scholarly journals Going Against the grain: An FPDA of The Epic of Gilgamesh

2019 ◽  
Vol IV (II) ◽  
pp. 34-40
Author(s):  
Samreen Zaheer ◽  
Farzana Masroor
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Female Characters ◽  
Cultural Expectation

The aspects of ones identity are positioned within a context prescribed by culture and they are according to cultural expectation. The present study aims to add/explore power dynamics that are embedded in the discourses of Ishtar and Shamhat. This study is concerned with how in The Epic of Gilgamesh, the two female characters: Ishtar and Shamhat are received and perceived by their immediate audience. The present study through feminist Post Structured Discourse Analysis (FPDA) (Baxter, 2003) lens analyzes characters of Ishtar and Shamhat, the focus of the study is to inspect the ways through these characters negotiates their positions, identities and relationships in a society that is dominated by patriarchal traditional discourses. It is concluded that both female characters in their respective discourses are victorious in their persuasion of action and manner of speaking.

scholarly journals Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears: A Matter of Gender and Fate

2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 97-110
Author(s):  
Laia Perales Galán
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Political Context ◽  
The State ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Female Characters ◽  
Domestic Sphere ◽  
Gender Dynamics ◽  
Role Morality ◽  
The Soviet Union

This paper offers an in-depth review of the Soviet hit film Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears (1979). Focusing on its female characters, it analyses the gender dynamics that prevailed in the Soviet Union at that time and the narrative impact it had on the plot. The article is divided into three subsections: a brief historical and political context, a depiction of the state of gender equality in the Soviet Union, as well as the power dynamics that existed both in the professional and domestic sphere, and a summary of the different femininities portrayed by the characters, along with the role morality and fate played in the film.

Reading between the Lines: An Approach to the Musical and Sexual Ambiguities of Death in Venice

2005 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-364
Author(s):  
RUTH SARA LONGOBARDI
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Sexual Identity ◽  
String Quartet ◽  
Coming Out ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Untimely Death ◽  
Musical Gesture ◽  
Death In Venice

ABSTRACT Framing opera as a collaborative genre compels an examination of differences. In particular, opera's media may be understood as simultaneous but not necessarily as cooperative or neutral. This conception of opera raises issues of power dynamics and the politics of voice, both within the work and among its artists. In Benjamin Britten's Death in Venice, musico-dramatic dissonances center on the protagonist's homoerotic obsession with a young boy. His momentous ““I love you”” at the end of the act 1 finale is accompanied by a musical gesture that does not affirm but rather resists this coming-out event. The gesture's subsequent transformations in other passages that contain no text, and two years later in Britten's Third String Quartet, reinforce the sense of musical opposition to the libretto's homosexual trajectory——a trajectory that results in the protagonist's shame and untimely death. If musical detachment from the libretto suggests subtext, then it also points to alternative voices. Britten's homosexuality, and the pressures that accumulated around sexual identity in postwar England, argue for connections between musical distance and closeted discourse. Analysis must acknowledge the role of the composer's experiences in the varying characterizations of the protagonist but must also cope with the limits to this type of investigation: The attempt to draw definitive connections between music and sexuality limits the suppleness of our critical apparatus. Conceiving of opera as collaboration prompts a reevaluation of the work as potentially contradictory and fragmented but also advocates against the resolution of such contradictions into coherent authorial statements. Collaboration dislodges autonomy and unity and in their place recommends polyphonies——of authors and voices, among media but also within them.

scholarly journals A Policy Shift from State to Non-state in Education Aid: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the UK’s Development Policies

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thu Ya Aung ◽  
Rolf Straubhaar
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
The Public ◽  
High Quality Education ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Development Policies ◽  
Policy Shift

Due to the historically outsized influence of the United Kingdom’s development assistance office on international aid, a better understanding of the underlying ideologies and political priorities guiding this agency would help the larger aid community more clearly understand the power dynamics and structural context of the development industry. However, these ideologies and dynamics are often left implicit and are not always easily understood. The purpose of this article is to use critical discourse analysis to unpack the ideologies, political priorities and power dynamics present in DfID’s official education policy documents. In so doing, we make the implicit explicit, and begin to unpack the implicit meanings and assumptions that are present in these written texts, particularly regarding the deprioritized role of the state in providing a high-quality education. We argue that this analysis reveals an underlying perception within DfID that the private sector is more effective at providing public education in developing countries than the public sector.

