Official Discourse Research Articles

When a Party Paper Meets COVID-19: Crisis and Legitimacy in Renmin Ribao’s Commentary Articles

Similar to many other countries, journalistic production in China during the first half of 2020 was dominated on a thematic level by the COVID-19 pandemic. The trend included the mouthpiece of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Renmin Ribao. Its news and commentary articles, which are widely republished by other media, influence the country’s political life, and contribute to the process of meaning generation in the news discourse and to the CCP’s effort to align Chinese citizens to official narratives. Renmin Ribao can therefore provide a relevant source to investigate the relationship between political power and the COVID-19 pandemic, starting from the hypothesis that the paper’s narrative would aim at discursively turning the international health crisis into a piece of positive propaganda. This study aims to verify whether and how the paper did so, and to question the assumption that the outlet’s media discourse can be equated to the CCP official discourse.
 The research is developed as a case study and blends quantitative and qualitative tools grounded on Applied Linguistics, Discourse-Historical Approach, and Frame Analysis, in order to analyse a corpus of commentaries that have appeared in the outlet’s online edition in 2020. By applying a Genre Analysis approach, the study also offers insights into the possibility to identify distinguishing characteristics and communicative goals in the different sub-genres of Renmin Ribao commentaries.

The kampung, the city and the nation: Bhinneka Tunggal Ika in the everyday urban life of Kampung Peneleh, Surabaya, Indonesia

Interpreted as ‘unity in diversity’, Indonesia's national politicians appropriated the slogan Bhinneka Tunggal Ika from a fourteenth century poem to legitimise one nation‐state for the diverse archipelago. As Indonesia becomes a rapidly urbanising country, the concepts of ‘unity’ and ‘diversity’ intertwine with changing landscapes and societies. With the growth of cities as centres of population and economic activities, the intensity of development in the city has transformed urban spaces, social interactions, economies and aspirations. Much of these urban transformations have affected urban kampung, early forms of urban settlement. Urban kampung has a historical role in the making of ‘unity in diversity’ as a national concept, but official discourses rarely associate kampung with the slogan, even when concerns on tolerance and diversity increase in urbanising Indonesia. Using urban kampung as a viewpoint in city‐ and nation‐building, we conduct archival and ethnographic research to interpret everyday practices of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika. To what extent does the slogan play a role in the social construction of city neighbourhoods? How do everyday realities in an urban kampung relate to the national slogan? As kampung remains relatively autonomous but also stigmatised in the city, taking kampung as a viewpoint allows insights into city‐ and nation‐building knowledge that integrate everyday practice and conceptualization of the city and the nation.

The role of interpersonal communication in instilling a sense of social justice: Beirut August 4, 2020, explosion

ABSTRACT The August 4, 2020, Beirut Port explosion killed over 200 people and left countless Lebanese injured and traumatized. To this date, the reasons behind the explosion remain unknown and the burden of this unjust act weighs heavily upon all Lebanese. Countless journalistic reports attest to the failure of official communication channels and the lack of meaningful action. None, however, delve into the role that interpersonal communication plays in instilling a sense of justice. This paper therefore investigates how interpersonal communication, specifically through people’s participation in communal communicative initiatives, may subvert the unjust official discourse and introduce a positive change in individual and communal lives. It posits that interpersonal communication may create a sense of justice not just between individuals in distinct interactions but at a societal level. It proposes basic tenants defining an interpersonally situated sense of justice and expands the significance of interpersonal communication in social justice studies providing it with a plausible structure.

What’s in a Name?

Abstract The ‘Third Hellenic Civilisation’ was the principal propaganda innovation of the 4th of August regime and the core myth underpinning its ideological hegemony. Though regularly referred to as the central ideological slogan of the regime, there are no extensive discussions of its meaning and uses. This article attempts a comprehensive analysis of the term and the ways this futural discourse was employed as an instrument of legitimacy. By declaring the connection of the Third Hellenic Civilisation to art, literature, and culture in general, and granting the cultural field relative independence, Metaxas enabled intellectuals to assay their own interpretations of its meaning and proposals for its attainment. The article approaches the Third Hellenic Civilisation as a compound construct that was intended to act as a new ‘sacred canopy’, presenting the dialogue between official and intellectual discourses on its central aspects.

