Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Critical discourse analysis, metaphor analysis, media'
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Quinonez, Erika Sabrina. "(UN)WELCOME TO AMERICA: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF ANTI-IMMIGRANT RHETORIC IN TRUMP’S SPEECHES AND CONSERVATIVE MAINSTREAM MEDIA." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2018. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/635.
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This project makes the empirical assertion that U.S. President Donald Trump and conservative news media outlets contribute to a national narrative of xenophobia that frames immigrants, particularly those of color, as parasitic and dangerous to the American way of life. Through this study, I assert that the use of demagogic and dehumanizing language along with more subtle discursive strategies, such as positive representation of ‘us’, negative representation of ‘them,’ and metaphorical constructions are being used to stoke fear and anti-immigrant sentiment and to strip individuals of their humanity for the purpose of rendering them unworthy of dignity and of the same rights and benefits as those to which groups considered insiders and ‘real Americans’ are entitled.
Through the lens of Critical Discourse Analysis and Corpus Linguistics, I analyze a collection of transcriptions selected from among 100+ speeches, addresses and remarks delivered by Donald Trump both before and after the 2016 U.S. Presidential Elections, along with a set of ten news stories featuring issues surrounding immigration collected from FoxNews.com, Breitbart.com, and Bill O’Reilly.com. Concordancing software is used to reveal and quantify discursive patterns that contribute to this national narrative of xenophobia.
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Nothnagel, Ignatius. "Conceptual metaphors in media discourses on AIDS denialism in South Africa." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/1653.
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Thesis (MA (General Linguistics))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009.According to Nattrass (2007:138), the denial and questioning of the science of HIV/AIDS at government level by, amongst others, Thabo Mbeki (former State President) and Manto Tshabalala-Msimang (former Minister of Health) resulted in an estimated 343 000 preventable AIDS deaths in South Africa by 2007. Such governmental discourse of AIDS denialism has been the target of criticism in the media and by activist groups such as the Treatment Action Campaign. This study investigates the nature of this criticism, specifically considering the critical use of metaphor in visual texts such as the political cartoons of Jonathan Shapiro, who works under the pen name of “Zapiro”. The purpose is to determine whether the nature of the criticism in visual newspaper texts differs from that of corresponding verbal newspaper texts, possibly providing means of criticism not available to the verbal mode alone. A corpus of texts published between August 1999 and December 2007 that topicalise HIV/AIDS was investigated. This includes 119 cartoons by Zapiro, and 91 verbal articles in the weekly newspaper Mail & Guardian. The main theoretical approach used in the analyses is Conceptual Metaphor Theory, developed by Lakoff and Johnson (1981), and its extension to poetic metaphor, developed by Lakoff and Turner (1989). Because of the socio-political nature of the problem of HIV/AIDS, the study also draws on Critical Discourse Analysis, including complementary concepts from Systemic Functional Linguistics. The study reveals that visual and verbal texts make use of similar sets of conventional conceptual metaphors at similar frequencies, which confirms the predictions of Conceptual Metaphor Theory. The study further reveals that the cartoons enrich these metaphors through four specific mechanisms of poetic metaphor, which the verbal articles do not. This indicates a significant difference between the two types of texts. Furthermore, it is found that the use of such poetic metaphors directly contributes to the critical power of the political cartoons. The study indicates that multi-modality in cartoons, which triggers single metaphoric mappings, adds a dimension to the critical function of the text that is absent in the verbal equivalent. The finding that the visual texts enable a form of cognition that is not available to verbal texts, poses one of the most significant avenues for future research. Thus, cartoons apparently achieve a type of criticism that is not found, and may not be possible, in the verbal texts alone. This makes the political cartoon a text type with an important and unique ability to articulate political criticism.
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Yeung, Sze-man Simone, and 楊思敏. "The rule of metaphor and the rule of law: critical metaphor analysis in judicial discourse and reason." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2010. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B4554251X.
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Smith, Margaret Webb. "The Minutemen Versus the 'United Army of Illegal Aliens': A Critical Discourse Analysis of WWW Representations." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/194789.
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Discourses surrounding U.S. immigration reform and border security are embedded with instances of the new racism (subtle and covert forms of racism in spoken and written language). One anti-immigrant organization in particular, the Minuteman Project, has gained widespread attention of the political establishment and mainstream press through its rapid expansion, physical involvement on the U.S.-Mexican border, and outspoken views on current U.S. immigration policy. There is a need to examine critically the discourse of growing citizen groups such as this one, who draw on web media resources to maintain and reproduce negative depictions of minority groups by masking and legitimating racist discourse.The data set consists of textual selections from the Minuteman Project website. Print text data includes the organization's mission statement and a context-specific article and email response related to immigration protests, as well as 'disclaimers' or statements of tolerance toward immigrants and elected officials that assist in the Minuteman Project's positive representation of self. A critical discourse analysis approach with an emphasis on metaphor is employed to determine how lexical, semantic, and syntactic choices are employed in creation of 'us' and 'them' participant roles. This analysis includes examination of visual images in proximity to print postings as well as images employed on Minuteman Project merchandise such as T-shirts and hats. The images are analyzed in relation to their contextual role in supporting or subverting the Minuteman Project's rhetorical strategies. The pervasive role of metaphor in this verbal and visual context is examined in relation to self and other representation, identity construction, and in-group membership.The analysis reveals contradictory and shifting self and other representations. Extensive use of patriotic and war tropes located in participant roles assist the Minuteman Project in masking underlying racist ideologies while overtly distancing itself from self-identified nationalist and white supremacist groups. Disclaimers, statements of tolerance, and metaphors assist the organization in successfully forging public connections with members of the political establishment. This study has implications for critical analysis of web-based texts, for multimodal analysis, and for the relation between circulatory web discourses and public policy in general.
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Lemoine, Hannah. "Editorial Framing. Critical Discourse Analysis of Swedish Editorials." Thesis, Malmö högskola, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-23756.
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In this thesis I have conducted a critical discourse analysis of foureditorial texts, published in the newspapers Aftonbladet, DagensNyheter, Expressen and Svenska Dagbladet. Drawing on theoriesabout media discourses (Fairclough 1995), agenda-setting(McCombs & Shaw 1972) and framing (Goffman 1974), I haveexamined how the findings of Bolin et al (2016) correlate with discursivelyframed representations in these texts, in regards to negative,positive or neutral framing of border controls, immigrationand the connection made to political parties during the first weekof January 2016, when the Swedish temporary border controlswere introduced.The results showed both consistencies and inconsistencies in regardsto framing, where the liberal newspapers Dagens Nyheterand Expressen’s editorials were less negative towards the bordercontrols and expressed more negative and stereotypical framingson refugees and migration than expected, whereas the independentsocial democratic Aftonbladet expressed the assumed negativeframing on border controls and the Social Democrates, and positiveframing on migration. The most unexpected findings wasSvenska Dagbladet that contrary to the previous findings in Bolinet al’s study framed migration positively and took the most explicitstand against the border controls. The findings may indicate a politicaland cultural change due to the change in directions in theSocial Democrats migration politics.
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Pyle, Maurine Hebert. "CONTEMPORARY QUAKER USE OF METAPHOR." OpenSIUC, 2014. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/theses/1534.
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This qualitative sociolinguistic study focuses on the contemporary usage of metaphor in religious speech among North American Quakers of the Religious of Society of Friends with a particular emphasis on the two historical metaphors of Light and Dark. Beginning with the 20th century, a diverse religious population has been steadily arising in Quaker meetings including many non-Christians. Individual American Quakers are currently choosing a variety of spiritual and/or religious identities and practices ranging from Evangelical or mystical forms of Christianity to Neo-paganism and Non-theism. Thus, the traditional meanings of these metaphors, which were rooted in biblical passages, are changing. This study is based primarily upon six in-depth interviews which provide a sample of a variety of religious viewpoints on the experiential usage of the metaphors of Light and Dark to embody spiritual feelings in worship. These two metaphors are embedded in many religious practices making them central to religious experience. Although Critical Discourse Analysis is used as the primary lens for investigation, the theories of Sapir, Whorf, Lakoff and Johnson also provide an additional basis for analysis. Additionally, a corpus which demonstrates collocations of the metaphors of Light and Dark has been created from archives of Early Friends' journals of the 17th century and compared to the writings of contemporary American Quakers.
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Martínez, Kerstin Cielito Nathalie. "The Russian religious-governmental relation through media representation : A critical discourse analysis." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Teologiska institutionen, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-229779.
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The thesis is a contribution to the analysis of media representation through the use of critical discourse analysis of twelve English written articles by Russian and international media sources. The articles were chosen in relation to the unauthorised Pussy Riot protest in the Cathedral in Moscow back in February 2012, and the societal changes that have taken place thereafter. The analysed articles have been written and published between February 2012 and January 2014. The aim with the study is to see how media sources from different geographical backgrounds described the same events and news.
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Marcigliano, Teo Giovanni. "Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and Gender in Media: A Critical Discourse Analysis." Bachelor's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2021. http://amslaurea.unibo.it/24042/.
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The aim of this dissertation is to further the reader’s insight and understanding of
discrimination in the context of human rights, in particular in the field of gender
and transgender studies. This work will carry out an analysis of different
newspaper articles regarding the recent Olympic games which took place in
Tokyo. In specific, the articles regard the transgender athletes who, for the first
time in the history of the games, competed in the gender category of their choice,
despite the International Olympic Committee allowing transgender athletes to
compete since 2004. The analysis will be based on articles written by both Italian
and American newspapers in order to get a double point of view on the matter.
