Discussion Of Theory Research Articles

Assessing the Discourse System and the Visual Utterance System in the Artworks of Committed Iranian Paintings in the 60s and 70s

An attempt is made to answer the questions: How to base the Utterance system in the visual texts of Iranian painting, based on commitment discourse theory in the literature of the 60s and 70s? and What is the main difference between the Utterance and Discourse systems in visual arts? The generating institutions of this type of Utterance system necessitate the referential function for visual texts as the main component in the formation of such texts. According to these institutions, production of artwork as classical and ornamented texts convey only one meaning, unlike the phenomenal texts with multiple meanings, next to illustrating how some outstanding and common semantic signs lead to the formation of this type of Utterance system in the Iranian art.

Isolated figures in a remote Scottish Landscape: place and identity in the films of Scott Graham

ABSTRACT The relationship between place and identity has had a very specific significance in the development of Scottish cinema. Until the 1980s Scotland tended to be depicted as an essentially rural and remote, a fantasy space characterised within the interlinked representational discourses of tartanry and kailyard by romantic and picturesque highland and island locations or parochial and backward villages and small towns. With the emergence of a New Scottish cinema in the 1990s, this was subsequently replaced by a focus on more realist narratives located in the urban centres of Glasgow and Edinburgh. In this essay, I will explore the work of Scott Graham, whose three features to date - Shell, Iona and Run – have provided a renewed engagement with a contemporary Scotland that (re)incorporates both the highland and island landscapes that provided the backdrop to the romantic tradition of tartanry, and the small-town setting familiar from the kailyard tradition. These settings are central to the identity and predicament of Graham’s protagonists, who are struggling with a sense of isolation, loneliness or lack of connection, alienated from place, community and even family. Consequently, Graham provides evidence for the continuing relevance of a distinctive Scottish cinematic tradition.

Habitual sentences with <em>costumar</em> ‘use to’: Issues of tense and interaction with frequentative adjuncts

This paper analyses the expression of habitual values in Portuguese, focusing on the auxiliary verb costumar ‘use to’. First, the concept of habituality (and its distinction from genericity, frequentativity, and iterativity) is discussed, and an overview of the various ways of signalling habituality in Portuguese is provided. Then, three topics take centre stage, one concerning tense and two concerning the interaction of costumar with temporal adjuncts of different types. With regard to tense, the versatility of the imperfective past of costumar is examined, noting that this tense form can convey values which are typically reserved to the perfective past and the pluperfect. Regarding the interaction with adjuncts, the combination of costumar with adjuncts that redundantly express habituality (e.g., habitualmente ‘usually’) is first addressed. Subsequently, the combination of costumar with a set of allied adjuncts, grouped under the cover term ‘frequentative’, is scrutinized. These include adjuncts that indicate whether exceptions to the habitual pattern are more or less frequent (e.g., muitas vezes ‘often’ vs. às vezes ‘sometimes’), and adjuncts expressing correlation between eventualities, frequency sensu stricto, or cyclicity (e.g., uma vez por semana ‘once a week’). Portuguese is systematically compared with English throughout the text. The neo-Reichenbachian framework of Discourse Representation Theory (Hans Kamp) is used for formal analyses.

Drag Artists in Shanghai: Balancing Local and Global Influences in Queer Cultural Production

This article discusses a case study of a group of local and expat drag artists based in Shanghai, China. Theoretical perspectives of “global gay” discourse, queer temporality and Chinese-centric queer theories were employed to question how Shanghai’s drag artists navigate drag’s growing popularity, Chinese state restrictions and Western dominance. Through analysing semi-structured interviews and performance video samples of seven drag artists and one LGBTQ+ venue owner, queer cultural productions in China were explored to ask how they offer new possibilities for queer knowledge production, and propose futurities that are simultaneously transnational and rooted in China. While the influence of Euro-American LGBTQ+ discourse was documented and acknowledged, other perspectives revealed more nuanced conceptualisations of the binary between copy/original, the frictions inherent in cultural exchange, and diverse forms of resistance. Shanghai’s drag scene is evolving in distinct ways, incorporating both global and local influences and cultural traditions. With queer knowledge still largely attributed to the West, and non-Western experiences vastly underrepresented, it is important to recognise what underground cultural productions such as those in Shanghai offer global queer cultural exchange.