Understanding Russophone Estonian Identity Through Popular Culture: An Analysis of Hip-Hop Hit “für Oksana”

AbstractSince emerging in the early 1990s, Estonian hip-hop has developed in line with other cultural and artistic projects in the country, reflecting attempts to foster a homogeneous society, yet ultimately cultivating one where diversity and multiculturalism prevail. As a genre where minority groups are frequently presented as “authentic,” hip-hop and its visual and performative manifestations provide a valuable platform to examine expressions of identity. To this end, several Estonian hip-hop musicians have explored aspects of being “post-Soviet” in contradistinction to official hegemonic discourses, which outright reject the Soviet past and emphasize titular ethnicity as a cornerstone of national identity.This article uses Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Multi-Modal Discourse Analysis (MMDA) to examine the lyrics and accompanying video of popular hip-hop song “für Oksana” by “Nublu featuring Gameboy Tetris.” Doing so highlights how the song’s basic narrative acts as a metaphor for experiences of integration processes between ethnic Estonians and Russophones since Estonian independence. I argue that through a combination of linguistic and cultural codeswitching, “für Oksana” constitutes an expression, performance, and negotiation of Russophone Estonian identity from both insider and outsider perspectives, emphasizing the need to understand Russophone Estonians as more than simply “Russians who live in Estonia.”

From Khrushchev’s Kulish to Chicken Kyiv: How Soviet Power Redefined Ukrainian Cuisine

Abstract During the rule of Josef Stalin, the Soviet government sought to promulgate a common culinary aesthetic to facilitate the goals of the Soviet project. But pushback against these “socialist realist foodways” emerged in Soviet Ukraine. During the Khrushchev era the Ukrainian government took the step of creating Ukrains”ki stravy (“Ukrainian Dishes”). First published in 1957, this Ukrainian-language cookbook sought to articulate foodways that were both socialist realist and distinctively Ukrainian. The inevitable contradictions within this effort foreshadowed the problems that would dominate Soviet food discourse in subsequent decades, as the USSR’s citizens increasingly critiqued the shortcomings of the Soviet food system and attempted to reclaim prerevolutionary, and particularly national, culinary traditions. Drawing on published and archival Ukrainian sources, this paper explores the uncomfortable balance between nationality policy and official Soviet food discourse in the postwar era, and how this contributed to the eventual demise of socialist realist foodways.

Choreographing linguistic landscapes in Singapore

Abstract This paper proposes the notion of choreographed multilingualism to describe the top-down dimension of Singapore's linguistic landscape. Using a range of examples of official multilingual discourse, including public signage, exhibition artefacts, and print texts, it identifies a quadrilingual constellation that reiterates across different modalities, stabilizing into a visual-spatial formula. As a semiotic feature, the quadrilingual formula is an indexical that calls up the trope of neat multilingualism, whereby the four official languages of Singapore (English, Chinese, Malay, Tamil) are construed in a relation of equilibrium and equitability, while nonofficial/nonstandard languages, language varieties, and Chinese dialects are relegated to oblivion. The trope of neat multilingualism in turn evokes a larger sociolinguistic ambiance shaped by the official language policy and the language education system in Singapore. The paper theorises this situation in respect of Michel de Certeau's spatial theory, arguing that official discourses in Singapore corroborate the multilingual “place” produced by technologies of choreography.