Moreover, we’ll look at the differences between news publications based on their
country of origin, in an attempt to understand whether the peculiarities of the two
languages have influenced both the rhetoric of what’s being said and the very
message they convey.
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Vergeer, Johannes Willem. "A critical analysis of media discourse on the South African broadband policy." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/10724.
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Broadband Internet access promises a number of socio-economic benefits to citizens of developing countries like South Africa (SA). However poor policy outcomes of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), particularly in the area of poverty alleviation are evident in SA. This study utilizes Citation Analysis and Habermasien Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) for understanding media discourse on the SA Broadband Policy formulation process and focuses on the impact and implications of the discourse. Highlighting distortions in these discourses will enable the general public and decision makers to formulate a better informed opinion and should facilitate better understanding and decision making on the costs, need and relevance of broadband access.
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Huang, Shuang. "The Discourse Analysis of Haze Issue in China : Critical Discourse Analysis about Constructions of People Daily and Analysis of Audiences Interaction in Terms of Haze Issue." Thesis, Högskolan för lärande och kommunikation, Högskolan i Jönköping, HLK, Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-36769.
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The study analyzes media representation on social media of environmental issues in China and audience attitudes toward this. The study concretes upon People Daily’s discourse of Chinese haze problems on the Chinese Twitter-- Weibo. Quantitative method and critical discourse analysis are the research methods of the study. Based on reviews of previous studies and theories on media representations, critical discourse analysis, it examines how People Daily constructs discourse about haze problems on Weibo. It also focuses on audience’s interaction in order to discuss how this strengthens, negotiates or alter the discourses about haze and identify what happened with their discourses on Weibo.
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Särnhult, Victoria. "Gender and power -images of female politicians in Colombia : A critical discourse analysis." Thesis, Stockholms universitet, Romanska och klassiska institutionen, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-113386.
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Colombia holds one of the most unequal sex ratios at government level in Latin America. The research therefore attempts to examine how the minority of women who have a seat in government are being reflected and reproduced in the media based on the representation of gender. In this qualitative study, the aim is to investigate, analyze and illustrate how women in high political office in Colombia are portrayed in Colombian newspapers. The study examines how gender affects the discourse of these female politicians. In the study a critical discourse analysis is used from a feminist perspective on material from Colombian newspapers, concerning four different female Colombian top politicians. The focus of the analysis is to examine how the image of these women are being produced and reproduced in the media and if the reproduction of the discourse of these women stand out or differ significantly because of their gender. The study contributes to gain a broader understanding and overview of what the situation of women in the political world in Colombia looks like, how it is shaped by the media and the social and cultural context, and finally how this affects women in politics.
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Källvik, Emma. "A Critical Discourse Analysis of Sexual Violence and Power : #metoo in Swedish media." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Tema Genus, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-149794.
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During the fall of 2017, a campaign named #metoo went viral on Twitter. The purpose of #metoo was to highlight how many that had experiences of sexual harassments and assaults. The campaign did also gain a lot of attention in traditional Swedish media. By looking at #metoo in Swedish printed media during the month of November in 2017, I have examined how the concept of sexual violence have been articulated, negotiated and represented. Sexual violence is a matter that has been important for both feminist scholars and activists for a long time, both from a theoretical and material perspective. Guided by a critical discourse analysis and a feminist poststructural approach, I have looked at sexual violence as a phenomenon that is discursively made and therefore, also non-stable and always up for negotiation depending on the specific time, place and context it is produced in. In my material, I have found three themes, boundaries, institutionalisation and tensions. They all, in different ways, support that by providing a picture of sexual violence as a fluid concept without clear boundaries, a tendency to turn all the issues of sexual harassments into a failure of the employer liability and the working environment. Also, by providing a picture of a colliding word view of sexual violence as both a brand new phenomenon in Sweden (especially related to immigration) and something that has always been a reality in many people’s life.
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Zhao, Xin. "Responsible China : a critical discourse analysis of soft power projection through transnational media." Thesis, Bangor University, 2017. https://research.bangor.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/responsible-china-a-critical-discourse-analysis-of-soft-power-projection-through-transnational-media(4e0edab4-c5f0-41db-afd2-2d0d1c6c4c26).html.
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This research attempts to fulfil three major research objectives situated in the context of China’s media going-global project from 2009: firstly, clarifying China’s political articulation of China-related economic responsibilities; secondly, uncovering China’s media representation of the same issue; thirdly, examining Western countries’ media representation of the same issue and detecting the potential influence of China’s media discourse on Western journalistic representations. They are generated from the following considerations. In studies of China’s responsible power claim, scholars in international politics and relations tried to gauge China’s behaviours with certain standards. Only a limited number of studies explored the political ideas behind China’s behaviours. Moreover, seldom research in the discipline of media probed into the mediation of China-related economic responsibilities through aspects of media texts, construction, and impact. This research aims to bridge these gaps. The inquiries of political articulation and media representation need to be contextually explored. Therefore, this study mainly applies Norman Fairclough’s (1995) framework for critical discourse analysis, which is complemented with a political economic perspective in examining the immediate situational and institutional environment surrounding relevant Chinese and Western media. The policies were retrieved from China’s central government online portal. The media analysis focuses on media texts and practitioners in China’s Xinhua News Agency, USA’s The Wall Street Journal, and UK’s Financial Times. The research findings show that China’s political articulation of China-related economic responsibilities was consistent with China’s sociocultural understandings of responsibility. China’s media representation was congruent with China’s political discourse and its media practitioners confirmed the constraining influence of the Chinese government on external communication. Nevertheless, China’s media discourse yielded trivial influence on Western media representations. This study makes breakthrough in exploring the path of the message of China-related economic responsibilities from aspects of its construction and impact. It also has implications for future external communication.
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Kevci, Perisan. "Women journalists on the path of truth -an intersectional and critical discourse analysis." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Institutionen för konst, kultur och kommunikation (K3), 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-45970.
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Ahmed, Iftikhar. "Trump’s tweet and media treat : A Critical discourse analysis of US and Pakistani newspapers." Thesis, Södertörns högskola, Journalistik, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-35549.
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Trump’s new year tweet about Pakistan’s role in the fight against terrorism ignited a controversy and a war of words between Pakistani officials and the US. This thesis studies newspaper coverage of both countries on this particular issue. Dawn and The News International are chosen from Pakistan and The New York Times and The Washington Post are selected from US media. The aim of this research is to analyse and compare the media discourse. Critical discourse analysis (CDA) was adopted as the most suitable choice. A sum of eight articles, comprising two from each newspaper, is analysed intensively. Outcomes of the analysis are discussed in relation to ‘framing’ and ‘agenda setting’ theories. Five key elements from the theories are listed including: language (vocabulary), conflict presentation, sources, related issues and emphasis. Results reveal that Pakistani newspapers use very strong, rather harsh vocabulary while reporting response to Donald Trump’s tweet. The US newspapers adopted literary phrases and less harsh tone to report this issue. Conflict presentation was focused on Trump’s tweet as a central idea in all the newspapers. Pakistani newspapers focused on the coverage of reaction from military and government officials of the country. On the other hand, US newspapers included sources from both countries to have an objective view. But they have included some controversial issues, which do not have a direct link to this debate starting with Trump’s tweet. Keywords: Twitter and news media, Trump’s tweet about Pakistan, Afghan war, CDA, Framing.
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Kryger, Pedersen Mette. "Digital ethnography and critical discourse analysis of the Zero waste movement on social media." Thesis, Malmö högskola, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-21382.
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The humankind uses more of earth’s resources than the planet’s ability to provide renewable resources (WWF 2016). This trend is also contributing to climate changes, which have been a topic on the global political agenda for decades. However, there has yet to be found a sustainable solution. People are becoming impatient of the politicians’ ability to solve the issue and through grassroot movements and activism a range of different approaches have been made to find solutions to climate changes. Social media provides new opportunities to organize large groups of loosely connected people of interest towards a common goal, in this case to take care of the planet. Social media have also developed new forms of political engagement. This thesis is a case study of climate change activism through the zero waste community in Denmark that based on framing theory (Goffman 1974), online observations of local Facebook groups and Instagram activity as well as in-depth interviews pursues to understand in what ways participants use social media to make their everyday climate activism meaningful. In this thesis, Bakardjieva (2009, 2012) concepts of subactivism and mundane citizenship combined with framing theory are used to understand the ways mundane climate change actions are perceived meaningful for the participants in the Danish zero waste community. The study shows examples of how participants of the zero waste community in Denmark use social media in a variety of ways to make their mundane climate activism meaningful for them. They use social media to be inspired, share experiences and feel part of a community that emphasize climate change activism through mundane every day routines. Through online discussions in Facebook groups and on Instagram the participants create, challenge and negotiate a collective action frame of the zero waste movement, which proves useful in motivating and inspiring them to continue to do small acts in their everyday life.
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Wallström, Sven. "A Critical Discourse Analysis of the media portrayal of Melania Trump as First Lady." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Sociologiska institutionen, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-139984.
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Aim: To examine how the New York Times portrays Melania Trump in her role as First Lady. Methodology: A qualitative discourse analysis of newspaper articles from the New York Time’s online publication. The main theoretical and methodological foundation is Fairclough’s concept of critical discourse analysis (CDA) and Yvonne Hirdman’s theories about gender system and gender contract. Main results: The main results of the analysis is that Melania Trump is depicted as absent, non-traditional, irresponsible, unhappy, greedy, non-supportive, illiterate, that she is mimicking other First Ladies, responsible for her husband’s actions, that she prioritizes motherhood over the First Lady role, and that she is compared to other women in a negative light.
