Discourse &Society, Ahead of Print.
Legal genres are situation-sensitive and one same genre may take different structural and functional patterns according to the historical context within which it is situated. Judicial opinions of ancient China, for example, look like a totally different genre in contrast with the language of modern Chinese judicial documents. It is not uncommon that county magistrates’ (ancient Chinese judges) writing considerably downplays the task of reasoning and argumentation and becomes fully devoted to the provision of emotional narratives regarding defendants’ wrong-doings and to the meta-communication of imperial ideological values to grassroots. This paper looks into why ideology is a key concern of ancient Chinese judicial writing, what concrete ideological values are actually invoked and how they are interactively disseminated. The analytical framework combines the notion of contextualization (Gumperz, 1982), interactive framing (Tannen, 1993), and footing (Goffman, 1981). Through a nuanced interpretation of the relatedness of imperial ideological values and judicial language structures, the authors attempt to reveal how ancient judicial opinions are built as speech activities of performing identities and activities of presenting ideological stances and beliefs.
Book review
Convergence, Ahead of Print.
Neoliberal, trouble-free worlds for an aspirational middle-class in Chinese EFL publications: A multimodal critical discourse analysis
Discourse &Communication, Ahead of Print.
For most English language learning engagements in expanding circle countries, textbooks play a key role in defining a syllabus and corralling students toward some measure of completion in a course of study. While scholars have shown how English is broadly seen as a prestigious skill, connected with upward socio-economic mobility, less work has been done on the discourses and ideologies carried by the textbooks, even though this is a billion-dollar-a-year industry with titles selling in the millions. Research clearly raises the need for further investigations of the discourses and world views that they carry as they appear in different territories. In this paper, using Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis, we analyze a corpus of texts books produced domestically within China. In China, English language learning has become a fundamental part of the aspirations of the emerging middle classes, who also tend to consume Western-style products and increasingly take on more individualistic Western-style values. Analysis shows that these textbooks carry language learning activities which combine a gloss of signifiers of more local, cultural ideas embedded in a privileged world inhabited by an aspirational, international middle-class.
For most English language learning engagements in expanding circle countries, textbooks play a key role in defining a syllabus and corralling students toward some measure of completion in a course of study. While scholars have shown how English is broadly seen as a prestigious skill, connected with upward socio-economic mobility, less work has been done on the discourses and ideologies carried by the textbooks, even though this is a billion-dollar-a-year industry with titles selling in the millions. Research clearly raises the need for further investigations of the discourses and world views that they carry as they appear in different territories. In this paper, using Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis, we analyze a corpus of texts books produced domestically within China. In China, English language learning has become a fundamental part of the aspirations of the emerging middle classes, who also tend to consume Western-style products and increasingly take on more individualistic Western-style values. Analysis shows that these textbooks carry language learning activities which combine a gloss of signifiers of more local, cultural ideas embedded in a privileged world inhabited by an aspirational, international middle-class.
Book review: Vibhuti Patel and Nandita Mondal (Eds.), Gendered Inequalities in Paid and Unpaid Work of Women in India
Indian Journal of Gender Studies, Ahead of Print.
Vibhuti Patel and Nandita Mondal (Eds.), Gendered Inequalities in Paid and Unpaid Work of Women in India. Springer Nature, 2022, 277 pp., ₹10,858, ISBN 978-9811699733 (Hardcover).
Vibhuti Patel and Nandita Mondal (Eds.), Gendered Inequalities in Paid and Unpaid Work of Women in India. Springer Nature, 2022, 277 pp., ₹10,858, ISBN 978-9811699733 (Hardcover).
Decoding paradoxical identities: The discourse construction of left-behind children in news reports
Discourse &Communication, Ahead of Print.
