Qualitative Text Analysis Research Articles

The Linguistic Analysis of Indictments in English Through Speech Acts and Evaluation Frameworks

This study aims to analyze the linguistic features of indictments in English using speech act theory and appraisal frameworks. The theoretical background draws on Searle's (1969) taxonomy of speech acts and Martin and White's (2005) appraisal model for analyzing interpersonal meaning. The methodology employs qualitative textual analysis to code speech acts and appraisal resources in a dataset of 10 English indictments sourced from legal databases. Preliminary findings identified assertive speech acts describing alleged facts, directive acts asserting charges, and expressive and declarative acts conveying the prosecutor's stance. The analysis also revealed linguistic strategies for construing attitude and graduating intensity. Key results demonstrate how prosecutors rhetorically utilize speech acts and evaluation to formally assert charges, commit to proving accusations, and align readers against defendants. This research enriches our understanding of indictments from applied linguistic and discourse analytic perspectives. It provides practitioners with insights into crafting more deliberate indictments through language choices. Further research can expand the framework cross-culturally and to other legal genres.

Powerful or Powerless? Women’s Power Levels in Contemporary Chinese Films

This article aims to achieve an experiential study of cinematic representations of females in Chinese films through quantitative narrative analysis. Applied to a census of 360 Chinese films across various genres produced across 18 years (2001–2018) systematically selected on Mtime, we ask to what extent female characters in Chinese films are empowered? How is their power exercised? And what socio-cultural implications can be detected from the cinematic representations of women in the contemporary Chinese gender discourse? We aim to fill in the gap in Chinese cinema studies in which most scholarships focused on pre-2000 works, adopted qualitative textual and narrative analysis to interpret the representations of women in a particular genre or in typical cases, leaving the quantitative approach, particularly focusing on the post-2000 films, all but absent. We develop a systematic set of typologies, including 4 major power-level categories (power-over, power-to, power-with, and no-power) and 12 deuterogenic ones, which can be applied for future research on Chinese film and media studies. While women’s career success has been articulated with empowerment, independence, subjectivity, and ambition in the neoliberal rhetoric, our research reflects a more intricate relationship between cultural representations of women and power in contemporary Chinese films.

Visual significations of Monkey King: Hero is Back and Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child

Visual signs can be differentiated into denotative and connotative messages, where denotative messages form the perceptual foundation of an image, and connotative messages engage with a deeper, culturally cognisant layer, imbued with subjective interpretations and aesthetic significations. This study embarks on a qualitative textual analysis with the main aim to elucidate the connotation and denotation of visual significations in two pivotal Chinese animated films, Monkey King: Hero is Back and Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child. Guided by Roland Barthes’ Semiotic theory and Chen’s study, the research delves into the connotative and denotative meanings embodied in the films’ visual elements. The focus is primarily on facial design, physical appearance, clothing, and props, providing a comparative analysis of how these elements function within each film’s narrative framework. The key findings reveal that the visual significations in both films are not merely aesthetic choices but serve as substantial cultural and narrative tools. The characters’ faces, physical appearances, clothing, and props are intricately tied to themes like Chinese opera masks, subversive reconstructions, natural elements, and intangible cultural heritage. These visual cues play a crucial role in reinforcing cultural heritage, spurring innovation, invoking nature reverence, and bolstering national sentiment within film storytelling. Contrasting with previous research that predominantly focused on characters, this study expands the analytical scope to include props, recognising their significance as visual signs in animation. By expanding the analysis to include props alongside characters and visual elements into the analysis, this research offers a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of Chinese mythological animations. It enriches the academic discourse on animation studies, demonstrating how visual elements can profoundly influence narrative interpretation and cultural representation. The research affirms the cultural and narrative potency of visual signification in animation and underscores the dynamic interplay between tradition and innovation within the realm of Chinese animated films.

Bridging Worlds Through Comparative Literature

This study emphasizes the critical role of comparative literary studies in understanding the modern literary process. Traditional literary analyses often overlook the rich intercultural dynamics that comparative studies highlight. Our research aims to bridge this gap by developing a theoretical framework that comprehends literary aesthetics in a globalized context through a qualitative analysis of diverse literary texts. Initial findings reveal that such a comparative approach not only deepens our understanding of universal literary themes but also enhances the appreciation of diverse cultural expressions. This work underscores the importance of integrating comparative literary studies into mainstream literary education to foster a more inclusive understanding of global literary phenomena. Highlights: Illuminates universal themes across cultures Develops new comparative literary framework Advocates comparative studies in education Keywords: Comparative Literature, Global Literary Dynamics, Contact Genetic Comparison, Aesthetic Analysis, Cultural Expressions.

Children, boundaries, and border-crossings in Latin American and Latinx films

ABSTRACT This study examines the way children are represented and symbolically connected to themes involving boundaries and border-crossings in films directed by Latin American and Latinx filmmakers. The analysis centers on 11 films produced between 1998 and 2022, including critically-acclaimed and independent films with international distribution. Drawing from literature in critical/cultural studies and Latina/o communication studies, and using qualitative text analysis as a methodology, the analysis examines thematic references to physical, social, and symbolic boundaries and borders. Findings suggest that the figure of the child carries complex meanings in Latin American and Latinx cinema, and is connected to narrative tropes that involve a disruption of various boundaries and borders. From an intercultural and international perspective, the films emphasize ethical and humanitarian imperatives, addressing issues such as migration, exile, abandonment, and uprooting.