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Gonzalez, Johansen Karin. "Weight bias amongst health professionals on Instagram : A critical multimodal discourse analysis." Thesis, Högskolan i Halmstad, Akademin för hälsa och välfärd, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-43512.
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Weight bias and weight stigmatization are independent risk factors for poor health, and are brought up within health promotion, as focus areas when it comes to interventions targeting body weight (WHO, 2017; Pearl, 2018). Discourses within the society, can either reinforce weight bias and weight stigmatization towards people in larger bodies, or disrupt them. A gap in the literature exists, when it comes to health professionals and their means of communicating health on social media platforms, such as Instagram. This gap was the inspiration for the present study. The study sought to critically examine the discourses communicated by doctors and registered dietitians on the social media platform Instagram. With the specific focus of examining their presentation of body weight and health, the manifestations of roles and the discourses presented. The study was based on the theory of social semiotics, using critical multimodal discourse analysis, that include elements from the critical discourse analysis framework, by Fairclough (2010) (Machin & Mayr, 2012). The study found that the chosen health professionals generally presented weight bias and presented body weight as a sum of individual choices, as well as body weight as a personal responsibility. The health professionals used both visual and verbal techniques, to establish authority and power, and were generally promoting health as a commodity, as well as using their own body to promote the thin ideal. The strongest discourses present were those of healthism, paternalism and aesthetics defining health, findings that are supported within the literature, when looking at other health promoting entities, such as personal trainers. The study brought forth important implications within health communication on social media platforms, thus that healthism is an area that is important to educate health professionals within, as well as there being basis to further investigate this notion. The study also brought forth important considerations for ethics and validity within this type of research.
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Reistad, Hege Helene. "Norway’s Arctic conundrum: Sustainable Development in the Norwegian media discourse." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för geovetenskaper, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-305840.
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This thesis concludes that the discourse surrounding the Arctic in the Norwegian press has a prevailing focus on resource extraction and resource demands, and that the term “sustainable development” is rarely being employed. At the same time, there is an increase in the amount of times the topics climate change and environment are discussed in the same articles that discuss oil, gas and resource extraction. This indicates that in the post-petroleum and “green shift” era that Norway has entered, these discourses now demand a joint discussion, rather than two separate discourses and topics. Looking at how Norway might act in the Arctic in the future, this can indicate that these focus areas will lay the foundation for possible action in the region as well. The background of the study was to obtain an understanding of how Norway deals with its conundrum of contradictory roles as an advocate for sustainable development and as an oil and gas producer. This was done through an investigation of how the Arctic, and especially sustainable development in the Arctic, is framed in the Norwegian press. By looking at the media discourse surrounding the topic, it is possible to get an understanding of how the region is framed in Norway, and subsequently how Norway as an Arctic actor will act in the future. Social constructionism, critical discourse analysis, mediatisation and framing theory make up the theoretical underpinnings of the thesis, and content analysis with a sequential process of three steps is employed to analyse the material from a bird’s-eye view to a very specific analysis.
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Lane, Jamie M. "Reproducing Intersex Trouble: An Analysis of the M.C. Case in the Media." Scholar Commons, 2018. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/7187.
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How do members of the media represent intersex people? Do the voices of intersex activists find their way into mainstream media representations, or are they ignored? What types of discourses are produced by the presence (or lack thereof) of activist voices in news articles? The goal of this thesis is to interrogate the discourse surrounding intersex, or individuals who fall outside of the typical male/female binary for sex classification, and intersex activism in the media. The legal case M.C. vs. Aaronson, settled in 2017, was one of the first legal cases in the United States involving an intersex person. This thesis analyzes the media coverage of this case. As much of the public is still unaware of the issues facing intersex people today, media representations of intersex have the ability to make great strides in promoting awareness about the goals of intersex activism. Therefore, it is vital to investigate the way that media representations construct ideas about intersex and intersex activism. Utilizing feminist critical discourse analysis in conjunction with a “Media Guide” produced by a leading intersex organization called InterACT, I dissect seven articles written about the M.C. vs Aaronson case to study the way that their authors reproduce harmful ideas about intersex people. I focus on four specific aspects of these articles: the way they utilize photos of babies and children, the erasure of M.C.’s race, the way the articles discuss sex and gender, and who is quoted in each article. I also make the case that the InterACT “Media Guide”, while a step in the right direction, continues the perpetuation of dangerous intersex tropes.
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Mohlin, Vera. "Goals, Goals, Goals! A critical discourse analysis of female empowerment in Bianca Ingrosso's YouTube vlogs." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Institutionen för konst, kultur och kommunikation (K3), 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-46086.
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This qualitative study investigates the incorporation of female empowerment discourses in Swedish lifestyle influencer Bianca Ingrosso’s YouTube vlogs. The aim of the study is to gain a better understanding of what it means to be a feminist in the current Swedish media moment, where the influencer industry is a commonly found subject for debates concerning the tensions between feminism and postfeminism. By critically analyzing the postfeminist expressions of female empowerment in influencers’ social media presence, the study problematizes the neoliberal feminism embraced by influencers like Ingrosso, whose feminist alignment mainly appears in promotional content for beauty and fashion products. A critical discourse analysis is performed, utilizing Norman Fairclough’s three-dimensional model, in order to examine the ways in which Ingrosso utilizes and reinforces postfeminist discourses in her role as influencer. The study is performed through a feminist perspective, supported by feminist and postfeminist literature, using feminist media theory and field theory complemented by theory on gender and erotic capitals to examine the material. The analysis show that Ingrosso, through the social and financial capital that she holds as an influencer in a feminized space, is empowered. The postfeminist discourse allows her to maintain an influential position, as her physical attributes and encouragement of hegemonic femininity through consumption align with the neoliberal gender norms and expectations that structure the advertisement field in which influencers function. However, as it is the capitalist structures that allow influencer like Ingrosso to commodify their social media presence, the female empowerment that she promotes is in no way contributing to the efforts of the feminist movement.
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Grassi, Leo Michel. "Employing Discursive Analysis to Illuminate Critical Reflection in Asynchronous Threads." ScholarWorks, 2018. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/5340.
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A number of approaches and methods are being used to assess higher cognition within online threaded discussions, as evidenced by the corpus of scholarship. However, a review of the literature suggests that current strategies relating to asynchronous discourse have tended to focus on cognitive processes that are mostly driven by task-oriented communication, thereby failing to assess the quality of interactions that engender meaning-making and knowledge creation. The first goal of this study was to decompose and interpret examples of threaded conversation exhibiting lexical attributes of higher cognition. The second goal was to identify instances of critical thinking and indicators of deep learning contributing to meaningful reflection within diachronic encounters to develop more effective higher-order thinking strategies within discussions. Discourse analysis theory in conjunction with Garrison's stages of critical thinking was used to examine meaning-making within contexts of social interaction. Archival discussion data were examined from 39 participants derived from 2 online undergraduate courses at a small private university in the southeastern United States. The content analysis qualitative design applied computer-mediated discourse analysis (CMDA) to analyze and classify statements in discussion transcripts according to Garrison's stages of critical thinking. Results indicated a pattern of utterances suggesting in-depth learning, with a smaller sample of stanzas indicating surface-level processing. Results of this study can be used by teachers and course designers to create positive change by purposefully engendering critical reflection, thereby preparing learners for the work of the future necessitating well thought-out approaches to grapple with new problems and situations in new ways.
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Rukšytė, Eligija. "Communicating corporate image: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis on LinkedIn Job Advertisements." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Institutionen för konst, kultur och kommunikation (K3), 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-45971.
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Corporate image reflects on how a company is perceived to the public outside of the organisation. It is based on the reputation the company already has and constantly creates. Today numerous people use and rely on social media networks which encourage companies to try to reach their audiences and shape company image by the usage of different digital networks. One of the platforms where companies can represent their business is LinkedIn, as it is designed specifically for organizations and individuals to develop a professional image. One of the platform’s most popular feature is the possibility to post job advertisings that are seen in several platform areas. These job offers serve as a recruitment tool but also simultaneously shape the image of a company. Therefore, it is interesting to explore how job posts of a company manage to stay informative, focused on the targeted audience and, at the same time, shape corporate image. Thesis project, “Communicating corporate image: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis on LinkedIn Job Advertisements”, aims to examine how world leading Swedish companies create their corporate image through job advertisements posted on the social media platform LinkedIn and what that image is. The study draws on media logic theory together with the concept of discourse and tries to reach the project’s aim by applying multimodal critical discourse analysis. By this model, job advertisements of 3 companies based in Sweden were analysed. Results show that corporate image through job advertisements is created equally by the company and the platform LinkedIn. Companies in job advertisements use semi-formal language, creative elements, address accomplishments, values and goals to attract the reader. While LinkedIn places main company information that can influence job advertisement readers to obtain a primary opinion about the enterprise.
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Kandil, Magdi Ahmed. "The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict in American, Arab, and British Media: Corpus-Based Critical Discourse Analysis." Digital Archive @ GSU, 2009. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/alesl_diss/12.