Performativity and political organization after the squares: rethinking horizontality and verticality

ABSTRACT This paper explores the role of performativity in political organization, especially in relation to horizontality and verticality. Taking its cues from the heightened interest in horizontal and vertical organization following the post-2010 movements of the squares and new forms of party politics that have emerged in their wake, the paper draws on Michael Saward’s and Judith Butler’s accounts of the performativity of representation and assembly, respectively, to develop an original synthesis of a discursive-organizational approach based on Laclau’s and Mouffe’s discourse theory with an understanding of the role of performativity in horizontal and vertical forms of party organization. Following initial considerations on performativity as a category that tends to be implicitly assumed but under-theorized in theoretical perspectives on post-squares organization (e.g. Chantal Mouffe and Rodrigo Nunes), the paper presents readings of Saward’s and Butler’s understandings of performativity, which are then linked to existing and ongoing work on movement parties and Volksparteien of a new type (VNTs) as prototypical types of horizontal and vertical party organization. In this vein, the paper develops an integrated framework of Discursive-Organizational Analysis (DOA) that combines post-foundational discourse analysis (PDA) with performativity theory and serves as a bridge between the semantic and pragmatic aspects of discourse.

How do we teach about ethnic and cultural diversity in PETE? A discourse analysis of interviews from Norway, Aotearoa/New Zealand and Canada

ABSTRACT Background Although social justice has been a topic of interest in physical education for over 40 years, research still shows that physical education excludes and marginalises students based on various identity dimensions. Presently, with societies becoming more diverse, there is heightened anticipation for teacher educators to demonstrate ‘cultural responsiveness’ or ‘cultural competence’. Purpose This paper investigates how Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) educators in Norway, Aotearoa/New Zealand and Canada construct teaching about ethnic and cultural diversity. Methods This study’s data comprise 23 interviews with PETE educators from three countries. We analysed the interviews using concepts from discourse theory and a framework from multicultural education. Findings While the way teacher educators discuss teaching about issues of ethnic and cultural diversity in PETE highly depends on each country’s contexts, there still are overlaps encapsulated by discourses. Our analysis suggests most discursive articulations from interviews reproduced liberal discourses, with fewer discursive articulations from conservative and critical discourses. Furthermore, the discourses constructed certain subject positions for students and teacher educators that carry implications for practice. Conclusion Although there are consistent attempts to engage with critical discourses, the dominance of liberal discourses persists in PETE in all three countries. This prevalence poses a risk of perpetuating othering and marginalisation.

Articulating the ‘How’ of Social Return on Investment: Foregrounding the Plural and Pluralizing Character of Its ‘Moments of Judgment’

ABSTRACTSocial accounting practices attribute value to an organization's activities beyond traditional economic conceptions of success. In assessing the merit of such practices, we argue that it is helpful to extend our analytical focus beyond questions of what is evaluated and who evaluates to how valuations are performed. Social accounting literature has already explored a crucial aspect of the “how question,” emphasizing the need to widen stakeholder input and engage in agonistic democratic deliberation beyond applying technical expertise. We extend these insights by drawing attention to an important dimension of the how question that remains underexplored, namely, where such deliberation can or should be applied and explaining why this matters. In doing so, we disclose the complexity and messiness of social accounting processes, as well as their normative and political significance. We deploy political discourse theory to highlight the virtues of focusing on where value is constructed along the social accounting chain, illustrating our contribution with examples drawn from our experience conducting a Social Return on Investment (SROI) for a not‐for‐profit organization. We present and unpack key decision‐junctures in the SROI process, demonstrating the plural and pluralizing character of these “moments of judgment” by showing how contestability and normativity enter the valuation process, aspects that are often obfuscated by an over‐reliance on, and the rhetoric of, the technical aspects of quantification and monetization. By foregrounding the contingency and subjectivity embedded in valuation practices, we argue there is a need to navigate agonistically, deliberatively, and pragmatically their plural and complex character.

Media Representation of the Russia-Ukraine War: A Comparative Discourse Analysis of Reuters and TASS

This study has examined the linguistic differences in news reports published by Reuters and TASS on four distinct incidents during the 2022 Russia-Ukraine war. Employing discourse analysis as the methodological approach and discourse theory as the theoretical framework, the study has revealed significant linguistic and rhetorical disparities between the two media outlets, highlighting divergent ideological stances and power dynamics. The study has found that Reuters and TASS have employed distinct linguistic strategies that shape public ideologies and perceptions. TASS has portrayed the war from a Russian perspective, referring to it as a "special military operation" while excluding Ukrainian viewpoints. In contrast, Reuters has depicted the war as a full-scale invasion and emphasized allegations of war crimes while also excluding Russian viewpoints. Discrepancies have also emerged in reporting casualties and territorial control, with TASS and Reuters presenting conflicting figures and narratives. Neither outlet has cross-checked information, undermining their objectivity and contributing to biased reporting. The study underscores how the language used by TASS and Reuters serves to legitimize their respective positions and influence public perception, reflecting broader geopolitical power dynamics. Both media agencies have produced misleading narratives by relying solely on official statements from both nations without independent verification.