The slanted beam: A critical discourse analysis of anti-Islam and anti-Muslim discourse in China

2021 ◽  
pp. 095792652110487
Author(s):  
Tian Xiang Lan ◽  
Gene Segarra Navera
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Media Discourse ◽  
Dietary Restrictions ◽  
Halal Food ◽  
The Government ◽  
Mainstream Culture

Adopting the Critical Discourse Analysis perspective, this study investigates the ideology reflected by the anti-Islam and anti-Muslim discourse in China, the power dynamics revealed by such discourse and how social media discourse differs from and utilises the government discourse. Four ways to disguise the anti-Muslims, anti-Islam prejudice are investigated: appealing to patriotism to demand cultural assimilation; claiming to defend secularism; framing Islam as incompatible with mainstream culture; appealing to consumer rights to reject halal food. Non-Muslims and assimilated Muslims (especially the elites) are found to have the prerogative to dictate who belong to the ingroup, what dietary restrictions are legitimate and whom to blame when undesirable situations arise, while Muslim non-elites are at the receiving end of such dictates. This study also argues that social media discourse expresses antagonism of higher intensity than the government discourse does, and may misappropriate the official narratives to express the interlocutor’s hatred towards Muslims.

Discursive representations of domestic helpers in cyberspace

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-63
Author(s):  
Janet Ho
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Group Identities ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Discursive Representations

This study investigates the online narratives Hong Kong employers construct around foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) and aims to compensate for the existing gap in discursive research and mainstream media, which tend to focus on the perspective of FDHs. It examines how employers portrayed FDHs both positively and negatively, as well as how they represented themselves in online environments. Critical discourse analysis was used to analyse more than 2000 Facebook posts on the subject of FDHs, identifying discursive strategies used in constructing both power dynamics and identities. The findings revealed that nomination strategies dominated the discourse, constructing both the in- and out-group identities of FDHs. Other strategies, such as predication and augmentation, showed how employers portrayed themselves as opportunity-givers and food critics, which further contributed to the inferior self-perception of FDHs. The study concludes that employers have developed a sense of ideological ambivalence, in which they perceived FDHs as motherly figures while simultaneously maintaining their superior status.

“Call for Help Immediately”: A Discourse Analysis of Resident Assistants’ Responses to Sexual Assault Disclosures

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (11) ◽  
pp. 1383-1402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn J. Holland ◽  
Nicole Bedera
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Resident Assistants ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Dual Roles ◽  
Support Providers ◽  
Sexual Assault Survivors

Formal support providers can play a critical role in sexual assault survivors’ well-being (e.g., providing resource referrals). In a university setting, resident assistants (RAs) are key support providers with a unique relationship to survivors based on their dual roles as help-provider and peer. We examined 305 RAs’ responses to student sexual assault disclosure scenarios. Employing a critical discourse analysis, we identified four discourses used by RAs in their discussion of resources: controlling, gatekeeping, minimizing, and empowering. Due to power dynamics between RAs and residents, we conclude that empowering discourses would facilitate survivors’ access to other resources (e.g., sexual assault center).

scholarly journals Proverbial Rhetoric in Sustenance of Gender Stereotypes: An Ethnological Account of Proverbs from Pakistani Languages

2020 ◽  
Vol V (II) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Shazia Akbar Ghilzai ◽  
Aneela Sultana ◽  
Mahwish Zeeshan
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Gender Roles ◽  
Ethnic Group ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Methodological Approaches ◽  
Linguistic Determinism