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The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the longest and most violent conflicts in modern history. The language used to represent this important conflict in the media is frequently commented on by scholars and political commentators (e.g., Ackerman, 2001; Fisk, 2001; Mearsheimer & Walt, 2007). To date, however, few studies in the field of applied linguistics have attempted a thorough investigation of the language used to represent the conflict in influential media outlets using systematic methods of linguistic analysis. The current study aims to partially bridge this gap by combining methods and analytical frameworks from Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Corpus Linguistics (CL) to analyze the discursive representation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in American, Arab, and British media, represented by CNN, Al-Jazeera Arabic, and BBC respectively. CDA, which is primarily interested in studying how power and ideology are enacted and resisted in the use of language in social and political contexts, has been frequently criticized mainly for the arbitrary selection of a small number of texts or text fragments to be analyzed. In order to strengthen CDA analysis, Stubbs (1997) suggested that CDA analysts should utilize techniques from CL, which employs computational approaches to perform quantitative and qualitative analysis of actual patterns of use occurring in a large and principled collection of natural texts. In this study, the corpus-based keyword technique is initially used to identify the topics that tend to be emphasized, downplayed, and/or left out in the coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in three corpora complied from the news websites of Al-Jazeera, CNN, and the BBC. Topics –such as terrorism, occupation, settlements, and the recent Israeli disengagement plan—which were found to be key in the coverage of the conflict—are further studied in context using several other corpus tools, especially the concordancer and the collocation finder. The analysis reveals some of the strategies employed by each news website to control for the positive or negative representations of the different actors involved in the conflict. The corpus findings are interpreted using some informative CDA frameworks, especially Van Dijk’s (1998) ideological square framework.
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Baidoun, Aseel. "The Gaza Conflict 2013 and Ideologies of Israeli and Palestinian Media: A Critical Discourse Analysis." Thesis, Örebro universitet, Institutionen för humaniora, utbildnings- och samhällsvetenskap, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-35121.
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Abebe, Y. "Critical discourse analysis of media presupposition in reinforcing ideology: the case of hamlin fistula ethiopia." Thesis, Sumy State University, 2015. http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/40660.
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It was in 1974 that Addis Ababa fistula hospital (AAFH) started
caring for women with childbirth injuries. The hospital is located in Addis
Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. It is the only hospital of its kind in the world
dedicated exclusively to women with fistula repair—a condition common
in developing world where the maternal health provisions are poor. It treats
all patients free of any charge. The patients are usually the poorest of the
poor, divorced, or abandoned by their husbands or partners ostracized by
their parents and community as a result of obstetric fistula. It also provides
a residential facility where patients with irreparable damage can live long
term. It is a registered charitable non-governmental hospital run on
donation because of the need of the women, and has proven success in
treating this condition. For instance, the hospital gets aid from USAID and
it has promised to keep supporting it too; that would help the hospital in
improving maternal and child health mortality, which is the main goal of
the millennium development.
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Luques, Solange Ugo. "Metáfora e argumentação: uma análise crítica do discurso político." Universidade de São Paulo, 2010. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/8/8142/tde-10012011-130728/.
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O presente trabalho tem como proposta estudar os efeitos de sentido produzidos pelo emprego de metáforas discursivas, enquanto escolhas linguísticas contextualizadas culturalmente e transmissoras de ideologia, como estratégia argumentativa construtora de significado. Além de constituírem estratégia argumentativa de eficácia já comprovada por estudiosos como Perelman e Olbrechts-Tyteca (2005 [1958]), as metáforas podem também revelar valores e ideologias, pois, como dizem Lakoff e Johnson (2002[1980]), nosso sistema conceptual é basicamente metafórico, portanto, nosso pensamento é metaforicamente estruturado e sua manifestação através da enunciação é reveladora da relação que temos com o mundo. Neste estudo, em que se procede à análise de pronunciamentos e entrevistas de Fernando Collor de Mello, por se tratar de análise do discurso político, optou-se ainda por utilizar como abordagem teórico-metodológica a Análise Crítica do Discurso (ACD), conforme proposta de Fairclough (1997), instrumento de estudo da linguagem como prática social, forma de ação sobre o mundo. O objetivo é fazer um estudo crítico no intuito de desvendar a maneira pela qual alguém exerce o controle sobre uma ocasião social através das formas linguísticas que emprega (WODAK, 2004). As Teorias da Metáfora e a Análise Crítica do Discurso encontram seu ponto de convergência na proposta teórica de Charteris-Black (2004), a Análise Crítica da Metáfora. Definida por seu autor como uma abordagem semânticocognitiva que analisa criticamente metáforas presentes em discursos e manifestos políticos para evidenciar sua importância como veículo da ideologia no discurso de áreas em que influenciar julgamentos é um objetivo central, a ACM (Análise Crítica da Metáfora) foi incluída nessa pesquisa dada a sua pertinência no estudo das escolhas metafóricas de Fernando Collor de Mello. Foram selecionadas algumas formulações discursivas atribuídas ao referido político, ex-presidente da República do Brasil e atual senador pelo estado de Alagoas, amostras que, acredita-se, retratam momentos diversos de sua atribulada trajetória política, ilustrando o teor de sua relação com o poder. A hipótese é que as metáforas nelas utilizadas sejam reveladoras de aspectos cognitivos, culturais e ideológicos da visão de mundo de Fernando Collor, constituam sua identidade e sejam eficientes estratégias argumentativas, visto que se estabelecem como forma de ação e interação persuasiva em um meio social. A análise do corpus permitiu observar que Collor, por meio da linguagem metafórica que emprega em seus discursos, frequentemente apela à emoção e ao imaginário de seus interlocutores na tentativa de construir uma identidade de força e combatividade e de fazê-los aderirem às suas ideias; torna, assim, suas manifestações discursivas em fértil campo de estudo sobre transmissão de ideologia e habilidade argumentativa.This work proposes to study the effects of meaning produced by the use of discursive metaphors, while culturally contextualized linguistic choices and ideology transmitters, as an argumentative strategy of meaning construction. In addition to being an argumentative strategy whose effectiveness was already proven by scholars such as Perelman and Olbrechts- Tyteca (2005 [1958]), metaphors can also reveal values and ideologies, because, according to Lakoff and Johnson (2002 [1980]), our conceptual system is basically metaphorical, so our thought is metaphorically structured and its manifestation through language use may reveal our relationship with the world. In this political discourse study, which carries out the analysis of some of Fernando Collor de Mellos speeches and interviews, the option was to use Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as a theoretical and methodological approach proposed by Fairclough (1997), an instrument for language study as social practice, action over the world, therefore. The goal is to make a critical study in order to reveal how one exerts control over a social occasion through linguistic forms he employs. (Wodak, 2004). Metaphor Theories and Critical Discourse Analysis find their point of convergence in Charteris-Black (2004) theoretical proposal, Critical Metaphor Analysis. Defined by its author as a semanticcognitive approach that critically examines metaphors in political speeches and manifestos to highlight its importance as a vehicle of ideology in areas where influencing judgments is a central discourse goal, CMA (Critical Metaphor Analysis) was included in this research given its relevance in the study of Fernando Collor de Mello metaphorical choices. Some discursive formulations assigned to that politician, former Brazils president and current senator for the state of Alagoas, were selected, samples believed to depict different moments of his eventful political career, illustrating the content of his relationship with power. The hypothesis is that metaphors used in them are indicative of Fernando Collors cognitive, cultural and ideological worldview, constitute his identity and work as efficient argumentative strategies, since they set themselves as ways of persuasive action and interaction in a social environment. Corpus analysis helped identify that Collor, by employing metaphorical language in his speeches, often appeals to his counterparts emotion and imagination, in an attempt to build an identity of force and toughness and to make them adhere to his ideas, thus turning his discursive manifestations into a fertile field of study on ideology transmission and argumentative skills.
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Brodscholl, Per Christian. "Negotiating sustainability in the media: critical perspectives on the popularisation of environmental concerns." Thesis, Curtin University, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/2240.
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Despite intensified and concerted efforts to realise sustainable development. Western industrialised countries have in recent years experienced several mass protests against institutions perceived variously to have the potential to govern the global economy in environmentally sustainable or unsustainable ways. This thesis examines how different actors in the news media attempt to legitimate and de-legitimate neoliberal approaches to economic governance on grounds that these approaches are or are not environmentally sustainable. By using a critical discourse analysis perspective to analyse texts produced by actors with competing political commitments (neo-liberal and left-liberal), it discusses how primarily profit-driven generic conventions can govern what can and cannot be said in debates on sustainability. The thesis suggests that the effectiveness of (cultural) politics aimed at legitimating and de-legitimating neo-liberal approaches can be understood in teens of the relationship between an instrumental rationality geared at maximising the effectiveness of existing institutional systems and a communicative rationality geared at achieving understanding.
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da, Silva Yago Matheus. "Bolsonaro and Social Media: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Brazilian President’s Populist Communication on Twitter." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för informatik och media, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-414748.
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The present study explores Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s online communication on the microblogging platform Twitter. The study aims to present the populist characteristics embedded in the president’s tweets, as well as the strategies he uses in his communication on the social media platform. The pillars that structure this work are the different theories on the topic of populism, which address central points concerning the phenomenon’s characteristics, such as dichotomization between groups (the good and the bad people), a strong anti-establishment stance, creation of scapegoats and enemies, and the centrality of the leader. Additionally, theories that explain the relationship between populism and social media are also employed for the full comprehension of the problem at hand. The analysis examines Bolsonaro’s first year in office (2019) and focuses mainly on three different periods within that year. The data consists of 110 tweets submitted to analysis utilizing Discourse-Historical Approach, an analytical approach with a strong focus on context. The findings show how Bolsonaro’s communication on Twitter is immersed and dependent on strategies common to populist discourse, employing argumentative and discursive strategies that rely on the aspects such as topoi, the demonization of others, shifting of blame, positive self- and negative other- presentation, provocation and calculated ambivalence. This study contributes to the understanding of populist online communication in the Brazilian context, shedding light on the phenomenon of populism, in particular the current populist wave, outside the European and North American contexts, expanding the understanding about the topic to the global south.