Benidorm’s linguistic landscape: unveiling the multifaceted tapestry of urban expression

ABSTRACT The study of linguistic landscapes offers a captivating and nuanced avenue for understanding the intricate interplay among language, culture, and urban environments. The influence of mass tourism in Benidorm, a vibrant city within the Valencian region, has left an indelible mark on its linguistic landscape, offering a testament to the transformations brought about by the tourism industry. In addition, the coexistence of autochthonous minority languages within this city presents a complex and often precarious situation, where the tensions between cultural preservation and economic prosperity come to the fore. Through our own field methodology, and under the theoretical framework of the Critical Discourse Theory, we will analyse in depth the different aspects of the linguistic landscape of Benidorm, showing the challenges that the city faces to maintain coexistence between all the different languages that populate its streets and that make up a unique linguistic landscape.

Discursive Strategies for Discourse Representations of ASUU-FGN Impasse in Nigerian Newspapers

This study provided discursive strategies which Nigerian newspapers employed to convey information about ASUU-FGN impasse to the news consumers. The discursive strategies succeeded in allotting discourse representations to ASUU and FGN in both positive and negative representations. The data for the study were collected from five Nigerian newspapers: Leadership, Punch, The Guardian, The Nation and Vanguard. The researcher selected one hundred published articles about ASUU-FGN impasse in the month of June, 2024 when the industrial disharmony between the two parties was hot. The researcher purposively sampled one hundred and thirteen data from ten randomly selected articles out of the one hundred published articles for the analysis. The researcher used Van Dijk's (2006) Socio-Cognitive Model of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) for qualitative and quantitative analysis of the data. The study revealed that ASUU and FGN were represented with discursive strategies with their percentage: victimisation (23%), abuse (16%), populism (13%), euphemism (12%), counterfeit (10%), consensus (9%), dramatisation (7%), metaphor (6%), disclaimer (3%), and comparison (1%). ASUU was represented as threatener (The Nation, Punch, Vanguard). sufferer (The Nation, Punch) advocate (Leadership, Punch), slammer (Vanguard), troublesome (The Nation), striker (Punch), observer (Leadership, Punch), teacher of unemployable graduates (Punch), greed (The Nation), warner (Leadership), peacemaker (The Guardian), informer (The Guardian), protester (Vanguard), the oppressed (Punch), slacker (Punch), liar (Punch). FGN was represented as renegade (Punch, The Nation), filibuster (The Guardian), oppressor (The Guardian), abandoner (Leadership), breacher (Leadership), proliferator (Vanguard), and dictator (Punch). The study concluded that naming calling arises where conflicts exists. The study therefore recommended that the two parties should imbibe ideas of honouring agreement to allow name calling cease and peace reign.

Intentional identity, mental files, and coordination: a DRT account of anaphora in attitude contexts

This paper proposes a semantics of anaphora in attitude contexts within the framework of Discourse Representation Theory (DRT). The paper first focuses on intentional identity, a special kind of cross-attitudinal anaphora. Based on the DRT semantics of attitude reports summarized by Kamp et al. (in: D. Gabbay and F. Guenthner (Eds.), Handbook of philosophical logic, 2011), the author proposes a semantics of intentional identity that implements the following two ideas: (1) indefinites and pronouns appearing in attitude contexts introduce metadiscourse referents, which represent one’s mental files and record appearances of discourse referents in attitude contexts; and (2) what underlies the relevant kind of anaphoric links between indefinites and pronouns across attitude contexts is the coordination relation between mental files, which is represented by using metadiscourse referents. Next, the paper expands the semantics to cover de re anaphora, in which an anaphoric pronoun in an attitude context takes as its antecedent an expression appearing outside any attitude context.

