis (EDA) and critical discourse analysis (CDA), into a more powerful and comprehensive form of analysis of electronic discourses, Critical Electronic Discourse Analysis (CEDA). It sets this analytic project against the massive, unpredictable changes in culture and society which are associated with the electronic media revolution. It argues for innovative forms of analysis, in which ‘electronic discourse analysis’ acquires two over-lapping interpretations: electronically enabled analysis of discourses in all media; and all forms of analysis of electronic discourses and the social forms they express. It uses McLuhan and multi-modality theory to argue for major continuities and significant breaks in semiotic modes over long periods. It argues that powerful innovations in analysis and technology need to recognize and incorporate the two fundamental semiotic modes, digital and analogue, and not seek to replace one with the other.


2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 392-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farid Hafez

This article analyses the two national parliamentary debates on the new Islam law of 2015 using a Viennese School of Critical Discourse Analysis. It asks how the new Islam law was framed from the perspectives of the political parties in power and of those in opposition. It also shows in detail which arguments were raised to defend, alter or support the proposed law by identifying the list of topoi used. It asks especially how racist arguments were debated between on one side a comparably tolerant Austrian system of laws on religion, and on the other, the dominant right-wing populist Freedom Party of Austria, which aimed to foster Islamophobia.


2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 781-813 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kieran O’Halloran

In the article, I model an alternative critical discourse analysis (CDA) pedagogy which is based on an ethical subjectivity instead of a political subjectivity. Aimed at undergraduates, it facilitates critical purchase on arguments which attack the standpoint of relatively powerless groups/organizations (who seek political change). Via corpus linguistic analysis of appropriate web-based data, I show how the analyst can rigorously find out at scale the recurrent key concerns of a relatively powerless Other with whom they were previously unfamiliar. They use this counter-discourse information as a lens on an argument which criticises the relatively powerless group, ascertaining whether or not the argument has distorted the group’s key concerns. Should this be the case, I highlight how the analyst can go on to explore whether any mischaracterisation has implications for the argument’s credibility because it loses coherence relative to the outlook of the Other. The approach is grounded in Jacques Derrida’s ‘ethics of hospitality to the Other’. It is in being hospitable to the outlook of a relatively powerless Other, and adopting it for purposes of argument evaluation, that the analyst effectively creates an ethical subjectivity. That said, the ethical and political are, in principle, relatable with this method as I indicate.


2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 781-813 ◽  

In the article I model an alternative critical discourse analysis (CDA) pedagogy which is based on an ethical subjectivity instead of a political subjectivity. Aimed at undergraduates, it facilitates critical purchase on arguments which attack the standpoint of relatively powerless groups/organizations (who seek political change). Via corpus linguistic analysis of appropriate web-based data, I show how the analyst can rigorously find out at scale the recurrent key concerns of a relatively powerless Other with whom they were previously unfamiliar. They use this counter-discourse information as a lens on an argument which criticises the relatively powerless group, ascertaining whether or not the argument has distorted the group’s key concerns. Should this be the case, I highlight how the analyst can go on to explore whether any mischaracterisation has implications for the argument’s credibility because it loses coherence relative to the outlook of the Other. The approach is grounded in Jacques Derrida’s ‘ethics of hospitality to the Other’. It is in being hospitable to the outlook of a relatively powerless Other, and adopting it for purposes of argument evaluation, that the analyst effectively creates an ethical subjectivity. That said, the ethical and political are, in principle, relatable with this method as I indicate. Keywords: absences; argumentation; change.org; corpus linguistics; counter-discourse; critical discourse analysis; ethical subjectivity; Jacques Derrida; online comments; text cohesion.


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