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Linnander, Mathilda. "Last Night in Sweden : A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Image of Sweden in International Media." Thesis, Högskolan i Jönköping, Högskolan för lärande och kommunikation, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-40977.
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This is a study of how the image of Sweden is constructed in international media. Using the country as a swinging bat in debates on socialism and progressiveness is nothing new but has had an upswing during recent years as a result of the global rise of right-wing forces. With the help of Critical Discourse Analysis, four articles from the United States and the United Kingdom are analysed. These are then presented according to Fairclough’s three-layered model. With the help of previous research on Sweden in international media, fake news and nation branding, these findings are then explained and put into context.The study finds that the image of Sweden presented in media tends to follow the narrative of Good Sweden and Bad Sweden. On the one hand is the classic welfare state in the north, which takes care of its people and with high levels of trust between the actors. On the other hand is a country in ruins as a result of letting in too many immigrants. Both narratives rely heavily on stereotypes. The discussion tends to use Sweden as an example, when it is really about ideologies and values. Another result shown by the study is that fake news is a common trace in news about Sweden, not only in alternative media but also in the established elite media. This can be seen as a result of the hardening situation in the media business as well as the rise of right-wing forces.
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Mongie, Lauren. "Gay intolerance in the language of Stellenbosch students : a critical discourse analysis of Campus News Media." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/2914.
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Thesis (MPhil (General Linguistics))--Stellenbosch University, 2008.This thesis has been written in partial fulfillment of the requirements of a masters programme in intercultural communication. The study focuses on aspects of linguistic communication, specifically in media discourse, where “cultural boundaries” are determined by sexual difference and where much misunderstanding appears to be founded in different conceptions of homosexuality. I have investigated the theoretical frameworks within which discursive reflection on homosexuality can be studied from an interdisciplinary perspective. The research examines reports in a student newspaper that topicalise homosexuality; it also considers reports that are part of a discourse in which communication takes place between a heterosexual majority and a homosexual minority. Reports that were published across a period of five years were examined, in order to determine whether there has been any development in the discourse. This investigation of a particular kind of intercultural media discourse has been augmented by investigating attitudes towards the minority group by means of a questionnaire, designed by Kite and Deaux (1986: 137). This questionnaire was distributed among 240 students in an attempt to determine whether their reported attitudes coincide with those reported in the media. Despite the fact that homosexuality was removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) more than 30 years ago, reports of homophobic violence and attitudes in news media reveal that a significant percentage of the population still views homosexuality as an illness, a psychological disorder or as sin. The aim of this thesis was to examine the possible (re)enforcement of such homophobic ideologies in news media, as well as the possible (re)enforcement of increasingly tolerant ideologies, by making use of frameworks developed within Critical Discourse Analysis, by van Dijk (1998) and Gelber (2002). While the results of the media analysis indicate a growing acceptance of homosexuality, the survey results reveal that the majority of the heterosexual students surveyed still maintain homophobic attitudes. Furthermore, discrepancies in the survey results reveal the complex nature of such attitudes.
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Mollerup-Degn, Talita. "The Power of Words : A Critical Discourse Analysis of Governmental Media Releases from Australia and Nauru." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Malmö högskola, Institutionen för globala politiska studier (GPS), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-18579.
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Wessels, Morne. "Media language representations of xenophobic attitudes in university settings : a critical discourse analysis of Western Cape campus newspapers." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/71897.
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Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study focuses on aspects of linguistic communication, specifically in campus media discourse, where portrayals of minority groups, such as African foreigners, affect the attitudes of readers and shape public ideology regarding these minority groups. The research examines published items in two Western Cape campus newspapers that topicalise Africa or African foreigners in South Africa. These items, which were published over a three year period from 2007 to 2009, are critically analysed, in order to evaluate the way in which Africa and Africans, specifically Africans in South Africa, are represented, to determine whether such representations make use of xenophobic language, and to gauge the potential effects on the attitudes of student readers with regards to foreign Africans living and studying in South Africa. The aim of this thesis is to examine the possible (re)enforcement of xenophobic attitudes in the campus news media by analysing how Africa/foreign Africans are portrayed in South Africa's campus press against the background of the current xenophobic situation in South Africa. This is accomplished by making use of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), specifically the theoretical frameworks of van Dijk (1991) and Fairclough (1995; 1998), which allow for critical analysis on multiple levels of discourse. While the results of the media analysis illustrate a difference in coverage between the two campus newspapers, the overall impression is that campus press does indeed influence the attitudes of readers, more often than not, to the detriment of oppressed minority groups. Coverage of Africa/Africans in South Africa in the two campus publications indicated a slight growth in empathy towards the plight of Africa/African foreigners over the three year study period.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie fokus op aspekte van kommunikasie, veral binne kampusmedia-diskoers, waar die uitbeelding van minderheidsgroepe, soos buitelanders vanuit Afrika, 'n invloed uitoefen op die houdings van lesers en die vorming van openbare ideologieë ten opsigte van hierdie minderheidsgroepe. Dié navorsing ondersoek gepubliseerde items in twee Wes-Kaapse kampuskoerante wat handel oor Afrika of buitelanders vanuit Afrika wat in Suid-Afrika woon. Hierdie items, wat oor 'n tydperk van drie jaar (2007-2009) gepubliseer is, is krities ontleed ten einde te evalueer hoe Afrika en Afrikane, veral buitelanders in Suid-Afrika, uitgebeeld word, om te bepaal of sodanige uitbeeldings gebruik maak van xenofobiese taal en om die moontlike gevolge hiervan op die houdings van die studentelesers met betrekking tot buitelandse Afrikane wat in Suid-Afrika woon, te bestudeer en te meet. Die doel van hierdie tesis is om die moontlike afdwinging van xenofobiese houdings in die kampus-nuusmedia/kampusnuusmedia te ondersoek deur die ontleding van hoe Afrika / buitelandse Afrikane in Suid-Afrika se kampuspers uitgebeeld word teen die agtergrond van die huidige xenofobiese situasie in Suid-Afrika. Dit word bereik deur gebruik te maak van Kritiese Diskoersanalise ("Critical Discourse Analysis"; CDA), spesifiek die teoretiese raamwerke van van Dijk (1991) en Fairclough (1995, 1998), wat ruimte laat vir 'n kritiese analise op verskeie vlakke van diskoers. Terwyl die resultate van die media-analise 'n verskil in dekking tussen die twee kampuskoerante illustreer, is die algehele indruk dat die kampuspers wel die houdings van die lesers beïnvloed, en in die reël tot nadeel van onderdrukte minderheidsgroepe. Mediadekking van Afrika / Afrikane in Suid-Afrika in die twee kampuspublikasies toon 'n effense groei in empatie teenoor die lot van Afrika / buitelandse Afrikane oor die drie jaar studietydperk.
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Rossi, Gustaf. ""Several media reports today" – A comparative analysis of discursive practices within Swedish immigration critical media and public service media." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-22562.
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Syftet med den här masteruppsatsen är att förstå nyhetsdiskurser i public service och invandringskritiska alternativmedier i Sverige. Uppsatsen fokuserar på hur de fyra största politiska partierna behandlar invandringsfrågan månaden före det riksdagsvalet 2018. Uppsatsen syftar mot att förstå skillnader och likheter i diskursiva praktiker om invandringsfrågan i två public service medier (Sveriges Television och Sveriges Radio) samt två invandringskritiska alternativmedier (Fria Tider och Nyheter Idag), och för att undersöka hur detta kan kopplas till minskat förtroende i traditionella medier.Uppsatsen grundar analysen på diskursteori av Fairclough i sammanhanhet av minskat förtroende för traditionella nyhetsmedier. För analys av resultaten används gestaltningteorin och dagordningsteorin, tillsammans med teorier om kommersialiserad journalistik.Metoderna som används är en kritisk diskursanalys baserad på Faircloughs tredimensionella modell, tillsammans med en retorisk analys som appliceras på Faircloughs textnivå. Dessa metoder användes på tolv medietexter som handlade om samma nyhet under augusti 2018.Resultaten visade en Överlägsenhetsdiskurs, där de invandringskritiska medierna intar en roll som överlägnsa de andra deltagarna i det politiska "spelet". Jag presebterar också en erkännandediskurs för att förklara en tredimensionell modell som innehåller politiker i botten, traditionella medier på andra nivån och invandringskritiska medier på toppen. Den sista diskursen är en "Vänskaps"-diskurs där de invandringskritiska medierna intar en "vänskaplig" roll mot andra aktörer i det politiska spelet, vilket ytterligare expanderar på teorier om politisk nyhetsjournalistik som ett spel.Framtida forskning kan riktas mot att bredda analysen och inkludera flera sorters alternativa medier, utföras i andra länder eller utveckla den model jag presenterar.The aim of this master’s thesis is to understand news discursive practices in public service and the immigration critical alternative media of Sweden. The thesis focus on how the four largest political parties addresses the topic of immigration the month before the Swedish election in 2018. The thesis aims at identifying and understanding similarities and differences in the discursive construction of immigration as a political topic in two public service media (Sveriges Television and Sveriges Radio) and two immigration critical alternative media (Fria Tider and Nyheter Idag), and to examine how this connects to the diminished trust in mainstream media.The thesis bases the analysis on discourse theory by Fairclough, and the context of distrust in traditional news media. To analyze the result, framing and agenda setting theories are used along with the theory of commercialized journalism.The methods used are a Critical Discourse Analysis based on Fairclough’s model supported by a rhetorical analysis which is applied on the text layer in Fairclough’s model. These methods are applied to a total of twelve media texts that covered the same stories during August of 2018.The results showed a superiority discourse where the immigration critical media enters a role of superior to other actors in the political “game”. I also present an acknowledgement discourse to support a three-level model, which consists of politics at the bottom, the mainstream media on the second level, and the alternative media on the top. The final discourse is the “Friendship” discourse where immigration critical media takes on a “friendship” role towards other actors in the political game, to further expand upon political journalism as a game.Future research could be aimed at widening the analysis to cover other forms of alternative media, be placed in other countries, or develop the model I propose.