Assessing the impact of climate change on reproductive health: A content analysis of climate journalism coverage.

complications, infectious diseases, maternal and infant health in disasters, gender-based violence, healthcare access inequities, mental health impacts, and food security issues. Findings reveal an uneven distribution of coverage across continents, with potential language bias in English-dominated sources. Acknowledging limitations, future research directions emphasize a more inclusive approach, incorporating diverse linguistic perspectives and qualitative exploration of community experiences. The study underscores the imperative for global representation in media discourse This research explores the intricate relationship between climate change and reproductive health through an analysis of 1000 global news articles from 2018 onwards. Utilizing Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), key topics in media coverage are identified, encompassing fertility challenges, pregnancy and advocates for comprehensive, evidence-based strategies to address the complex interplay between climate change and reproductive health.

PLATFORMS OF EXPANSIONISM: A COMPARISON OF RUSSIA'S NARRATIVES FOR UKRAINE AND SERBIA'S NARRATIVES FOR KOSOVO

Following the invasion of Crimea by Russia, there has been a significant shift in academic focus towards the study of Ukraine. Russia's efforts to establish a new warfront in the Western Balkans have drawn attention to the developments in the region. This paper offers a comparative analysis of the narratives put forth by Russia concerning Ukraine and Serbia's perspectives on Kosovo. Both Russia and Serbia have constructed fake narratives that present their geopolitical disputes as issues of historical and national identity and territorial integrity. In the case of Russia, the narratives regarding Ukraine underscore a shared history, the protection of ethnic Russians, while contesting Ukrainian sovereignty. Similarly, Serbia's narratives about Kosovo emphasize the cultural and historical significance of Kosovo, drawing its fake narrative for Kosovo as integral to Serbian identity and rejecting its independence as illegitimate and imposed by foreign powers. By delving into official discourse and media representations, this study aims to explore three core narratives used as expansionist platforms: historical and national identity narratives, the narrative of victimization and the narratives on the legitimacy of statehood and sovereignty and how these narratives are utilized within domestic and international spheres to gain internal and international support, legitimize policies, and perpetuate a sense of victimhood. The paper contends that although the contexts differ, the strategic deployment of historical grievances, ethnic unity, and anti-Western sentiment forms a common platform in the expansionist approaches of Russia and Serbia.

A importância do aprofundamento teórico-metodológico na formação docente e nas produções de materiais didáticos dialógicos no curso de Letras

The Bakhtinian approach has been present in Brazilian official curricular documents since the 1990s. However, its pedagogical appropriation has been guided by the linguistic structure to the detriment of social interaction (Faraco, 2009), demanding efforts in Portuguese school subject teacher training. In this article, the objective is to show how the dialogic discourse theory deepening can contribute to teaching materials production, based on Portuguese language major training experience at the University of São Paulo in 2020. In this experience, the theoretical-methodological approach includes the concepts of speech genres (Bakhtin, 2016 [1952-1953]) and theme (Volóchinov, 2018 [1929]) and on the production of didactic proposals aligned with the Base Nacional Comum Curricular (BNCC) (Brasil, 2018) and with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Unesco, 2017). In this work, we analyze the proposal “Gênero do discurso e produção de texto: editorial” [“Speech genres and text production: editorial”], identifying the authors' observance of Bakhtinian discursive referents: i) sphere/field of human activity; ii) speech genre; iii) its relative stability; iv) multiple voices in statements; v) thematic totality. The results indicate dialogical quality in the material with the presence of elements that express social dynamics, confirming the relevance of theoretical deepening and its practical application in undergraduate teacher training.

A Semantic Analysis of Discourse Representations of ASUU-FGN Impasse in Nigerian Newspapers

A Semantic Analysis of Discourse Representations of ASUU-FGN Impasse in Nigerian Newspapers

COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF HISTORICALAND TRANSLATION DISCOURSE OF ABAI

The purpose of this scientific article is to study the significance of Abai as a historical precedent figure and to analyze his historical and translational discourses from a scientific perspective. The main aim of the research is to uncover the essence of Abai's discourse, conduct a comprehensive analysis, and determine his significant contribution to the historical development of the country and the field of translation studies. The research also aims to assess the level of precedence associated with Abai's name and his writings. This research makes a significant contribution by presenting Abai's translational discourse as a historical-literary discourse, characterized by adherence to the historical context and cultural specificity. Recognizing Abai's work as a product of a historical personality, the research reflects the features and characteristics of the historical era. The study employs a comprehensive approach, including discursive-historical, cognitive-discursive, and pragmatic-communicative methodologies, supplemented by sociological survey methods. This approach allows for a thorough analysis of Abai's discourse, identifying and describing the extralinguistic, cognitive, pragmatic, and linguistic-stylistic components of his historical discourse. Asa result of the research, an in-depth analysis of Abai's translational discourse was conducted, shedding light on its historical nature and determining its level of precedence. The results obtained not only provide valuable insights into Abai's discourse but also significantly contribute to the development of the theory of historical discourse and translation studies. This study contributes to the development of the theory of historical discourse and translation studies, thereby expanding knowledge of cultural and linguistic dynamics in a historical context. The practical significance of the research lies in its ability to deepen the understanding of Abai's contribution to the historical process and the field of translation studies. By studying Abai's discourses, researchers and scholars can gain valuable information about the historical context and the impact of his works on society and the theory of translation.

