Showing papers in "Journal of Language and Politics in 2004"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the disciplines of Translation Studies and Political Discourse Analysis (PDA) can benefit from closer cooperation and present examples of authentic translations of political texts from the point of view of translation.
Abstract: Political discourse very often relies on translation. Political Discourse Analysis (PDA), however, has not yet taken full account of the phenomenon of translation. This paper argues that the disciplines of Translation Studies (TS) and PDA can benefit from closer cooperation. It starts by presenting examples of authentic translations of political texts, commenting on them from the point of view of TS. These examples concern political effects caused by specific translation solutions; the processes by which information is transferred via translation to another culture; and the structure and function of equally valid texts in their respective cultures. After a brief survey of the discipline of Translation Studies, the paper concludes with outlining scope for interdisciplinary cooperation between PDA and TS. This is illustrated with reference to an awareness of product features, multilingual texts, process analysis, and the politics of translation.
141 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors show the existing relationships between the concept of community and the linguistic forms used to convey or even to manipulate it, and discover any type of relationship between the scope of reference of this personal pronoun and the intentions of the person who uttered it.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to show the existing relationships between the concept of community and the linguistic forms used to convey or even to manipulate it. First of all, the limits and restrictions of any form of community will be defined. Second, one specific form of community will be selected for analysis. The community chosen will be the Parliamentary community, and the linguistic form singled out for study will be the first person plural pronoun “we”. We will try to discover any type of relationship between (a) the scope of reference of this personal pronoun and (b) the intentions of the person who uttered it. In this way, we can see whether there is any connection between personal identity (in terms of inclusion/exclusion from a group) and pronominal choice. This could also lead us to the discovery of any possible strategic use of this personal pronoun.
117 citations
TL;DR: This article explored the role of language in the US census and found that the US Census has used language as an index of race and as a means to racialize speakers of languages other than English, constructing them as essentially different and threatening to US cultural and national identity.
Abstract: This article builds on research on institutional language policies and practices, and on studies of the legitimization of racial categories in census data collection, in an exploration of language ideologies in the US Census. It traces the changes in language-related questions in the two centuries of decennial surveys, contextualizing them within a discussion of changing policies and patterns of immigration and nativism, as well as evolving hegemonic notions of race. It is argued that the US Census has historically used language as an index of race and as a means to racialize speakers of languages other than English, constructing them as essentially different and threatening to US cultural and national identity.
75 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide a synopsis of their work on dialogical networks in media and provide an example of analysis with that concept, and summarize constitutive properties of these networks.
Abstract: In this paper we provide a synopsis of our research on dialogical networks in media (Leudar 1998; Leudar and Nekvapil 1998; Nekvapil and Leudar 1998; Nekvapil and Leudar 2002a, 2002b, Leudar, Marsland and Nekvapil 2003, Nekvapil and Leudar in press). We outline the concept, provide an example of analysis with that concept, and summarize constitutive properties of these networks. The analysis uses materials from both Czech and British newspaper articles and television debates, all of which relate to politically sensitive events. The Czech materials in particular concern inter-ethnic problems which were acute between 1992–1995, first in the now dissolved Czechoslovakia and then in the Czech Republic.
60 citations
TL;DR: English has been adopted as a tool in native politics by some non-Hindi speaking communities to keep the largest Indian language from becoming the sole official language of the Union and by the linguistic minorities to curtail the dominance of the majority language in the states as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Multilingualism is defined by the functional relationship between languages. The relationship of English with Indian languages is legitimized by its nativization. English has been nativized in grammar, semantics and pragmatics acquiring the features of Indian languages, as well documented in sociolinguistic literature. It is also adopted as a tool in native politics by some non-Hindi speaking communities to keep the largest Indian language — Hindi — from becoming the sole official language of the Union and by the linguistic minorities to curtail the dominance of the majority language in the states. The oppressed social groups want to appropriate English to serve them in their battle against upper castes, who have come to control the major Indian languages and the benefits from them. While becoming a powerful cousin to help the disadvantaged, English has simultaneously acquired a native elite cutting across regions and castes, and has spread from cerebral domains to expressive domains, which have been exclusive to Indian languages, in the name of modernity and cosmopolitanism. Such extended functions of English have a profound effect on the nature of multilingualism in India.
38 citations
TL;DR: This article analyzed the degree to which these models were manifested in the televised debates between George W. Bush and Al Gore before the 2000 US presidential election and found that both speakers expressed the strict father model and the nature parent model.
