The phallic girl goes to Italy: Amanda Knox, post-feminism and phallicism between the national and international spheres

2020 ◽  
pp. 135050682094534
Author(s):  
Ella Fegitz

The article takes as its subject the trials of Amanda Knox, Raffaele Sollecito and Rudy Guede for the murder of the English student Meredith Kercher in Perugia on 2 November 2007. Through a Foucauldian discourse analysis, the article explores the discursive strategies that are employed – through the interplay of the media and the legal system – to reinsert the disruptive figure of ‘the woman who kills’ within normative and sanctioned forms of femininity and female sexuality. Furthermore, the analysis shows how the Knox case is central for understanding Italian culture, which is characterised by an anxiety towards, and rejection of, a novel facet of young femininity in post-feminist culture: the phallic subjectivity and sexuality incarnated by Knox.

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-355
Author(s):  
Nattawaj Kijratanakoson

The purposes of this study are twofold. First, it investigates how the digital media discursively react against the use of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS). Second, it examines how Thailand is portrayed as a venue for steroid holiday among recreational bodybuilders from the Western countries. Adhering to the principle of theoretical triangulation, the study employs two frameworks including Reisigl and Wodak’s discursive strategies and Van Dijk’s ideological structures. The methodology undertaken is a corpus-assisted discourse analysis. The corpus contains 100 articles published on various websites between the period of 2014 and 2019 with the total number of 107,116 words. Main findings indicate that, regarding the first purpose, the media portray AAS as the ‘outgroup’ by employing various negative lexical items while attempting to dilute any claimed benefits. Concerning the second purpose, Thailand is represented as a venue in which AAS are easily available coupled with corrupt dealers and lax regulations.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 03
Author(s):  
Maitê Francine Bohn ◽  
Ernani Cesar de Freitas

Uma interpretação aprofundada de produções discursivas requer um desdobramento teórico que considere não apenas aspectos relacionados aos conteúdos temáticos, mas também as condições de produção do enunciado, o vínculo entre os interlocutores e a influência e a apropriação da cultura que emergem em situações comunicativas. O presente estudo justifica-se, portanto, pela possibilidade de demonstrar a presença de estratégias discursivas que agem sobre o processo de construção de sentido realizado pelo enunciador e coenunciador na emissão e recepção do discurso, especialmente no âmbito midiático, cujas intervenções influem culturalmente na vida em sociedade. Assim, o estudo dos conceitos cenografia e ethos discursivo torna-se relevante, pois ambos estão circunscritos na cena enunciativa, atuando sobre o processo de construção de sentido realizado pelos interlocutores. Mas de que modo o ethos e a cenografia articulam-se nessa construção? A partir desse questionamento, busca-se analisar a cenografia e o ethos discursivo presentes na construção semântica que se manifesta no comercial “Acredite na Beleza: A Linda Ex”, promovido pela empresa O Boticário, articulando-os às formações discursivas, culturais e identitárias que nele emergem. A pesquisa deu-se de forma exploratória e bibliográfica, sendo este trabalho fundamentado nos estudos sobre linguagem e interação verbal (BAKHTIN, 1999), na construção identitária e cultural (HALL, 2001) e na Análise do Discurso (MAINGUENEAU, 2002). Os resultados da análise realizada revelam a utilização de estratégias discursivas pelo enunciador para condicionar e conduzir a produção de sentido a ser construída pelo seu coenunciador, tendo em vista sua finalidade comunicativa.Palavras-chave: Discurso. Anúncio publicitário. Cenografia. Ethos. Cultura.ABSTRACTA deep interpretation of discursive productions requires a theoretical unfolding that considers not only aspects related to topics, but also the conditions of production of the utterance, the link between the interlocutors and the cultural influence and appropriation which emerge in communicative situations. Therefore, this study is justified by the possibility of demonstrating the presence of discursive strategies that act on the process of meaning construction, realized by the enunciator and coenunciator in the emission and reception of the discourse, especially in the media sphere, whose interventions culturally influence in social life. Thus, the scenography and discursive ethos study becomes relevant, since both concepts are circumscribed in the enunciative scene. They act on the process of meaning construction realized by the interlocutors. But how do they relate in this construction? From this question, this study analyzes the scenography and the discursive ethos present in the semantic construction manifested in the commercial “Acredite na Beleza: A Linda Ex”, by O Boticário brand, articulating both concepts to the discursive, cultural and identity formations which emerge in it. The research was carried out in an exploratory and bibliographical way. This work was based on language and verbal interaction studies (BAKHTIN, 1999), on the identity and cultural construction (HALL, 2001) and on Discourse Analysis (MAINGUENEAU, 2002). The results of the analysis show the use of discursive strategies by the enunciator to condition and to lead the production of meaning to be built by its coenunciator, in view of its communicative purpose.Keywords: Speech. Advertisement. Scenography. Ethos. Culture.


