A word of scandal: Managing dissent in the Spanish polemic over Marry Him and Be Submissive

Abstract

Conversations regarding moral values are increasingly becoming a pivotal dimension of public discourse. This paper presents a new approach to unacceptable discourse. Drawing on René Girard’s cultural anthropology and Luciano Elizalde’s dissent management theory, this work develops a scale of situations of dissent, such as controversy, polemic and public discourse scandal. It offers a detailed study of the polemic raised by the book Marry Him and Be Submissive, a process of dissent which was generated in Spain in November 2013 on the occasion of the publication of this Italian bestseller and lasted until January 2014. The book was written by the Italian journalist Costanza Miriano and translated and edited by the Archdiocese of Granada. The case study uses a triangular approach to discourse analysis, which aims to comprehend the enunciator’s legitimacy and social positioning, the communication context in which the debate takes place, and the characteristics of the public discourse. A central element regards how reactions are organized around the signifier 'submissive’ and the different frames of interpretation assigned to this word, in what will be called 'feminist’ and 'post-feminist’ paradigms. Mechanisms of dissent and consensus are explained, and takeaways and actors’ strategies are discussed.