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Curci-Wallis, Annabell. "How Facebook Comments Reflect Certain Characteristics Of Islamophobia: A Critical Discourse Analysis." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Teologiska institutionen, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-384591.
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This study is a contribution to the limited knowledge of how different types of media content (about Muslims and extremism) posted and shared on Facebook might influence corresponding user comments. Through analyzing the discourse of user comments this study aims to identify how comments might reflect certain characteristics of Islamophobia, and to which themes in Facebook posts commentators relate to the most. The linguistic analysis is guided by the use of critical discourse analysis. For the purpose of this study, three different types of articles/video and the corresponding comments are analyzed. Two of the articles/video that I will analyze are from unreliable media sources, and one of the articles is from a credible media source. The linguistic analysis showed that the majority of commentators expressed that they believe the claims made in the articles/video about Muslims and extremism are true. The discourse analysis further showed, the majority of articles/video and the majority of the analyzed corresponding comments reflected the [in the study] defined characteristics of Islamophobia. My findings confirmed similar studies done in the past.
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Lennartsson, Vanessa. "Unaccompanied minors in Swedish media - A critical discourse analysis on media constructions of Afghan unaccompanied minors in Aftonbladet and Expressen." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-22922.
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The ability of media to create powerful images, which shape how readers understand certain issues, is very important, especially when linked to questions regarding the attitude towards the Other. This study focuses on a problem which has not been sufficiently addressed by researchers so far – how unaccompanied minors from Afghanistan are constructed in Swedish media. Using Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis in combination with postcolonial theory, eight news pieces were selected from two of Sweden’s leading newspapers; Aftonbladet and Expressen, in order to provide a deeper understanding of the discourses underpinning these constructions. Thus, this paper finds that the media coverage of the group is often negative and conflict-centered, framing the unaccompanied minors as either suspected liars or criminals which further contributes to the polarization between “Us” and “Them” in the Swedish society. Framing unaccompanied minors in this way, Aftonbladet and Expressen can contribute to the (re)production of stereotypes, affect public opinion and influence political decision and action regarding the group.
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Charry, Marroquin Angela Janneth. "Critical discourse analysis of news media representations of people from refugee backgrounds participating in music in Australia." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2022. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/230264/1/Angela%20Janneth_Charry%20Marroquin_Thesis.pdf.
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This research used critical discourse analysis to explore the ways people from refugee backgrounds’ participation in music is constructed in the Australian news media. Using Fairclough’s three-dimensional framework, findings revealed that, while the media ostensibly tells stories of hopefulness derived from the joy of music, the workings of racialised power within the discourse remain deeply intertwined. Social tropes which often accompany music intersect with deficit and othering discourses surrounding people from refugee backgrounds. This research emphasises the need for a critically reflective social work practice to resist and challenge dominant discourses that disempower people seeking refuge.
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Brodscholl, Per Christian. "Negotiating sustainability in the media: critical perspectives on the popularisation of environmental concerns." Curtin University of Technology, Faculty of Media, Society and Culture, 2003. http://espace.library.curtin.edu.au:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=13600.
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Despite intensified and concerted efforts to realise sustainable development. Western industrialised countries have in recent years experienced several mass protests against institutions perceived variously to have the potential to govern the global economy in environmentally sustainable or unsustainable ways. This thesis examines how different actors in the news media attempt to legitimate and de-legitimate neoliberal approaches to economic governance on grounds that these approaches are or are not environmentally sustainable. By using a critical discourse analysis perspective to analyse texts produced by actors with competing political commitments (neo-liberal and left-liberal), it discusses how primarily profit-driven generic conventions can govern what can and cannot be said in debates on sustainability. The thesis suggests that the effectiveness of (cultural) politics aimed at legitimating and de-legitimating neo-liberal approaches can be understood in teens of the relationship between an instrumental rationality geared at maximising the effectiveness of existing institutional systems and a communicative rationality geared at achieving understanding.
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Carvalho, Marilia Bastos de. "How the war was sold: A critical discourse analysis of Time magazine articles on the war on Iraq prior to the occupation." OpenSIUC, 2011. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/theses/547.
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The power to control Discourse is the power to maintain distinct discursive practices with particular ideological agendas prevailing others, including oppositional practices (Fairclough,1995a). Media discourse thus is a powerful tool in the creation and maintenance of the hegemony of a preferred Discourse. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) aspires to disclose discursive practices that involve unequal relations of power and aim to contribute to social change by creating more equal power relations (Jorgensen & Phillips, 2002). The present study, by using CDA, aims to understand the role of the media in the selling of the war on Iraq by looking at Time magazine articles prior to the war in contrast with President George W. Bush speeches during the same period. The major themes found were patriotism, the Discourse of fear, glorification of the army, polarization of us vs. them, the "if" Discourse and trivialization of war. The findings suggest that there is an influence from the presidential Discourse reflected in the Discourse presented by the magazine as well as some themes that are only present in the magazine and also serve to the same end of shaping the public support for the war.
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Anter, Miro. "Refugee children or Afghan men? - A critical discourse analysis of representations of unaccompanied youth in Swedish newspapers." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för informatik och media, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-396171.
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Balčiūnaitė, Jovita. "Legitimization and delegitimization through metaphors." Master's thesis, Lithuanian Academic Libraries Network (LABT), 2012. http://vddb.laba.lt/obj/LT-eLABa-0001:E.02~2012~D_20120731_123932-31276.
Full textAbstract:
The purpose of this research was to investigate how political leaders of the United Kingdom and Lithuania, David Cameron and Andrius Kubilius legitimize themselves and delegitimize their opponents through metaphors. To achieve this aim Critical Metaphor Analysis was employed and the following objectives were set: to identify metaphorical expressions used in political speeches; to interpret them and to classify them according to their underlying conceptual metaphor; finally, to explain the way conceptual metaphors and metaphorical expressions convey how political leaders legitimize themselves and delegitimize the opponents. The results of the study demonstrated that the conceptual metaphors used for legitimization and delegitimization are the same in both political leaders’ speeches. However, metaphorical expression used for legitimization and delegitimization displays different characteristics. It also demonstrated that politicians tend to use more metaphorical expressions to convey legitimization than delegitimization.Magistro darbo tema „Konceptualios metaforos raiška legitimizacijos ir delegitimizacijos procesuose“. Šio tiriamojo darbo tikslas yra išsiaiškinti kokiomis konceptualiosiomis metaforomis Davidas Cameronas ir Andrius Kubilius legitimizuoja save ir delegitimizuoja savo oponentus. Buvo iškelti šie tiriamojo darbo uždaviniai: pirmiausia, surasti metaforinius pasakymus politinėse kalbose, tuomet suklasifikuoti šiuos pasakymus pagal priklausymą konceptualiąjai metaforai ir, galiausiai, paaiškinti kaip metaforiniai pasakymai atskleidžia būdus, kuriais politikai legitimizuoja save ir delegitimizuoja savo oponentus. Tyrime buvo naudojamas Kritinis metaforos analizės metodas pasiūlytas Charterio-Blacko, kuris susideda iš trijų dalių, tai: metaforinių pasakynų suradimas, jų priskyrimas konceptualiąjai metaforai ir galiausiai, paaiškinimas. Pagrindinis tyrimo klausimas buvo išsiaiškinti, kuo skiriasi konceptualiųjų metaforų naudojimas legitimizacijai ir delegitimizacijai Davidas Cameronas ir Andriaus Kubiliaus politinėse kalbose. Tyrimas parodė, kad tiek legitimizacijai tiek delegitimizacijai abu politikai naudoja tas pačias konceptualiąsias metaforas: POLITIKA YRA KARAS, POLITIKA YRA KELIONĖ, ir POLITIKA YRA PASTATAS. Taip pat tyrimas parodė, kad Davidas Cameronas ir Andrius Kubilius naudoja daugiau metaforinių pasakymų išreikšti legitimizacijai nei delegitimizacijai. Tai buvo pastebėta, kai delegitimizuodami savo oponentus politikai nenaudojo kai kurių konceptualiųjų atitikmenų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]
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Cupido, Cleo. "Shoot the Boer: a discourse analysis of online posts and related texts." University of the Western Cape, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/4840.