Abstract: Lakoff (1996) analyzes American political positions in terms of two different sets of conceptual metaphors: the right wing ‘Strict Father’ (SF) model and the left wing ‘Nurturant Parent’ (NP) model. The current study is an empirical test of the degree to which these models were manifested in the televised debates between George W. Bush and Al Gore before the 2000 US presidential elections. While the results show little metaphorical language which would directly support the proposed models, many expressions were found which follow from the models as logical entailments. An analysis of both speakers’ metaphoric gestures shows Bush expressing the SF model largely regardless of his use of SF or NP language, and Gore using gesture more for discourse structuring purposes. This study suggests that differences in the nature of the metaphors themselves in the two models help make the SF model easier to present as a coherent framework than the NP model.
37 citations
TL;DR: This paper surveys the basic provisions concerning the official use of languages in each of the successor states and assess their actual implementation, concluding that whereas language policy in former Yugoslavia was fairly consistent, its successor states display more variety.
Abstract: Former Yugoslavia followed an internationally acclaimed language policy of constitutional and legal equality of its numerous languages. Anticipating or accompanying the disintegration of this federation, the new states arising on its territory published their constitutions in the period 1990–1993. This paper briefly surveys the basic provisions concerning the official use of languages in each of them and attempts, on the basis of the often scant evidence available, to assess their actual implementation. It is concluded that, whereas language policy in former Yugoslavia was fairly consistent, its successor states display more variety. The inherited spirit of tolerance and language rights still survives in some respects, but there are also clear indications of favouring the linguistic means associated with the “state nation”, at the expense of old and new minorities. The administrative multiplication of the former federation’s largest language, Serbo-Croatian, is likewise noted, as is the general need to complement internal measures of language policy with external ones in preparation for life in tomorrow’s world.
20 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the use of invectives in modern Ghanaian politics has been analyzed and the pragmatic effects of using invective in the over all development of the country and the need for reconciliation.
Abstract: This paper addresses the use of invectives in modern Ghanaian politics. Evidence is drawn from public speeches of political activists of the two leading parties of the country, namely: the National Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC). The paper analyses at the context as well, i.e. the participants involved, the reaction of the public, and tries to answer the question what makes a public speech or utterance an invective. It also considers some pragmatic effects of such invectives in the over all development of the country and the need for reconciliation.
17 citations
TL;DR: This article analyzed the Clean and Green Week campaign in terms of the use of pronouns and the pragmatic notion of "politeness" and found that the people of Singapore are not only persuaded to buy the idea of environmentalism, but also to buy into the ideology of national identity and unity being derived (in part) from the proper management and conservation of Singapore's scarce resources and limited physical space.
Abstract: This paper focuses on the discursive strategies used by the Singapore government to construct national identity and solidarity on the basis of a ‘clean and green’ environment. By analysing the slogans used in the Clean and Green Week campaign in terms of the use of pronouns and the pragmatic notion of ‘politeness’, the paper shows that the people of Singapore are not only persuaded to ‘buy’ the idea of environmentalism, but also to buy into the ideology of national identity and unity being derived (in part) from the proper management and conservation of Singapore’s scarce resources and limited physical space. The paper concludes with a discussion on how national campaigns such as the Clean and Green Week constitutes a form of political discourse, where public educational discourse becomes a veiled medium through which socio-political ideologies are produced and propagated. With the government treading the fine line between information and manipulation where ‘greening’ a country becomes a scaffolding for building a nation, a study like this offers interesting insights into the interplay between the language of politics and the politics of language.
16 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored the political use of discourses of nation by analysing the use of location formulation across a selection of Scottish newspapers and found that the newspapers engage in different rhetorical strategies that emphasise the Scottish dimension of the election, its British dimension, or a negotiated position between the two.
Abstract: This article explores the political use of discourses of nation by analysing the use of location formulation across a selection of Scottish newspapers The article looks at a sample of the election coverage of six Scottish titles and conducts a corpus analysis to set out the patterns in their use of named locales It argues that references to nation both come in a variety of forms and are driven by the constitutional disputes around the position of Scotland relative to the United Kingdom In particular, the article finds that the newspapers engage in different rhetorical strategies that emphasise the Scottish dimension of the election, its British dimension, or a negotiated position between the two The article therefore seeks to highlight the discursive role that the lexical expression of nation and nationhood might have in the articulation between nation and politics, and suggests that in the Scottish case the formulation of nation is employed in the reproduction of competing, constitutionally based political discourses
15 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine how Italian parties represent the European Union, the nation and the relationship between the two in their electoral platforms and parliamentary debates and analyse critically how parties use specific representations of Europe, the EU and the nation to frame and support their ideologies and positions and how they shape these representations in different ways depending on the challenge they are confronted with.