‘Every one of you is now a soldier’: war metaphors in Jordanian official discourse during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT In this article, we examine the use of war metaphors in Jordanian official discourse on the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020-21, through an analysis of videos of public statements and media releases made by Jordanian government officials at press conferences and interviews with local media outlets which were disseminated through social media. Against both the linguistic essentialism and the Western-centrism of conventional analyses of (war) metaphors, we demonstrate that Jordanian officials’ framing of Covid-19 as a security threat is not just a function of the rhetorical appeal of militarised discursive responses to the pandemic, but also aligns closely with existing ideologies of the militarisation and securitisation of public life. The mobilisation of metaphor in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic should thus be understood in relation to the specific discourses that pervade the communicative channels through which it is distributed.

Editor's Introduction

Editor's Introduction

Закордонні українці в радянському житті Валер’яна Поліщука

The vision of Ukraine as a national and cultural unity within ethnic Ukrainian lands not only did not disappear from the Polishchuk’s works in the Soviet period but was purposefully advanced in his multi-genre cultural practices. Establishing creative contacts with émigré writers as well as Polishchuk’s concept of a literary radio magazine became one of the most important directions of this activity. The article examines the connections of V. Polishchuk with émigré artists Volodymyr Vynnychenko, Mykyta Shapoval, Oleksandr Oles, and Pavlo Kovzhun. Analyzing their contacts, the author finds the permanent need for writers on different sides of the Soviet border to maintain a creative dialogue. The beginning for the dialogue was laid in the pre-Soviet period, that is, in the times of the UNR/Hetmanate/Directorate. In order to delegitimize the activities of Ukrainian political emigration, the idea of “two Ukraines”, Soviet and émigré, appeared in the Soviet discourse of the first half of the 1920s. Despite the use of rhetoric about the existence of “two Ukraines”, the main strategy of V. Polishchuk was not separation, but the combination of the proletarian image of Ukraine with national feelings and literary traditions. In a number of his publications, Polishchuk paid particular attention to the centers of Ukrainian cultural life outside the jurisdiction of the Soviet government (Lviv, Prague) investigating the life of foreign societies and artists. His texts about foreign countries were full of genuine interest. But with all frankness, part of Polishchuk’s biography remained outside the official pro-Soviet discourse, existing in understatements, hints, subtexts. However, we can consider the pre-Soviet period of Polishchuk’s biography as the main factor that influenced his views on the nationally determined Ukrainian cultural identity within the united Ukrainian territories.

Peer support in sub-Saharan Africa: A critical interpretive synthesis of school-based research

This paper concerns an aspect of schooling in sub-Saharan Africa which receives limited attention in official education discourse – namely, that students themselves often bear educational responsibilities for the access and learning of their peers. Informed by postcolonial and decolonial scholarship, this critical interpretive synthesis (CIS) of school-based research from the region provides a taxonomy of students’ roles and responsibilities with respect to the education of their peers. The study reveals positive and negative aspects of such support. The expectation of mutual support amongst students reflects a collectivist orientation in the region, and the material realities of teaching and learning in historically under-resourced environments. Where peer support focuses on improving learning then evidence is largely positive, both for those giving and receiving support; however, where students’ access to education is reliant on peers (which is the case for many disadvantaged learners, including children with disabilities and those from linguistic minorities) then the adequacy of these arrangements is questionable. Peer support cannot compensate for exclusionary policies and underinvestment in necessary professional support and infrastructure. This study finds that peer support is a key and neglected aspect of education quality in the region. The implications of this for progress towards global and regional policy priorities are considered, alongside lessons for research and practice.

Речеви стратегии в кандидатпрезидентските дебати

The article is dedicated to the presidential candidate debate between the current President Rumen Radev and Prof. Anastas Gerdzhikov. The research traces whether their vocabulary adheres to the official discourse, how dynamic it is and whether it answers to the requirements of high speech etiquette. On the other hand, it examines certain phonetic features, such as tempo, intonation, logical stress, repetitions, etc. The study directly observes at what point the debaters abandon the formal high speech etiquette and lose ground in the argument. The object of linguistic analysis is also the length of sentences, the number of words used, and self-talk. Finally, the question of what is the goal of this is also raised: whether they eloquently persuade the electorate and draw approval and interest upon themselves, or whether they achieve the opposite - the disapproval and disaffection of the audience.