Author(s):  
Nour Shreim

 The paper employs an interpretative discourse analysis, to investigate the cultural ideas evoked linguistically throughout the coverage of the Gaza War of 2008-09 (Operation Cast Lead). It aims to provide a historical context to better understanding Operation Protective Edge. To allow for a comparative dimension, the paper develops two ‘frames’ of analysis that systematically look at two recurring themes and scrutinise their discursive strategies and functions in the construction of meaning and ideology. These include Provocation, which examines questions of responsibility and culpability; and Proportionality, which embraces matters of legitimacy and authority in relation to the humanitarian aspect of the war. The findings indicate that the actions of a protagonist may be deemed legitimate with regard to provocation, but illegitimate with regard to their proportionality. The peculiar circumstances of the war pushed the media in the direction of greater separation from the predominant ideologies ensued by the Israeli Army. It suggests that BBC World Service lack a coherent discursive strategy at the level of the lexical in their reporting of Gaza.  


Metahumaniora ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 56
Author(s):  
Indah Mustika Santhi

ABSTRAKPenelitian ini berjudul “The Media Conspiracy Behind the Death of Diana, Princessof Wales: A Study of Critical Discourse Analysis”. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menjelaskanbagaimana kematian Putri Diana direpresentasikan oleh The Daily Mail dalam artikelartikelpemberitaannya melalui dimensi tekstual dan juga memaparkan cara pandang TheDaily Mail sebagai pelaku media konspirasi pada praktik kerjanya terkait berita kematianPutri Diana dalam dimensi sosiokultural. Objek penelitian ini adalah The Daily Mail, salahsatu tabloid harian terbesar di Inggris. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalahmetode kualitatif, analisis deskriptif. Penulis menggunakan teori analisis wacana kritisFairclough (1995), disertai dengan beberapa teori pendukung lainnya, seperti teori klausasebagai representasi Halliday (2004), teori konspirasi Feaster (2008), Birchall (2006),Barkun (2003), Hodapp dan von Kannun (2008). Hasil dari penelitian ini menunjukkanbahwa representasi kematian Putri Diana dalam dimensi tekstual didapat melalui prosesmaterial, proses mental, proses relasional, proses verbal, dan proses eksistensial yangterdapat dalam artikel-artikel The Daily Mail. Sementara itu, cara pandang The Daily Mailsebagai pelaku media konspirasi atas berita kematian Putri Diana didapat melalui prosestataran sosial, tataran institusional, tataran sosial pada dimensi praktik sosiokultural.Kata Kunci: Transitivitas, Analisis Wacana Kritis, Media konspirasi.ABSTRACTThis thesis is entitled “The Media Conspiracy Behind the Death of Diana, Princessof Wales: A Study of Critical Discourse Analysis”. This thesis is aimed to describe therepresentation of Princess Diana’s death and The Daily Mail’s perspective as a mediaconspiracy actor through textual and sociocultural dimension. The object of this thesis isThe Daily Mail, one of the widest national daily newspapers in England. The method that isused in this thesis is a qualitative method, a descriptive analytic method. The writer uses thecritical discourse analysis theory of Fairclough (1995) and some other supported theories,such as clause as representation theory by Halliday (2004), the conspiracy theory by Feaster(2008), Birchall (2006), Barkun (2003), Hodapp and von Kannun (2008). The result of thisresearch shows that the representation in textual dimension that appear on Princess Diana’sdeath is derived from material process, mental process, relational process, verbal process, andexistential process. While The Daily Mail’s perspective on Princess Diana’s death is derivedfrom situational level, institutional level and social level of sociocultural practice dimension.Keywords: Transitivity, Critical Discourse Analysis, Media Conspiracy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 194-203
Author(s):  
Aram Terzyan

Abstract This article presents an analysis of the evolution of Russia’s image representation in Georgian and Ukrainian political discourses amid Russian-Georgian and Russian-Ukrainian conflicts escalation. Even though Georgia’s and Ukraine’s troubled relations with neighboring Russia have been extensively studied, there has been little attention to the ideational dimensions of the confrontations, manifested in elite narratives, that would redraw the discursive boundaries between “Us” and “Them.” This study represents an attempt to fill the void, by examining the core narratives of the enemy, along with the discursive strategies of its othering in Georgian and Ukrainian presidential discourses through critical discourse analysis. The findings suggest that the image of the enemy has become a part of “New Georgia’s” and “New Ukraine’s” identity construction - inherently linked to the two countries’ “choice for Europe.” Russia has been largely framed as Europe’s other, with its “inherently imperial,” “irremediably aggressive” nature and adherence to illiberal, non-democratic values. The axiological and moral evaluations have been accompanied by the claims that the most effective way of standing up to the enemy’s aggression is the “consolidation of democratic nations,” coming down to the two countries’ quests for EU and NATO membership.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yating Yu ◽  
Mark Nartey