Abstract: Research on party attitudes towards European integration has concentrated on the relationship between party ideology and positions related to European integration as an economic and/or political process, ignoring the representational aspect of party discourse. This study aims to contribute towards filling this gap by examining how Italian parties represent the European Union, the nation(-state) and the relationship between the two in their electoral platforms and parliamentary debates. We shall therefore analyse critically how parties use specific representations of Europe, the EU and the nation to frame and support their ideologies and positions and how they shape these representations in different ways depending on the challenge they are confronted with. We shall also look beyond presumed clear-cut relationships between party ideology and party attitudes towards European integration, exploring the complexities and ambiguities of party discourse and highlighting how specific EU or nation representations are used as legitimisation strategies by parties in combination to their left- or right-wing ideology.
TL;DR: The authors examined the metaphors of Globalization and trade in the context of current asymmetries prevailing between high and low-income countries, and analyzed their force in making trade ‘speakable' and by doing so providing the one particular view on Globalization that hardly leaves any space for alternative considerations.
Abstract: This research project examined the metaphors of Globalization and trade in the context of current asymmetries prevailing between high- and low-income countries. As a theoretical underpinning we used historical discourse analysis which views language as a social activity through which humans conceive and understand the reality they live in. Metaphors in particular provide speakers with an inventory of comparisons and pictures. Metaphors offer the discourse its down-to-earth shading and help in this way to secure one specific perspective on reality. How this is being done in the WTO system is demonstrated in the empirical part of the article. Metaphors on Globalization and trade were extracted from face-to-face interviews with WTO staff and trade diplomats of low-income African countries. These metaphors were analyzed with respect to their force in making trade ‘speakable’, and by doing so providing the one particular view on Globalization that hardly leaves any space for alternative considerations.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyzed verbal sequences taken from job interviews between West German interviewers and East German job applicants in which genre specific knowledge is negotiated, and found that East German concepts of this genre are treated as knowledge deficits by the West German interviews.
Abstract: Job interviews are an important means for the selection of employees in Western industrialised countries. Thus, they may be decisive with regard to the future of the person seeking work, making the difference between successful social participation or marginalisation. After the German reunification, East Germans had to prove themselves in a communicative genre marked by West German standards hitherto unknown to them. The article analyses verbal sequences taken from job interviews between West German interviewers and East German job applicants in which genre specific knowledge is negotiated. It is shown that East German concepts of this genre are treated as knowledge deficits by the West German interviewers. There is a positive outcome in this, since this allows for a transfer of socially relevant knowledge. And from an analytical point of view, these sequences provide us with data showing how institutional agents pass procedural knowledge on to their clients. Nevertheless, these sequences often take an asymmetrical course which is linked with a high risk for the individual’s positive self presentation in the job interview. The fact that West German agents set their genre knowledge as being universally valid is based on their hegemonic claim.
TL;DR: This article conducted a case study at the European Parliament to examine how advisers belonging to various political groups, despite their different national culture and distinct mother tongues, together succeed in producing what they call "panacea texts".
Abstract: The language choice at institutions of the European Union has been investigated in numerous studies examining such aspects as the European language constellation, institutional multilingualism and its possible reforms, linguistic capital and symbolic domination, and European identity related to the EU enlargement. In addition to these, studies researching the (language) practices at a specific EU institution, like the European Parliament, or analyzing EU organizational discursive practices have also been carried out. These studies, however, offer no insight into the way actors in EU institutions deal with multilingualism in their work place while producing texts for these institutions. It is for this reason that I decided to conduct a case study at the European Parliament to examine how advisers belonging to various political groups, despite their different national culture and distinct mother tongues, together succeed in producing what they call “panacea texts”. Finally, a possible new language constellation for the EU is discussed.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors demonstrate how non-verbal situational aspects as well as discursive features of this program are used by the programme makers to create an overall impression of Austria as a victim and how dissenting voices are silenced.
Abstract: In February 2000, the Austrian Christian conservative People’s Party OVP and the right wing nationalist Freedom Party (under its notorious leader Jorg Haider) formed a new government in Austria. This political change resulted not only in heavy political protests in Austria, but also caused bilateral sanctions of the other 14 EU member states against the new government. In March 2000, Austria’s public broadcasting company organised a media discussion between representatives of the then government, opposition politicians, representatives of the Austrian civil society and ‘ordinary people’ to establish a ‘national consent’ towards the sanctions. Drawing upon insights from appraisal theory, social semiotics and critical discourse analysis, this paper demonstrates how non-verbal situational aspects as well as discursive features of this program are used by the programme makers to create an overall impression of ‘Austria as a victim’ and how dissenting voices are silenced.