The USA and the energy transition of the 21st century: Measures to overcome dependence on China in critical minerals

Since the middle of 2010s, international community (developed economies primarily) has been paying increasing attention to the reduction of carbon footprint in the environment by means of large-scale deployment of renewable energy, electrification of transport system and sustainable production of goods. Aspiring to become a global leader of energy transition, the United States of America has already taken a set of measures to stimulate technological growth. Such a challenging task cannot be accomplished without a guaranteed access to the so-called critical minerals. However, the US has encountered growing competition from China in this field. From the beginning of 2000s, China has amassed within its territory a dominant share of global production of critical minerals, acquired access to key foreign extraction centers and thus become virtually a monopolist in the markets. Hence the United States government urgently needs to devise measures to overcome the dependence from China in this regard. The author of the article dwells on the factors which have made the issue of critical minerals (as a recent development of international relations) relevant and politically charged. In its turn, it has led to the securitization of the subject in American official discourse during Trump administration which manifested itself in the ‘mineral security’ concept. The article contains comparative analysis of Trump and Biden administration approaches to navigating the country out of the dependence from China for critical minerals; it also identifies key focus areas of the current US mineral strategy. Respective analysis indicates that Trump administration prioritized bolstering domestic extraction capacity, whereas Biden-Harris administration underscores processing and production segments, mostly due to the pressure from local communities and environmental groups. The author stresses that the Unites States, being unable to contest China’s monopoly as producer and supplier of critical minerals with market instruments, tends to employ human rights discourse to compete with its rival. The ultimate expression of such an approach is Energy Resource Governance Initiative which has been designed to foster high ecological and social standards in global extraction sector. Relying on its partners, the United States intends to use the program to challenge China in commodity markets. The author concludes that despite the effort Washington won’t be able to rid itself of the dependence for Chinese imports in the near future. As for the long-term goals, their achievement is complicated due to both China’s production capacity and experience and insufficient government funding of renewable energy projects in the United States.

Challenging power through social media

Robert Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980. However, in recent years, hehas faced serious resistance from ordinary citizens. This article examines subversive internetmemes that were created by ordinary Zimbabweans and posted on social media in the aftermathof Robert Mugabe’s collapse at the Harare International airport on 4 February 2015. Firstly, thestudy reads internet memes of the Mugabe fall as forms of resistance to the regime. Secondly,it interrogates the methods that internet memes use to challenge official discourse. Thirdly, thestudy critically analyses the various ways in which internet meme creators imagine and representZimbabwe under the Mugabe regime. The article argues that internet memes of the “Mugabe fall”express subversive views that undermine the regime through humour, exaggeration, satire andother stylistic devices. Internet memes present an alternative discourse that counters the officialnarrative promoted by the regime.

Disinformation and the Return of Mass Society Theory

Background: The contemporary political discourse about online disinformation has, in many cases, adopted assumptions about the dangers of mass culture that can be traced back to mid-twentieth century theories of mass society. Analysis: To understand how mass society theory has shaped contemporary debates about disinformation, the article examines the Government of Canada’s recent framing of the problem in terms of security, regulation, and media literacy. Conclusion and Implications: The article shows that official discourses of disinformation have overemphasized the role of behavioural manipulation by foreign actors and technology companies and underestimated the deeper socio-structural factors that disinformation narratives express.

‘There is No Icebreaker like a Tiny Child’: Reuniting British Military Families in Cold War Germany

Family reunion had a deeply practical and symbolic significance in post-war Europe. Through the case study of British military families living in Germany, this article examines both official discourse and families’ own experiences of reunion and life overseas in the first decades of the Cold War, through the three national but also international visions of the family: as emblems of familial and domestic stability, as ‘unofficial ambassadors’ promoting European unity and as friendly faces of Western democracy. In all cases, the article shows the ways that official messages were embraced, subverted or ignored by families, highlighting the value of exploring context-specific agency. Military families seemingly lived in a world of limited choices, but a range of life narratives show how they came to see aspects of their family life as resolutely theirs.