This paper presents an empirical corpus-based study on the identity of left-behind children in China, employing the discourse-historical approach (DHA) framework. It is the first study to combine Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling and reported speech analysis to examine how China Daily constructs the identity of left-behind children and explore the cultural and rhetorical factors influencing this identity construction. By integrating computational techniques and qualitative analysis methods, this study provides a comprehensive understanding of the intricate nature of identity construction for left-behind children. This interdisciplinary approach strengthens the theoretical foundations of media analysis and offers fresh insights into the dynamics of media discourse. The findings reveal that China Daily portrays left-behind children in a multifaceted and diverse manner, encompassing both positive and negative aspects, while placing emphasis on their vulnerability and passivity. Furthermore, the media employs communication techniques such as identification by sympathy, antithesis, and inaccuracy to establish emotional resonance and foster audience identification, ultimately influencing the audience’s perspectives on these children.
This paper presents an empirical corpus-based study on the identity of left-behind children in China, employing the discourse-historical approach (DHA) framework. It is the first study to combine Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling and reported speech analysis to examine how China Daily constructs the identity of left-behind children and explore the cultural and rhetorical factors influencing this identity construction. By integrating computational techniques and qualitative analysis methods, this study provides a comprehensive understanding of the intricate nature of identity construction for left-behind children. This interdisciplinary approach strengthens the theoretical foundations of media analysis and offers fresh insights into the dynamics of media discourse. The findings reveal that China Daily portrays left-behind children in a multifaceted and diverse manner, encompassing both positive and negative aspects, while placing emphasis on their vulnerability and passivity. Furthermore, the media employs communication techniques such as identification by sympathy, antithesis, and inaccuracy to establish emotional resonance and foster audience identification, ultimately influencing the audience’s perspectives on these children.
In/exclusion in fashion discourse: Are we in or out?
Discourse &Society, Ahead of Print.
This article analyzes the conceptual framing of inclusion and exclusion in fashion discourse, discussing how women are denied or restricted the access to the bounded space of fashion based on a part of their identity, be it their race, religion, disability, gender identification, body weight, or social class. It relies on the data corpus is 1061 Vogue articles, collected between July 2019 and June 2020 and analyzed qualitatively. The current study complements ample research on the container metaphor in political discourse and aims to open a debate on the role of this metaphorical model in a so far largely overlooked discourse of fashion. Drawing on the Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Critical Discursive Psychology, I demonstrate how the container metaphor pinpoints the repertoire of inclusivity, problematizes the dichotomous relationship between the center and periphery of the fashion industry, and normalizes roles of insiders and outsiders in fashion.
This article analyzes the conceptual framing of inclusion and exclusion in fashion discourse, discussing how women are denied or restricted the access to the bounded space of fashion based on a part of their identity, be it their race, religion, disability, gender identification, body weight, or social class. It relies on the data corpus is 1061 Vogue articles, collected between July 2019 and June 2020 and analyzed qualitatively. The current study complements ample research on the container metaphor in political discourse and aims to open a debate on the role of this metaphorical model in a so far largely overlooked discourse of fashion. Drawing on the Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Critical Discursive Psychology, I demonstrate how the container metaphor pinpoints the repertoire of inclusivity, problematizes the dichotomous relationship between the center and periphery of the fashion industry, and normalizes roles of insiders and outsiders in fashion.
Book review: Ruth Vanita, The Dharma of Justice in the Sanskrit Epics: Debates on Gender, Varna, and Species
Indian Journal of Gender Studies, Ahead of Print.
Ruth Vanita, The Dharma of Justice in the Sanskrit Epics: Debates on Gender, Varna, and Species. Oxford University Press, 2022, 287 pages, ₹1,795. ISBN:9780192859822 hardback.
Ruth Vanita, The Dharma of Justice in the Sanskrit Epics: Debates on Gender, Varna, and Species. Oxford University Press, 2022, 287 pages, ₹1,795. ISBN:9780192859822 hardback.
Cooptation, hijacking, or normalization? The discursive concession of body politics on Douyin
International Journal of Cultural Studies, Ahead of Print.
The short-video platform TikTok/Douyin becomes a space not only for individuals to express and articulate their interests, but also for the authorities to negotiate with the public on various ideological boundaries. This article specifically examines a Douyin campaign in which the platform attempts to prescribe a standard of body exposure that falls within the tolerance level of the authorities and, meanwhile, favours users’ interests to gain support. To conceptualize such discursive negotiations and the relevant tactics, we propose the term ‘discursive concession’ to describe the process of compromise by temporarily challenging, obscuring, and rearticulating the discursive boundary, eventually legitimizing the subordinated discourse by aligning it with the dominant ideological logic. By analysing discourses of representative short videos and comments, we identified three tactics of discursive concession: cooptation, hijacking, and normalization. They respectively describe how dominant, subordinated, and middle powers leverage each other to push the discursive boundary forward.