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Magister Artium - MAThe controversial singing of the Shoot the Boer song by Julius Malema was a focus of media attention during the period of March 3, 2010 to September 12, 2011.This study aims to analyse the discourses participants draw on in the expression of their positions of race and identity in selected online texts, as well as the different meanings and interpretations the Shoot the Boer song has acquired over time. Using the data drawn from three court rulings, namely the South Gauteng High Court, North Gauteng High Court and the Equality Court and commentaries from various online websites, this project focuses on the various ways in which issues of race are realised through language by focusing on the construction and interpretation of Julius Malema and the Shoot the Boer song within different contextual spaces. This study uses a critical discourse analysis framework, as well as theories of intertextuality, resemiotization, contextand chronotope to analyse the texts which were generated in response to the song. Key findings include the ways in which participants who consider themselves as part of a minority group, construct themselves as 'victims‘ in relation to Malema and the singing of the song. Similarly, another key finding is that the broader discourse of fear exhibited in the various commentaries links to a general fear of 'black power‘ where Malema is a signifier of this 'black power.‘ Overall, the thesis argues that the meanings of the song are multiple and shift with the changing chronotopia of its performance. It therefore support Blommaert‘s (2005) emphasis on the importance of 'text trajectories‘ in establishing the meaning of texts, and argues that the historical meanings associated with the Shoot the Boer song form a complex set of frames on which different participants draw when interpreting the song in 2010.
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Ariana, Barer. "The usual suspects : a feminist critical discourse analysis of media representations of responsibility for sexual assault prevention." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/44296.
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This thesis examined the representation of social actors responsible for sexual assault prevention published in media and police reports and grassroots poster campaigns that followed a series of sexual assaults perpetrated in Edmonton between May 2008 and March 2010. Reporting by Edmonton Journal, CBC News, and the published responses of the Garneau Sisterhood, a grassroots organization, was examined through a lens informed by feminist critical discourse analysis (FCDA). Using FCDA, I analyzed the ways in which the representations of social actors in these texts changed across time both linguistically and interdiscursively.
Three main neoliberal discourses found to be operating in media representations of social actors in the Edmonton Journal and CBC News were discourses of individualization, authority, and feminization. An analysis of social actors in the media showed these assaults to be isolated and individualized crimes. In addition, media representation included an unquestioned deference to police authority in seeking solutions and justice, and the construction of rape-avoidance as a hegemonic norm of femininity. The main discourse found in the Garneau Sisterhood poster campaigns was a discourse of collective responsibility. Sexualized violence will not likely end without a shift in the culture of violence toward women. At a time when the federal government is defunding feminist advocacy and direct service organizations—forcing them to close or function precariously—the presence of collective-oriented, grassroots interruptions of normalized rape culture is both urgent and hopeful.
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Yang, Mei. "Olympic ideology and the 2008 torch relay in British and Chinese elite media : a critical discourse analysis." Thesis, University of Aberdeen, 2012. http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=186869.
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This thesis attempts to explore the discursive construction of Olympic ideology in the 2008 Torch Relay news coverage by the British and the Chinese media. It applies a corpus-based Discourse-Historical Approach in Critical Discourse Analysis (DHA-CDA) to analyse how and why the complexity, contradiction and conflicts in linguistic interpretations of Olympism are demonstrated by the media discourse between East and West. This study first focuses on the underpinning ideology and the study of the media, considering the historical development of Olympic ideology (Olympism) along with the respective mainstream ideologies in Britain (Liberalism) and China (Harmony), as well as the philosophical foundations and prominence of CDA. It then draws on the elaborated analytical approach-corpus-based CDA-in detail to analyse four specially constructed corpora drawn from the China Daily, BBC News and The Guardian. Thereafter corpus techniques including frequency and concordance analysis are applied and results obtained that reveal comparative differences and diachronic shifts across the corpora. Having first described the data, they are then interpreted in their linguistic contexts, and subsequently explained in the broader historical and socio-political contexts surrounding the dynamic life of the Olympic Torch Relay. This study demonstrates that there are contrasting expressions of Olympic ideology in the media discourse of the two countries. At a deeper level, this social practice is revealed to be dominated by the mainstream ideologies of the hosting and participating nations, which have been entrenched throughout their respective histories. The involvement of Britain and China in Olympic history and the relevant socio-political events surrounding the 2008 Torch Relay are explored in order to inform our analysis. The conclusion to this thesis reinforces its significant contribution to the study of Olympism. The Olympic philosophy of integrating diversified ideologies was certainly not manifest in the confrontation between the eastern and western media in 2008. Liberalism and harmony had never confronted each other face to face on the world stage before or attempted to find a common ground on which to coexist as revealed in this study. Based on this, respect for and tolerance of diverse ideology, history and culture will hopefully promote the solidarity and prosperity represented by Olympism in the new era.
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Jichova, Miroslava. "Gendered Representations of Jazz Vocal Artists: A Critical Discourse Analysis of CD and Performance Reviews, and Interviews." ScholarWorks@UNO, 2007. http://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/569.
Full textAbstract:
This study of contemporary jazz discourse and gender applies the techniques of critical discourse analysis, inspired by M.A.K. Halliday's systemic functional linguistics and Norman Fairclough's qualitative critical discourse analysis, to explicate the unequal distribution of power in society as represented by the institutions of jazz and mass media, in discourse about jazz vocal artists. Specifically, the study focuses on the way the genres of jazz CD review, jazz performance review, and interviews with jazz artists – disseminated via the institutions JazzTimes and Live New Orleans – represent the artists' identities, roles, achievements and skills. Following Norman Fairclough and the feminist scholar Mary Talbot, the study assumes that institutions of mass media not only discursively construct the gender of jazz vocal artists, but also represent the performers' achievement and skills from a hegemonic standpoint, reflecting the commonsense assumptions about women and men and their roles in patriarchal society.
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Davidson, Paul. "Metaphor in contemporary British social-policy. A Cognitive Critical Study Of Governmental Discourses On Social Exclusion." Thesis, University of Bradford, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/5348.
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This thesis explores the ideological role of metaphor in British governmental
discourses on ¿social exclusion¿. A hybrid methodology, combining approaches
from Corpus Linguistics, Critical Discourse Analysis and cognitive theories of
metaphor, is used to address how social exclusion and other metaphors are deployed
to create an ideologically vested representation of society. The data consists of
linguistic metaphors identified from a 400,000+ word machine-readable corpus of
British governmental texts on social exclusion covering a ten year period (1997-
2007). From these surface level features of text, underlying systematic and
conceptual metaphors are then inferred. The analysis reveals how the interrelation
between social exclusion and a range of other metaphors creates a dichotomous
representation of society in which social problems are discursively placed outside
society, glossing inequalities within the included mainstream and placing the blame
for exclusion on the cultural deficiencies of the excluded. The solution to the
problem of exclusion is implicit within the logic of its conceptual structure and
involves moving the excluded across the ¿boundary¿ to join the ¿insiders¿. The
welfare state has a key role to play in this and is underpinned by a range of
metaphors which anticipate movement on the part of the excluded away from a
position of dependence on the state. This expectation of movement is itself
metaphorically structured by the notion of a social contract in which the socially
excluded have a responsibility to try and include themselves in society in return for
the right of (temporary) state support. Key systematic metaphors are explained by
reference to a discourse-historical view of ideological change in processes of
political party transformation.BISA and CSV
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RADULY, EVA. "A critical discourse analysis of Twitter messages of three international humanitarian organisations about Refugees - UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-21547.
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Smit, Simone Nicole. "The discursive construction of hydraulic fracturing in South Africa : a critical analysis of media texts from 2011 to 2012." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/86293.
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Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Hydraulic fracturing is a geo-engineering procedure designed to extract shale gas from below the earth’s surface. Shale gas is often considered a natural, alternative source of energy that has the potential to increase global energy supplies but the scientific literature is not unanimous regarding the implications that hydraulic fracturing may have, and whether it should continue (Vermeulen 2012). Given the contentious nature of hydraulic fracturing, this study investigates the ways in which hydraulic fracturing is represented in South African media texts. The study draws on Gee’s (1996) model of critical discourse analysis (CDA), which views discourse as a means to represent and reproduce social practices. Thus, the study conceptualises hydraulic fracturing as a social practice with an affiliated discourse or discourses, which represent or construct the process of hydraulic fracturing, as well as the participants involved and context in which it takes place. Furthermore, these discourses are also presumed to have the power to legitimise, and thus perpetuate hydraulic fracturing, or to critique it. Subsequent to an examination of 32 South African news articles, and a close and critical analysis of four of them, this study reveals that hydraulic fracturing is presented in both positive and negative ways. Where positive constructions prevail, writers draw on the perspectives of those working in multinational corporations (MNCs) to construct shale gas as a way to increase energy supplies and achieve economic prosperity. Where negative constructions prevail, writers draw on the perspectives of environmentalists to construct hydraulic fracturing as an environmentally-harmful activity that depletes natural resources. In doing so, the study not only highlights the media’s role in perpetuating confusion about hydraulic fracturing, but highlights dominant ideologies that give rise to common representations of hydraulic fracturing in media texts.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hidrobreking is ’n geo-ingenieursprosedure waardeur ondergrondse skaliegas ontgin word. Skaliegas word dikwels beskou as ’n natuurlike, alternatiewe energiebron met die potensiaal om die wêreld-energievoorraad te verhoog, maar die wetenskaplike literatuur is verdeeld oor die effek van hidrobreking en die voortsetting van hierdie praktyk (Vermeulen 2012). Gegee die netelige aard van die onderwerp, word daar in hierdie studie ondersoek gedoen na die wyses waarop hidrobreking voorgestel word in Suid-Afrikaanse mediatekste. Die analise word gerig deur Gee (1996) se model van kritiese diskoersanalise waarvolgens diskoers dien as instrument in die voorstelling en voortsetting van sosiale praktyke. As sodanig word hidrobreking in hierdie studie gekonsepsualiseer as ’n sosiale praktyk met een of meer gepaardgaande diskoerse wat die proses van hidrobreking, die deelnmers in hierdie proses asook die konteks waarin hierdie proses plaasvind, voorstel of konstrueer. Verder word daar veronderstel dat hierdie diskoerse die krag het om hidrobreking te regverdig en sodoende voor te sit, of om dit te kritiseer. Op grond van die bestudering van 34 Suid-Afrikaanse nuusberigte en ’n kritiese ontleding van vier daarvan, word daar bevind dat hidrobreking op beide positiewe en negatiewe wyses voorgestel word. In die geval van positiewe konstruksies steun skrywers op die uitgangspunte van persone in multinasionale korporasies om skaliegas te konstrueer as ’n manier om energievoorrade te verhoog en ekonomiese vooruitgang te bevorder. In die geval van negatiewe konstruksies steun skrywers op die uitgangspunte van omgewingsdeskundiges om hidrobreking te konstrueer as ’n omgewingskadelike aktiwiteit wat natuurlike hulpbronne uitput. Hierdie bevindinge beklemtoon die rol van die media in die voortgesette verwarring aangaande hidrobreking, asook die dominante ideologieë wat aanleiding gee tot algemene voorstellings van hidrobreking in mediatekste.