Perceptions of the ‘mainstream’ and the mainstreaming of the far right: from Ed Sheeran to Keir Starmer

ABSTRACT While people use the term ‘mainstream’ on a regular basis, there has been relatively little discussion about what it actually means. Within far-right studies, attempts to define the mainstream often center around party politics and the impact of mainstream party strategies on the far right. While a useful starting point, this focus has led to more rigid conceptions which encourage particular normative assumptions about its identity. Through poststructuralist discourse theory, supported by insights from music studies and critical discourse studies, this article proposes a definition which accounts for its contingency and construction, challenging dominant narratives about its nature. These issues are crucial when we consider the relationship between the mainstream and far right because they encourage us to question their perceived relative positioning. By introducing the concepts of talking ‘with’ and ‘about’ the far right, this piece establishes the need for us to take the role of the mainstream in the mainstreaming of the far right seriously.

Redescribing fossil-fuel investments: how hegemony challengers ‘invert’ arguments in the Norwegian public discourse on climate risk

ABSTRACT This article introduces the concept of inversion as a rhetorical-political strategy used to redescribe climate concerns from being sacrificed in favour of profitability to seeing that profitability necessitates climate concerns. Drawing on discourse theory and rhetorical analysis, the article analyses discursive struggles in the dominant discourse of fossil-fuel growth in Norway, from 2013 to 2019. By inverting the image of fossil-fuel dependency from growth and success to loss and stagnation in the Norwegian public discourse on fossil fuels and climate risk, those who challenge the hegemonic pro-fossil fuel-investments system pave the way for an alternative description of an ideal welfare state. As such, inversion, as a practice and rhetorical-political strategy may help us understand the strategic manoeuvring of the environmental movements as counter-hegemonic forces.

The representation of sub-Saharan African migrants in the Tunisian written media: a corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis

ABSTRACT While the topic of migrant representation in media discourse has been extensively researched, a significant portion of scholarly attention is concentrated on Western media. This focus leaves a considerable gap in the study of media representations in transitional countries, particularly North African nations like Tunisia. This topic assumes greater significance in light of the recent surge in xenophobia towards sub-Saharan African migrants in the country – a movement partly instigated by President Kais Saied's anti-immigrant rhetoric. Utilising Corpus-Assisted Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), this paper examines the discursive representations of sub-Saharan African migrants in Tunisian written media discourse, focusing on the 2022 and 2023 anti-migrant wave in Tunisia under the presidency of Kais Saied. The research findings reveal that while a glimpse of a humanitarian discourse was evident, the majority of the discourse was characterised either by biased neutrality or explicit prejudice. The research indicates a predominantly negative representation, categorising migrants as invaders, security threats, economic burdens, and moral hazards. Significantly, much of the discourse echoes the political anti-immigrant policy, suggesting a potential media alignment with the emerging authoritarian tendencies in Tunisia. This alignment harbours damaging implications for the safety and well-being of the migrant community, as well as for the overall human rights and democratisation process in the country.

ERST: A Signaled Graph Theory of Discourse Relations and Organization

Abstract In this article we present Enhanced Rhetorical Structure Theory (eRST), a new theoretical framework for computational discourse analysis, based on an expansion of Rhetorical Structure Theory (RST). The framework encompasses discourse relation graphs with tree-breaking, non-projective and concurrent relations, as well as implicit and explicit signals which give explainable rationales to our analyses. We survey shortcomings of RST and other existing frameworks, such as Segmented Discourse Representation Theory (SDRT), the Penn Discourse Treebank (PDTB) and Discourse Dependencies, and address these using constructs in the proposed theory. We provide annotation, search and visualization tools for data, and present and evaluate a freely available corpus of English annotated according to our framework, encompassing 12 spoken and written genres with over 200K tokens. Finally, we discuss automatic parsing, evaluation metrics and applications for data in our framework.