Pervasive Discourse Research Articles

Ideology, metaphor and persuasion in times of elections: a corpus-based study of British and Spanish economic reports

Metaphor has been studied as a pervasive and intrinsic discourse tool over the last decades in many different types of discourse (Lakoff and Johnson 1980, Semino 2008, Kövecses 2010, etc.). Considering the strong effect it has on the discourse participants and how it can persuade them towards one side, action, or thought (Charteris-Black 2004, Silaski 2012), it is necessary to study it when the timeframe and the discourse where it is used are ideologically loaded. Based on recent studies on metaphor in economics (Alejo 2010, Herrera-Soler and White 2012, Soares da Silva et al. 2017), metaphor in the press (Koller 2004/2008) and metaphor and ideology (Goatly 2007, Silaski 2012), this article presents a corpus-based study of metaphor in reports of economic affairs in the English and Spanish press during the pre-election week of 2015. The corpus (about 160,000 words) consists of reports published by six newspapers that support different political spheres (left, centre and right): The Guardian, The Independent and The Telegraph in English, and Público, El País and ABC in Spanish. From a Critical Metaphor Analysis perspective (Charteris-Black 2004), the study starts from the hypothesis that the political stand of each newspaper might condition the metaphors. Indeed, metaphors pointing at certain side of political spheres appear in all the sub-corpora of the study, but in distinctive ways, as will be shown. In any case, critical factors such as cognitive and cultural reasons beyond the political stand of the media in question need to be acknowledged as well, which conveys further and more comprehensive analyses.

The Touch and Taste of War in Latin Battle Narrative

Abstract Latin battle narratives exhibit visual, auditory, and even olfactory phenomena: swords glint, steel clangs, and the stench of blood permeates battlefields. These manifestations of multisensoriality are often implicit, as exemplified by the prominence of the ‘gaze’ in epic poetry. This article focuses on the two other senses, which have received less scholarly attention in discussions of battle narrative: touch and taste. In the former category are expressions such as ‘biting the dust’ (Hom. Il. 2.418) along with depictions of cannibalism in epic and historiographic texts. In the latter category are experiences such as Jocasta’s breast being scratched by Polynices’ armour (Stat. Theb. 7), along with a pervasive discourse on the ‘roughness’ of war and the ‘handling’ of casualties in aftermath episodes; these conceptual metaphors generate ‘partial altermedial illusions’ by enhancing, but not replacing, the primary medium of the literary text which they inhabit. As this chapter highlights, therefore, appeals to sensory perception are ambivalent in character: on the one hand, they facilitate audience engagement with the text via immersion, enactivism, and embodiment, but on the other hand they alienate readers by underscoring the fundamental ‘untellability’ of war.

Underwater: Resilience, racialized housing, and the national flood insurance program in Canarsie, Brooklyn

Resilience is a pervasive discourse for adapting to environmental risks, and one which the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) uses frequently, yet limited attention has been paid to the operationalization of resilience through environmental governance. This study uses the case of the NFIP's impacts on Canarsie, Brooklyn to ground resilience in the policy mechanisms and programs through which different visions of a resilient coast are enacted, the histories of uneven racial development in which these programs operate, and the impacts these programs have on coastal residents. Proposed expansions of New York City's flood risk maps combined with cuts to NFIP subsidies mean thousands of Canarsie residents who have never previously been required to purchase flood insurance will soon face mandatory premiums of $3000–$6000 per year. The 85% black neighborhood of Canarsie was targeted by more subprime loans in the 2000s than any other neighborhood in New York City, robbing many residents of housing wealth they might have otherwise used to shoulder flood insurance costs. Drawing on ethnographic research, I show that Canarsie residents have subsidized their plundered housing wealth with social reproduction strategies such as renting out their basements, setting up a contradictory situation in which Canarsians' financial resilience relies on spaces the NFIP deems a threat to physical and environmental resilience. The Canarsie case study ultimately demonstrates that the NFIP, by governing through the mechanism of household finances, stands to reproduce and accelerate existing racial inequalities in the housing market.

Young rural–urban migrant fathers in China: everyday ‘China Dream’ and the negotiation of masculinity

ABSTRACTDrawing upon a study on rural–urban migrant young men at a delivery company in a southern Chinese city, I examine how they make sense of their private life as fathers. Situated within the pervasive national discourse of the ‘China Dream’ in which individual aspiration for a better life is advocated in line with the prosperity of the nation marked by neoliberal modernization, the paper seeks to understand how the marginalized urban working-class young men make sense of their subjectivities through a gender lens. In particular, I investigate the process of masculine identification in the young migrant fathers’ narratives. It highlights the way the young men negotiate ordinary masculine ideals and familial practices of modern fatherhood, desiring a better future for the next generation. I explore how they navigate through the constraints of material inequalities (i.e. as urban working class) and the tension with their gender responsibilities/expectations within a wider familial context, in making sense of their gender subjectivities.