Language is the most effective tool of communication across cultures. Proverbs are one such component of stylistic poetic and rhetoric devices which serves to communicate the worldview of an ethnic group. The paper is an analysis of ways in which gender differences are perceived, symbolized, portrayed, expressed and promoted rhetorically through the use of proverbs amongst various ethnic groups in Pakistan such as Pashto, Saraiki, Urdu and Sindhi consistent with the Whorfian hypothesis of linguistic determinism and relativism. The study employs qualitative data using the descriptive methodology. Discourse analysis of the secondary data and participant observations cast as primary methodological approaches has been gauged to decipher the meanings and intent of the proverbs. The study findings suggest that meanings of proverbs and messages are context-bound and reflect power dynamics rooted in conventional gender roles which serve to construct and deconstruct the notion of 'womanhood' in the ethnicities mentioned above.

scholarly journals Gender Representation in Education: Critical Discourse Analysis of Urdu Textbooks used in Primary Government Schools in Punjab

2021 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Munaza Hasan Nasir
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Gender Bias ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Female Characters ◽  
Government Schools ◽  
Quantitative Research Methods ◽  
Male Characters ◽  
Changing Roles

  AbstractThis research aims to explore the gender equality or lack thereof in the Urdu textbooks taught in Punjab, Pakistan.  Gender bias in textbooks is an important but almost invisible and overlooked problem.  Five Urdu textbooks taught in primary government schools in Punjab were selected for critical discourse analysis.  Both qualitative as well quantitative research methods were adopted.  The number of female and male characters, portrayal of domestic and professional roles by both genders, and cosmetic bias was taken into account.  In all five books analyzed, 28% characters were women whereas remaining were male characters.  Female characters were mostly found in domestic situations with insignificant roles in the stories who did not have a name or an identity except being mothers.    The text was highly biased towards the male characters associating valor and strength with men only.  Since textbooks play a crucial role in the development of the children, it is important to remove the concealed gender bias in textbooks and acknowledge the changing roles of women in the Pakistani society in order to create a society that treats men and women equally.

A Systemic Functional Grammar-Based Critical Discourse Analysis of Jamaica Kincaid’s Lucy

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-325
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Jamaica Kincaid ◽  
The Other ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Female Characters ◽  
Functional Grammar ◽  
Systemic Functional Grammar

The present paper investigates the grammatical choices made by Jamaica Kincaid in her work Lucy. It analyzes how the selected structure contributes to the realization of particular beliefs such as gender inequality, using the Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) approach (Halliday 1973, 1985, 1994; Halliday and Hasan 1989; Halliday and Matthiessen 2004). In particular, the study examines the participants’ roles and the processes types assigned to them with reference to the transitivity system. The data of the present study are collected from the first three chapters of Lucy. The corpus belongs to seven males and eleven female characters who were directly involved in all the actions in the text. A total of 325 sentences were extracted. They were quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed. The results of the study revealed the writer’s subvert of traditional gender stereotypes through displaying women as effectual dynamic actors and assertive sayers. In addition, all female characters were shown as the main participants of the other minor processes, in the sense that they were the behavers and sensers in both behavioral and mental clauses. Keywords: critical discourse analysis, gender inequality, systemic functional grammar, transitivity system.

The Portrayal of Masculinities in a Kiswahili Novel

2016 ◽  
pp. 388-396
Author(s):  
James Ogola Onyango ◽  
Yasin S. Musa
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Hegemonic Masculinity ◽  
Class Struggle ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Female Characters ◽  
Critical Insight ◽  
Property Inheritance ◽  
Insight Into

Although the themes of fate and class struggle have been profoundly explored in the critical analyses that have been undertaken on Nyota ya Rehema, however, in Critical Discourse Analysis and Hegemonic Masculinity perspectives, the question of masculinities is no less vital. Therefore, this paper seeks to give a critical insight into varied shades of masculinity that are manifesting in Nyota ya Rehema. Focussing on relevant texts, we uncover the disproportional masculine ideological and power positions that are explicit in sexuality and socio-economic spheres such as marriage, prostitution, employment and property inheritance that depict the disadvantaged position of female characters. The exploration of masculinities in islands Kiswahili novel that has mainly focussed on class struggle may be a welcome departure.

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