Although the Chinese media’s construction of unmarried citizens as ‘leftover’ has incited much controversy, little research attention has been given to the ways ‘leftover men’ are represented in discourse. To fill this gap, this study performs a critical discourse analysis of 65 English language news reports in Chinese media to investigate the predominant gendered discourses underlying representations of leftover men and the discursive strategies used to construct their identities. The findings show that the media perpetuate a myth of ‘protest masculinity’ by suggesting that poor, single men may become a threat to social harmony due to the shortage of marriageable women in China. Leftover men are represented as poor men, troublemakers and victims via discursive processes that include referential, predicational and aggregation strategies as well as metaphor. This study sheds light on the issues and concerns of a marginalised group whose predicament has not been given much attention in the literature.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
RODOLFO G. S. P. G. PRATES ◽  
ISABELA L. SANTOS ◽  
JARDEL N. MARTINS ◽  
FABIANA S. A. MARTINS ◽  
FELIPE F. COUTO

ABSTRACT Purpose: The general objective is to critically analyze the ideologies and constructions of management ideology in the Internet blog called Geração de Valor (Generation of Value), behind the discourse of success. Originality/value: The pop-management phenomenon has been widespread in the Brazilian context. It leads individuals to look for formulas of excel and achieve success as entrepreneurs. One of the disseminators of this ideology has been Geração de Valor. This article innovates when dealing with thematic without prima donna behaviors or fanciful romanticism. Design/methodology/approach: This article aims to analyze texts available on Geração de Valor through critical discourse analysis (CDA). Findings: We conclude that the voice of the businessman and blogger Flávio Augusto da Silva is nothing more than one of several voices, including in administration, that seek to defend the cult of personal victory and disdain for the collectivist practices of social organization. This kind of analysis is still scarce in this field of study, as they require enriched readings of the text in terms of context and intertextuality. Critical analyses contradict hegemonic visions and sharpen the reader's critical sense. Also, they are useful in highlighting the cult following that Administration has been receiving by the media.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 518-531
Author(s):  
Heather M. Dalmage

Travel and leisure activities can bring many rewards, and yet for those deemed “racialized Others,” these same activities can be fraught with anxiety and tension. As in all aspects of society, racism mediates the rewards of travel and leisure. Decisions about when and how to confront racism are central in the lives of those considered racialized Others. Given a wish to de-escalate racist situations and respond later, some individuals are using online platforms to call out racism. Using a digital discourse analysis, the author explores TripAdvisor, as a site and context in which racial confrontation happens. Interracial couples facing discrimination during leisure activities may choose to confront businesses after the fact through an online platform. When businesses respond, they follow a pattern that defensively separates “service” from racism and ultimately denies racism entirely. The author begins with an analysis of the TripAdvisor platform, including the affordances and constraints. Next, the author uses a digital discourse analysis of the review-response interaction. As with other forms of colorblind racism, a close read of the content is needed to highlight racist practices. The author shows that the structure of TripAdvisor, including the quantitative ratings and rankings and written reviews and responses, works to legitimize the platform and build trust across a Eurocentric global community. This sense of community and trust is denied and remains elusive to those suffering as a result of racist abuse.


2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Thomas ◽  
Amina Selimovic

Purpose – This study aims to explore how two Norwegian national online newspapers, Dagbladet and Aftenposten, have framed halal food in the past 6 years (2008-2014), a period conflating with a rise in Muslim demographics in Norway. Design/methodology/approach – A mixed-methods approach is used. Employing among others a Hallidayan transitivity analysis and other approaches from critical discourse analysis (CDA), clausal semantic structures, collocations and nominalizations were explored with a view toward fleshing out ideological significance. Particular attention was given to the neologism – “covert-Islamization” – popularized by the populist right-wing Progress Party. Findings – The findings reveal that Dagbladet refracts halal food through a discourse of crime and other dubious frames tapping into topoi of Islamophobia. Halal is, in this manner, transformed into a synecdoche for deviance. This is contrasted with Aftenposten’s more “halal-friendly” gaze which inter alia is attributed to greater access for Muslim contributors (over 40 per cent), with nearly all authorship penned in the aftermath of the Breivik massacre of July 22, 2011. Research limitations/implications – As a comparative research that explores two newspapers – albeit with substantial national circulation – there are obvious limitations. Future research could explore the contents of Verdens Gang, the biggest newspaper in Norway, and perhaps incorporate iconic semiotic content. Social implications – The prevalent media discourse on halal in Norway casts a shadow over a fundamental aspect of the identity construction of Norwegians who adhere to Islam, thus highlighting issues of belonging and citizenry in the “new” Norway. National discourses of identity and belonging impact upon the Muslim consumer’s perception of self and ethnicity, and how these perceptions are negotiated in the interstices of a skewed media coverage of halal certainly serves to undermine this self-perception. Originality/value – Several recent studies have broached the subject of the manifold representations of Muslims and Islam in the media using a CDA, but there is a dearth in studies with a specific focus on halal food. This study contributes to the lacuna in the literature in an area of growing importance, not just as a socio-political and religious phenomenon, but a lucrative commercial project in a Scandinavian context.


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