Lidia Zinovieva­Annibal, être femme et écrivain à l’époque de l’Âge d’argent en Russie

During “ the Silver Age ” of Russian Literature , Lidia Zinovieva­Annibal succeeded in asserting herself as both a writer and a woman . A notable achievement , given that during this period , well known for its extraordinary creativity , women ’ s writtings were considered second rate , and categorized as “ woman ’ s literature ”. As a driving force of literary modernism , symbolist writers (predominantly male ) made it even more difficult with a pervasive discourse on the Feminine , which they placed at the center of artistic creation as a mystical material and not as a creative subject . Zinovieva­Annibal found her own strategies to be acknowledged as a writer . Unlike her contemporary well­known author Zinaïda Gippius , who adopted masculine masks , Zinovieva­Annibal embraced an original mixture of allegiance and subversion . She played the role of muse to her husband , a prominent leader of the symbolist movement , while at the same time publishing daring works that parodied Symbolist ideology , or explored new topics , creating original writings and narrative structures.

‘I am assumed to be someone who doesn’t have to deal with diversity’: countering the denial of diversity in rural teacher education

In this article, the researchers examine the role of diversity in a pre-service teacher education programme in a predominately white public university in the United States rural north-west region. Using ethnographic and autoethnographic methods, one professor and four pre-service education students from across early childhood, primary and secondary education examine how issues of diversity are addressed in coursework and practicum teaching experiences. Findings reveal a pervasive discourse of denying diversity in the rural landscape, limited programmatic engagement with diversity as a body of knowledge and skill set for teaching and course interactions which thwart teachers’ abilities to address inequity in dynamic communities, locally and globally. We counter these limitations by proposing rural universities engage with pre-service teachers in reflective dialogue as critical stakeholders in (re)conceptualizing rurality as diverse, and as co-partners in mapping increased attention to culturally relevant education as an applied stance in a dynamic and changing democracy.

URBAN PLANNING AND THE CHALLENGES OF NEOLIBERAL GLOBALISATION IN MALAYSIA

Popularly referred to as an Asian Tiger, planning for economic development has been a significant feature in the Malaysian planning system. This reflected the historical junctures that transform Malaysia economy from agricultural potential to industrial capabilities. The rapid industrialisation that can be linked to neoliberal ideology has caused people to migrate from rural to urban area that echoed the emergence of urban settlements. However, this transformation has produced social and environmental instability, as a result of capital accumulation. Accordingly, this study conducted in-depth interviews and documents analysis, with the objective to develop understanding of how neoliberal globalisation rationalises the emergence of urban settlements in Malaysia through its policies and planning practice. The Nvivo10 was used to define categories and synthesise the ideas from the interview data and planning policy documents. This paper is expected to contribute to deepening knowledge of the emergence of urban settlements particularly in the urban planning field under the pervasive discourse of neoliberal globalisation.

URBAN PLANNING AND THE CHALLENGES OF NEOLIBERAL GLOBALISATION IN MALAYSIA

Popularly referred to as an Asian Tiger, planning for economic development has been a significant feature in the Malaysian planning system. This reflected the historical junctures that transform Malaysia economy from agricultural potential to industrial capabilities. The rapid industrialisation that can be linked to neoliberal ideology has caused people to migrate from rural to urban area that echoed the emergence of urban settlements. However, this transformation has produced social and environmental instability, as a result of capital accumulation. Accordingly, this study conducted in-depth interviews and documents analysis, with the objective to develop understanding of how neoliberal globalisation rationalises the emergence of urban settlements in Malaysia through its policies and planning practice. The Nvivo10 was used to define categories and synthesise the ideas from the interview data and planning policy documents. This paper is expected to contribute to deepening knowledge of the emergence of urban settlements particularly in the urban planning field under the pervasive discourse of neoliberal globalisation.

Making meaning around experiences in interventions: identifying meaningfulness in a group-based occupational therapy intervention targeting older people

ABSTRACTThere is a need to understand the underlying mechanisms at work within health promotion and occupational therapy interventions. The aim of this article was, therefore, to explore and describe how the participants of a group-based occupational therapy intervention with positive health outcomes created meaning of and around their experiences of the intervention. The studied intervention was part of the evaluation of a single-blinded, exploratory randomised controlled trial of three different interventions. A total of 19 participants between 77 and 82 years of age with experiences from the group-based intervention were interviewed, and the transcribed interviews were analysed from a constructivist approach. The results showed five different perspectives of meaning, including enjoyment, usefulness, togetherness, respect for individuality and self-reflection. Based on our findings, we argue that the possibility of getting information, sharing with others and having fun, and the ability to adjust the activities in the intervention so that they met the individual's needs, created meaning for the participants. Moreover, meeting with others supported the participants’ perspectives of themselves. The results are discussed in relation to the pervasive discourse of successful ageing, including how it was present but also challenged within the participants’ accounts of the intervention.