TL;DR: A study of German press coverage of the two referenda points to a consensus in the negative representation of Ireland across all strands of media opinions and ideologies as mentioned in this paper, with the Irish electorate being characterised as anti-Eastern enlargement and Ireland recast in the role of a bad European.
Abstract: Ireland’s rejection of the Nice Treaty in a referendum in June 2001 led to intense media discourse about this “no” vote and speculation about the outcome of the second referendum to ratify the Treaty in October 2002. The German media, traditionally positive in their portrayal of Ireland, were particularly critical, with the Irish electorate being characterised as anti-Eastern enlargement and Ireland recast in the role of “bad” European. This study of German press coverage of the two referenda points to a consensus in the negative representation of Ireland across all strands of media opinions and ideologies. The corpus of texts analysed also highlights the construction of a “them and us” divide between a morally superior in-group (the Germans) and a defective out-group (the Irish). Whilst much of the reporting still takes place within a received map of meaning (Hall et al. 1978), the established reference points are now used to de-legitimise Ireland’s role and to reassert Germany’s position as a “big” country within Europe in order to restore normal power relations.
TL;DR: In this article, a comparison of the debates in Austria and Hungary over the last 50 years, focusing on presidential speeches on the one hand, on opinion polls on the other (among many other data sources), shed light on the identity policy aspect of these discourses.
Abstract: After the end of the Cold War vigorous discussions developed about new alternatives in security policy in almost all the countries of the former Warsaw Pact and in neutral and non-aligned states, including Austria and Hungary. The comparison of the debates in Austria and Hungary over the last 50 years, focusing on presidential speeches on the one hand, on opinion polls on the other (among many other data sources), shed light on the identity policy aspect of these discourses. The argumentation strategies used by the supporters and by the opponents of different security policies were analysed, illustrating the fact that in Austria neutrality is still perceived as integral part of national identity, whereas in Hungary, joining NATO is viewed as a possibility of finally “belonging” to the West.
TL;DR: In this paper, a qualitative analysis of the texts collected allowed light to be shed on the discursive practices, symbols, meanings and sexed images with which the symbolic gender order is created and reproduced in the specific arenas in which the political careers of individuals are planned and promoted.
Abstract: In the past century the presence of women in the “public sphere” has increased considerably as a result of, amongst other things, the rapid increase in their levels of schooling, professional competences and labour market participation. Much more limited and slower, by contrast, has been the entry of women into the centers of decision-making and power. This paper proposes reflection on gender citizenship in political arenas, which are precisely those in which action to sensitize and change the broader social context should be undertaken. In order to understand and change gender models in the political-institutional system, analysis is required of how gender is defined and constructed in the specific arenas in which the political careers of individuals are planned and promoted. The paper presents some findings of qualitative research which collected the narratives of men and women — belonging to different Italian political alignments and occupying different positions and roles — relative to their political career paths and the discourses with which they accounted for female under-representation. The analysis of the texts collected allowed light to be shed on the discursive practices, symbols, meanings and sexed images with which the symbolic gender order is created and reproduced. Highlighted in particular are the gender positioning performed through the narratives, and the tendency to cast women in the role of the “Other” with respect to the political system. Viewed from this perspective, political arenas are theatrical stages on which gendered knowledge is created and disseminated. It is evident in particular that the symbolic order of gender and the models of the discursive construction of gender characteristic of the cultures analyzed tend to reproduce an image of political activity as a male preserve, where otherness entails marginalization and/or subordination.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate two types of art conflicts: (1) conflicts that, at first glance, revolve around the interpretation and the aesthetic appreciation of an artwork; and (2) conflicts which explicitly call into question the legal legitimacy of publication of an art piece.
Abstract: Art is a public affair because its meaning is always collectively negotiated. Thus, public conflicts that are triggered by works of art are essentially political and inevitable. The analysis of these conflicts points to the effective limits of acceptability of art in a given social constellation. The following paper investigates two types of art conflicts: (1) conflicts that, at first glance, revolve around the interpretation and the aesthetic appreciation of an artwork; and (2) conflicts that explicitly call into question the legal legitimacy of publication of an artwork. This investigation aims to reveal the variety of contents and conditions which pre-structure public conflicts. Further, it opens a normative discussion of the current forms of dealing with such conflicts in the mass media and in the jurisdiction. Such a critical discussion is necessary, since the political quality of a society can be assessed on how it relates to its own conflicting nature.