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Sunderland, Naomi Louise. "Biotechnology as Media: A Critical Study of the Movement of Meanings Associated with Contemporary Biotechnology." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2004. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/16705/1/Naomi_Sunderland_Thesis.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis purports to make two contributions to understandings of biotechnology. First, it presents a novel framework through which to view biotechnology as a complex series of fundamentally social and politically economic mediations rather than a decontextualised collection of technical and scientific phenomena. Second, the thesis presents a method for analysing contemporary discourses about biotechnology within this framework. The framework presented in the first content chapter of the thesis identifies what I see to be the four primary mediating "movements" that are central to seeing Biotechnology as Media: Alienation, Translation, Recontextualisation, and Absorption. The next chapter explicates these movements more fully using a combination of social practice and discourse theory. Using these four movements and the mediation framework as a guide, I then critically analyse a corpus of seventy two exemplary texts (approximately 700,000 words) about contemporary biotechnology.
Mediation, in the sense I use it here, is not concerned with one particular media form or technology. Rather, it focuses on the process of mediation as the movement of meanings (Silverstone, 1999). I argue that seeing biotechnologies as mediations can provide a deeper and more critical understanding of how ways of seeing, being, acting, and describing (discourses) associated with contemporary biotechnology are moved from micro- and macro-biological and scientific contexts into the everyday lives of citizens and ecosystems. In particular, such a view highlights the forces and voices that currently determine the path and substance of political-economic movements in biotechnology and, consequently, how everyday perceptions of biotechnology are shaped or silenced in processes of mediation.
A core assumption of the thesis is that processes of mediation are not neutral. Rather, they are always inherently interpretive, politically economic, and ethically significant. Any mediation involves "filtering" processes via which "content" is transformed into a form that is appropriate for a given medium by persons who have control over the medium, and by the nature of the medium itself. This applies as much in laboratory and scientific contexts as it does in the contexts of mass consumption, whether in newspapers, policy papers, movies (such as Gattaca), or consumer goods. The same is true in the mediation of biotechnology: there are technological and discursive restrictions on what and who can "contribute to" and "come out" of biotechnology and also what is construed as being a valuable and desirable outcome of biotechnology research and development.
The three central analysis chapters of the thesis outline firstly how biotechnology can function as a time-based medium for the reproduction of already powerful discourses on, for example, the role of technology in human development and the consumer market as the moral medium between generators of new technologies and their "consumers". I identify exemplars of how the history of biotechnology and mediation (movement) is expressed in the corpus. This is followed by a more concentrated analysis of the ethical and social significance of the key "official" mediations presented in the corpus. I focus in particular on how the predominant policy evaluations of biotechnological mediations expressed in state, national, and international policy documents construct a "virtuous cycle" of product development that will ostensibly "deliver the benefits" of biotechnology to all citizens who, in the corpus, are framed predominantly as "consumers".
The final chapter of the thesis reflects on the significance of biotechnology at the macro level of social practices and systems. Apart from its direct function as a technical medium for alienating hitherto inalienable aspects of life, such as configurations of DNA, and turning them into products for sale, I argue that, as a suite of mediating movements, biotechnology has the potential to effectively, and for the most part invisibly, mediate our more general understandings and experiences of ourselves, of other species, and of the world we live in. More specifically, I argue that biotechnological mediations actively, and often forcefully, promote a narrowing of the range of evaluative resources on offer to the general community, and indeed to biotechnologists themselves. Biotechnological mediations can therefore be described as part of a broader movement away from conditions of heteroglossia or dialogue (multi language, multi voice) toward conditions of monologia (one language, one voice).
The thesis concludes with an important question: if we can identify these narrowing effects or mediations of biotechnology by using techniques such as Critical Discourse Analysis and by seeing biotechnology in a mediation framework, what can we do to interrupt them and generate movements that are more generative of heteroglossic and socially responsive ways of seeing, being, and acting? I offer a number of responses to the question in the conclusion.
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Sunderland, Naomi Louise. "Biotechnology as Media: A Critical Study of the Movement of Meanings Associated with Contemporary Biotechnology." Queensland University of Technology, 2004. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/16705/.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis purports to make two contributions to understandings of biotechnology. First, it presents a novel framework through which to view biotechnology as a complex series of fundamentally social and politically economic mediations rather than a decontextualised collection of technical and scientific phenomena. Second, the thesis presents a method for analysing contemporary discourses about biotechnology within this framework. The framework presented in the first content chapter of the thesis identifies what I see to be the four primary mediating "movements" that are central to seeing Biotechnology as Media: Alienation, Translation, Recontextualisation, and Absorption. The next chapter explicates these movements more fully using a combination of social practice and discourse theory. Using these four movements and the mediation framework as a guide, I then critically analyse a corpus of seventy two exemplary texts (approximately 700,000 words) about contemporary biotechnology. Mediation, in the sense I use it here, is not concerned with one particular media form or technology. Rather, it focuses on the process of mediation as the movement of meanings (Silverstone, 1999). I argue that seeing biotechnologies as mediations can provide a deeper and more critical understanding of how ways of seeing, being, acting, and describing (discourses) associated with contemporary biotechnology are moved from micro- and macro-biological and scientific contexts into the everyday lives of citizens and ecosystems. In particular, such a view highlights the forces and voices that currently determine the path and substance of political-economic movements in biotechnology and, consequently, how everyday perceptions of biotechnology are shaped or silenced in processes of mediation. A core assumption of the thesis is that processes of mediation are not neutral. Rather, they are always inherently interpretive, politically economic, and ethically significant. Any mediation involves "filtering" processes via which "content" is transformed into a form that is appropriate for a given medium by persons who have control over the medium, and by the nature of the medium itself. This applies as much in laboratory and scientific contexts as it does in the contexts of mass consumption, whether in newspapers, policy papers, movies (such as Gattaca), or consumer goods. The same is true in the mediation of biotechnology: there are technological and discursive restrictions on what and who can "contribute to" and "come out" of biotechnology and also what is construed as being a valuable and desirable outcome of biotechnology research and development. The three central analysis chapters of the thesis outline firstly how biotechnology can function as a time-based medium for the reproduction of already powerful discourses on, for example, the role of technology in human development and the consumer market as the moral medium between generators of new technologies and their "consumers". I identify exemplars of how the history of biotechnology and mediation (movement) is expressed in the corpus. This is followed by a more concentrated analysis of the ethical and social significance of the key "official" mediations presented in the corpus. I focus in particular on how the predominant policy evaluations of biotechnological mediations expressed in state, national, and international policy documents construct a "virtuous cycle" of product development that will ostensibly "deliver the benefits" of biotechnology to all citizens who, in the corpus, are framed predominantly as "consumers". The final chapter of the thesis reflects on the significance of biotechnology at the macro level of social practices and systems. Apart from its direct function as a technical medium for alienating hitherto inalienable aspects of life, such as configurations of DNA, and turning them into products for sale, I argue that, as a suite of mediating movements, biotechnology has the potential to effectively, and for the most part invisibly, mediate our more general understandings and experiences of ourselves, of other species, and of the world we live in. More specifically, I argue that biotechnological mediations actively, and often forcefully, promote a narrowing of the range of evaluative resources on offer to the general community, and indeed to biotechnologists themselves. Biotechnological mediations can therefore be described as part of a broader movement away from conditions of heteroglossia or dialogue (multi language, multi voice) toward conditions of monologia (one language, one voice). The thesis concludes with an important question: if we can identify these narrowing effects or mediations of biotechnology by using techniques such as Critical Discourse Analysis and by seeing biotechnology in a mediation framework, what can we do to interrupt them and generate movements that are more generative of heteroglossic and socially responsive ways of seeing, being, and acting? I offer a number of responses to the question in the conclusion.