The Status That Troubled Me: Re-Examining Work With Black Boys Through a Culturally Sustaining Pedagogical Framework

To understand how one participant “engage[s] in social action to solve problems,” this research utilizes critical narrative analysis to illustrate how researchers may re-enter into critical conversations with participants to interrupt deficit discourses used when describing the lives of Black male youth. This article analyzes the narrative of Teamer—a Black male from the urban south and former student of the researcher—alongside problematic and pervasive discourse to illustrate how individual narratives provide the context for re-examining normalized notions and how participating in critical meta-awareness can interrupt the deficit gaze placed upon Black males.

Medicaid in Ohio: The Politics of Expansion, Reauthorization, and Reform.

When, in 2012, the US Supreme Court held that Medicaid expansion sanctioned by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was essentially optional for states, it ushered in a newly contentious state politics. States led by Republican governors and legislatures opposed to the ACA had to decide whether to accept extensive federal funding to expand Medicaid for citizens in their states who were earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. This Report from the States focuses on Ohio, whose Republican governor successfully navigated the rancorous politics of Medicaid to expand the state's program in 2014. Working at odds with his own party and gaining praise from traditional political opponents for his leadership on the issue, John Kasich circumvented the state legislature, turning to the Controlling Board to bring about initial expansion. In the wake of Kasich's landslide reelection in 2014, the politics of expansion and reauthorization have given way to a pervasive discourse of "reform." In this next phase Kasich has endorsed policy positions (e.g., cost sharing, a focus on "personal responsibility") that reunite him with his party's more traditional view of Medicaid while continuing to emphasize the importance of expansion.

Use of reported speech in the communicative interactions of individuals with ventromedial prefrontal cortex damage

Reported speech (RS) is a pervasive discourse practice in which speakers represent, or re-enact, words, thoughts, or feelings from other times and/or places, and it is thought to reflect and create emotional connections among interlocutors. The current study examines the role of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), a neural structure critical for social, emotional, and interpersonal behavior, in the use of reported speech. In the communicative interactions of six individuals with vmPFC damage and six healthy comparison participants, each interacting with a clinician, we compared the frequency and use of reported speech. Contrary to our predictions, the vmPFC participants did not differ from healthy participants in the frequency or use of reported speech. These results suggest that the vmPFC does not make critical contributions to the use of reported speech in conversation and furthers our understanding of neural and cognitive underpinnings of reported speech and language use.

“Here your ambitions are illusions”: Boundaries of Integration and Ethnicity among Ecuadorian Immigrant Teenagers in Madrid

This study analyzes the relationship between a discourse of integration in the European Union and the ways in which the ethnic boundaries of segregated social groups of immigrant children are conceptualized in one working-class and immigrant neighborhood in Madrid, Spain. I use qualitative data gathered during sixteen months of ethnographic fieldwork among Ecuadorian immigrant teenagers to explore the unintended consequences of European efforts to promote the integration of immigrants in member states. My argument is that the pervasive discourse of integration in the European Union is central to a racialized process of subject formation occurring in Madrid through which the children of immigrants come to be recognized as ethnic outsiders in Spanish society. By analyzing in ethnographic detail how discursive forces intertwine with material constraints to shape the subjectivity of immigrant children in Madrid, this study helps to explain how racialized colonial and postcolonial socioeconomic hierarchies are reproduced in current immigration scenarios.

Sarah Winter The Pleasures of Memory: Learning to Read with Charles DickensThe Pleasures of Memory: Learning to Read with Charles Dickens. Sarah Winter. New York: Fordham University Press, 2011. Pp. xiii+455.

<i>Sarah Winter</i> The Pleasures of Memory: Learning to Read with Charles Dickens<i>The Pleasures of Memory: Learning to Read with Charles Dickens</i>. Sarah Winter. New York: Fordham University Press, 2011. Pp. xiii+455.

In defense of danger: Sex, schools and the politics of discourse

In 2004, Ashbourne High School1 staged the first school-sponsored student performance of The Vagina Monologues, sparking a community controversy covered in the local and national media about the sexuality of minors. Through a content analysis of archival documents and media coverage, this study examines the discursive politics of this community debate over sex, youth, and schools. The author finds that underlying this community’s abundant and atypical support for sexual speech in school was a pervasive gendered discourse of sexual risk, one that transposed teen talk about sex into culturally defensible, protective social action.