American ‘Goddess of Mercy’ in the Nanjing Massacre: Minnie Vautrin and the Afterlife of Her Wartime Diary

ABSTRACT This article examines the life and diary of the ‘American Goddess of Mercy’—Minnie Vautrin, who managed an all-women refugee camp during the notorious Nanjing Massacre in China. Starting with a concise biography of Vautrin, this article probes her embodiment of cross-cultural identities and pioneering role in Chinese women’s educational reform. In particular, I highlight the dual function of her wartime diary and how her descriptions of sexual violations unveiled the convoluted gender and racial power politics in the refugee camp. For the past few decades Vautrin’s diary has inspired a myriad of literary and cinematic works featuring the Nanjing Massacre transnationally. I examine the afterlife of Vautrin’s diary by mainly focusing on the characterisations of Vautrin and Chinese heroines in a constellation of novels and films which manage to reimagine stories out of the silence, gaps, and aporia in her diary. I contend that such a way of writing out of silence and fissures in Vautrin’s life writings revisits the American Goddess of Mercy myth and gives voice to the violated Chinese women who are usually marginalised in official historical discourse.

Does United Kingdom parliamentary attention follow social media posts?

News and social media play an important role in public political discourse. It is not clear what quantifiable relationships public discussions of politics have with official discourse within legislative bodies. In this study we present an analysis of how language used by Members of Parliament (MPs) in the United Kingdom (UK) changes after social media posts and online reactions to those posts. We consider three domains: news articles posted on Facebook in the UK, speeches in the questions-debates in the UK House of Commons, and Tweets by UK MPs. Our method works by quantifying how the words used in one domain become more common in another domain after an event such as a social media post. Our results show that words used in one domain later appear more commonly in other domains. For instance after each article on Facebook, we estimate that on average 4 in 100,000 words in Commons speeches had changed, becoming more similar to the language in the article. We also find that the extent of this language change positively correlates with the number of comments and emotional interactions on Facebook. The observed language change differs between political parties; in particular, changes in word use by Labour MPs are more strongly related to social media content than that of Conservative MPs. We argue that the magnitude of this word flow is quite substantial given the large volume of news articles shared on Facebook. Our method and results quantify how parliamentary attention follows public interest as expressed on Facebook and also indicate how this effect may be stronger for posts which evoke reactions on Facebook associated with laughter or anger.

Animal Biographies: Beyond Archetypal Figures

AbstractThe biographies of animal celebrities published by the historians John Simons and Eric Baratay aim to place animals in and of themselves at the center of academic narratives. Both excavate the lived experiences concealed behind official discourses and collective representations, notably by relying on cross-fertilization with ethological research. They unveil the ways in which information was reshaped in order to portray animal celebrities as benevolent members of human-animal communities, and thereby shed light on the mechanics of animal commodification. The close examination of a few individual animal trajectories enlightens the condition of many historical animals living under human tutelage in the 19th and early 20th century and highlights long-term historical evolutions, such as the succession of animal cultures and generations largely determined by human actions.

The Wandering Children of Mexico: Sixteenth-Century Colegios for Mestizos

Abstract Children with one Spanish and one Indigenous parent (called mestizos in subsequent generations), particularly from the lower levels of society, were viewed as problematic in the first decades of Spanish rule in New Spain. By the 1550s, colegios had been established to house and educate them. This article examines official discourses surrounding early mestizos and their colegios and their place within Novohispanic society. While documents produced by royal and church officials form an important share of the primary sources used in the study, the author also examines more mundane documents related to the colegios produced by Mexico City’s notaries from the 1550s to the 1570s. The notarial documents demonstrate that these institutions were important to Mexico City residents both rich and poor, both white and non-white.