The short-video platform TikTok/Douyin becomes a space not only for individuals to express and articulate their interests, but also for the authorities to negotiate with the public on various ideological boundaries. This article specifically examines a Douyin campaign in which the platform attempts to prescribe a standard of body exposure that falls within the tolerance level of the authorities and, meanwhile, favours users’ interests to gain support. To conceptualize such discursive negotiations and the relevant tactics, we propose the term ‘discursive concession’ to describe the process of compromise by temporarily challenging, obscuring, and rearticulating the discursive boundary, eventually legitimizing the subordinated discourse by aligning it with the dominant ideological logic. By analysing discourses of representative short videos and comments, we identified three tactics of discursive concession: cooptation, hijacking, and normalization. They respectively describe how dominant, subordinated, and middle powers leverage each other to push the discursive boundary forward.
‘Diversity’ as multidisciplinary keyword for the politics of cultural recommender systems in global digital media platforms
International Journal of Cultural Studies, Ahead of Print.
‘Diversity’ is a heavily freighted and multivalent keyword in the global digital media environment. The recommender systems used by platforms are particularly acute sites of development and debate around the political, cultural and technical issues ‘diversity’ signifies. Drawing on a review of computer science publications on recommender systems in media and entertainment as well as a survey of recent advances in media and cultural policy scholarship, this short article performs a pragmatic close reading of diversity in these intersecting fields. We note that attention must be paid to the specific challenges and politics of diversity not only in particular cultural fields but also in local cultural contexts, drawing on examples from music and SVOD platforms to flesh out these questions and the practical possibilities that arise from them.
‘Diversity’ is a heavily freighted and multivalent keyword in the global digital media environment. The recommender systems used by platforms are particularly acute sites of development and debate around the political, cultural and technical issues ‘diversity’ signifies. Drawing on a review of computer science publications on recommender systems in media and entertainment as well as a survey of recent advances in media and cultural policy scholarship, this short article performs a pragmatic close reading of diversity in these intersecting fields. We note that attention must be paid to the specific challenges and politics of diversity not only in particular cultural fields but also in local cultural contexts, drawing on examples from music and SVOD platforms to flesh out these questions and the practical possibilities that arise from them.
What if migrants were only people and relatives? Designations used to name people on the move in the Belgian media
Discourse &Society, Ahead of Print.
This article focuses on denominations that are used to name people on the move in Belgian media discourse, but that are not specifically related to migration. It specifically studies the nominal syntagms formed with the noun people (people on the run, people in need) and words of kinship (mother, brother). A Discursive Semantics analysis implemented through Corpus Linguistics is run on a corpus of Belgian news items issued from March 2015 to July 2017. The corpus gathers 13,391 newspaper articles and 3490 TV news items (representing 7,637,986 words). The mention of words of kinship and designations formed with people shows that there is a willingness to humanise media discourses on migration. However, although their mention encourages a humanitarian vision of people on the move, these usually positively connotated designations also foster a vision of people on the move as victims and does not discourage the mention of controversial denominations.
This article focuses on denominations that are used to name people on the move in Belgian media discourse, but that are not specifically related to migration. It specifically studies the nominal syntagms formed with the noun people (people on the run, people in need) and words of kinship (mother, brother). A Discursive Semantics analysis implemented through Corpus Linguistics is run on a corpus of Belgian news items issued from March 2015 to July 2017. The corpus gathers 13,391 newspaper articles and 3490 TV news items (representing 7,637,986 words). The mention of words of kinship and designations formed with people shows that there is a willingness to humanise media discourses on migration. However, although their mention encourages a humanitarian vision of people on the move, these usually positively connotated designations also foster a vision of people on the move as victims and does not discourage the mention of controversial denominations.