Mission statement: militarized discourses in women's advocacy organizations

This article contributes to the literature on the role of advocacy groups in political processes by exploring militarism within women's advocacy organizations. Specifically, I bring together theories of banal nationalism and banal militarization to inform my analysis of pervasive militarized discourse in 13 women's advocacy groups in the state of Pennsylvania, USA. Discursive analysis of organizational websites and in-depth interviews with organizational leaders reveals that the use of militarized discourse is commonplace among state-level women's advocacy groups. I ultimately argue that advocacy groups' use of militarized discourse is inherently problematic as it reinforces hegemonic privilege and detracts from progressive organizing. I also account for the role that discourse plays in the creation of place/space (and vice versa) in my discussion of how Pennsylvania's unique political culture affects advocacy for women's rights. Grounded in feminist geopolitical work, I offer some potential solutions to militarism within political advocacy: namely a re-focusing of advocates' attention on the lived experiences of their constituents.

A cultural geometry: Designing political things in Sweden

ABSTRACTIn Sweden, a long‐standing and pervasive discourse delineates the significance of design—especially “Swedish design”—within a distinctly political framework. Just as the social democratic welfare state is in large part organized to “care” for its citizens, design in Sweden is supposed to “care” for the users of everyday goods. I explore this claim in several sociocultural domains in which different aspects of Swedish design are reproduced. I also present an argument for working with design and designing as ethnographic objects of inquiry.

Editorial

When Yan Lianke published his novel The Joy of Living (Shou huo) in 2004, in which a gang of disabled villagers sets out to make enough money to buy Lenin’s embalmed corpse, many readers may have been reminded of the seemingly boundless symbolic benefits reaped daily from another embalmed corpse in present-day China: the one enshrined in the mausoleum on Tiananmen square. Although some may choose not to see it, Mao’s portrait continues to adorn Tiananmen Gate, as well as banknotes of all denominations in the latest series, issued in 1999. Mao-style or Mao-language, a particular form of political rhetoric in which most of the current leadership was trained, continues to exert undeniable influence in the political and more largely in the social arena, especially in the now pervasive discourse of pre-1949 victimisation that has become China’s national narrative. In the same way, Mao has remained an inexhaustible topic in intellectual debate, in successive incarnations as de-maoisation, parody, commodification, nostalgia, instrumentalisation, and rehabilitation, phenomena in turn studied by China scholars around the world.

Between Habits of the Heart and Copulation of Clichés: Some Popular American Stories, Mores and Shibboleths

Abstract From the very beginning, all manner of ideas, concepts and conceits have been advanced to explain America and Americans - as much to themselves as to others. The paper presents a historical- literary compilation of popular notions of ‘Americanness’ in the guise of random de Tocquevillian observations in general circulation. This is to provoke the question about the degree to which this kind of pervasive discourse may reflect the so-called habits of the heart, as against how at a certain point it may lapse into a Nabokovian copulation of clichés.

Moving from health education to health promotion

PurposeThis paper seeks to discuss the rationale of the newly reformed health education curriculum in Cyprus, which aspires to enable not only teachers, but also all the school personnel, to work from the perspective of health promotion. It is a curriculum which moves from the traditional approach of health education focusing on individual lifestyle/behaviour modification into approaches that recognise and tackle the determinants of health.Design/methodology/approachThe paper critically discusses the structure and the content of the learning objectives of this curriculum that encourages teachers to work in a health promoting way.FindingsThe central goal of this curriculum is to enable students and schools to act as health agents, addressing the structural determinants of health and promoting environmental changes. The optimum level for all topics of the curriculum is achieved through learning objectives, which concern three interconnected levels. These are: “investigating determinants of health”, “practising action competency skills for health” and “achieving changes in favour of health”. All levels are means as well as end products in terms of the curriculum objectives.Practical implicationsThe outcome of the development of the health education curriculum acts as a guide for school interventions, through a methodological framework, which encourages participants to identify and promote environmental changes that facilitate healthy choices. This is of significance to those working in the field of health promotion and who seek to establish a new language of health promotion that goes beyond the pervasive discourse of individual lifestyles.Social implicationsThe implementation of the particular health education curriculum will promote not only health in the school community but also in the local community. This is because a key principle which underlies the curriculum is the involvement of the students, school staff, family and community in everyday health promotion practice. It also promotes the development of partnerships among them.Originality/valueThis is an innovative curriculum for Cyprus, based on health promotion and health education principles, but at the same time taking in account the local socio‐cultural and political perspective. This curriculum may be applicable to other European countries.