The political economy of deforestation in the Colombian Amazon

The Colombian Amazon has experienced rapid forest loss in the past decades due to growing colonization, infrastructure development, and commercial agriculture expansion. While much of the analyses of deforestation in the Amazon have been in Brazil, there is a need to extend to Colombia where forest and land use exploitation are driven by post-conflict social and political dynamics. This research contributes to this knowledge gap by unpacking the mechanisms underpinning deforestation on the northwestern side of the Colombian Amazon. We used theory-building process-tracing to guide us in conceptualizing the underlying logics of deforestation in the region through qualitative text analysis of policy documents, articles, reports, and grey literature, and virtual semi-structured interviews with key national, regional and local actors. Findings indicate that the power vacuum resulting from the demobilization of FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia), Marxist-Leninist guerrillas, acted as a window of opportunity for peasants, squatters, narco-traffickers, cattle ranchers, landlords, and other investors to access public lands and capitalize from converting forests to coca crops and pastures for cattle ranching. Accumulation of land and surplus primarily from cattle ranching and coca production has increased the ability of these actors to reshape the landscape and societal structures. Traditional elites and old and emerging narco-bourgeoisie have capitalized on preexisting power asymmetries by disproportionally accumulating land, money, gun power, influence, and prestige seeking to consolidate territorial hegemony, and controlling the means for material reproduction in society. Powerful actors use their resources and prestige to displace historically marginalized groups – such as indigenous communities, peasants and squatters – from their means of subsistence and production, resulting in the installation of a capitalist economy based on land rent and drug trafficking, where less powerful and marginalized actors engage in deforestation as means for capital accumulation and subsidizing their peasant and subsistence economies. All this has deepened forest loss, inequalities, and conflict over land access between actors. 

At the controls: Politics and policy entrepreneurs in EU policy to decarbonize maritime transport

AbstractThe recent adoption of the FuelEU Maritime regulation, aiming to decarbonize maritime shipping, is part of the EU clean energy transition to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. Based on autoethnographic method and qualitative text analysis, applying the multiple streams framework as a theoretical lens, this article explores and explains the politics and the policy process of FuelEU Maritime. A policy window opened with adoption of the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2015, the slow progress on climate policies in the International Maritime Organization, and the subsequent adoption of the European Green Deal in 2019 and the new EU climate law in 2021. Diverging beliefs and narratives of policy entrepreneurs, policy makers, and stakeholders on problems to be addressed and different policy options to be implemented are analyzed. There were mainly two policy entrepreneurs, advocating different problem descriptions and policy options. The European Commission proposed a technology‐neutral, goal‐based approach to reach moderate emission reductions by 2050, while a coalition led by green mobility NGO Transport & Environment advocated a technology‐specific multiplier and subquota for zero‐carbon fuels to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. The article explains the agency of Transport & Environment and allies in influencing the European Parliament and several member states in the Council of the EU to stand the grounds against incumbent shipping and fossil fuel industry that influenced the Commission to present a down‐watered policy proposal. Finally, the article exemplifies the complexity of the second‐generation energy transition required for decarbonization compared to the first‐generation transformation focusing on renewable electricity.

Uncomfortable Knowledges and Transformative Learning: Reimagining the Museum in the Art of Gustafsson&Haapoja

ABSTRACT Destructive human action is causing interconnected ecological and social challenges on an unprecedented scale. Scholars and artists from varied fields have critically expressed their concern about this in their research and practice. In this article, we interrogate the transformative potential of critically engaged art by analysing the work of the Finnish artist duo Gustafsson&Haapoja, a collaboration between writer Laura Gustafsson and visual artist Terike Haapoja. Gustafsson&Haapoja’s work focuses on the intersecting human exceptionalist, racist, imperialist, patriarchal, and capitalist histories of violence towards nonhuman animals and dehumanised humans. These histories often provoke uncomfortable affects. As such, they can be challenging to confront. To account for this difficulty, we approach Gustafsson&Haapoja’s art through the idea of transformative learning, a process designed to shake established thinking and behavioural patterns. We investigate how Gustafsson&Haapoja’s art—and art more generally—could function as a transformative learning resource and enable sudden ruptures in hegemonic cultural norms, privileges, and power positions. We focus on how transformative learning emerges through central features in Gustafsson&Haapoja’s work: (1) their investigation and reimagination of the museum, an institution historically tied to notions of humanity and human action; and (2) their critical dissection of the complex relationship between Western-centric conceptualisations of humanity and its “others.” The article is based on a theoretical discussion and a qualitative analysis of works, exhibitions, and texts published by Gustafsson&Haapoja’s Museum of Becoming (2020–21) as well as an interview with the artists.

The Representation of Environmental Issues in an EFL Module for Primary School: A Multimodal Analysis

By using a qualitative textual analysis with a multimodal approach, this study explores how environmental issues are depicted in the relations of verbal and visual texts of an EFL module for primary school. The data were obtained from an EFL module for the fifth grade made by the EYL Course Design course students at one university in Bandung. In analysing the data, this study utilized three frameworks: Halliday and Mathiessen’s (2014) Transitivity system, Kress and van Leeuwen’s (2006) Visual Grammar, and Royce’s (1998) Intersemiotic Complementarity. The findings show that, by using a story, the module represents three points of drought-related environmental issues: the causes, the effects, and the solutions. The causes are mostly depicted visually by Transactional Action processes in which the Actors use water as the Goal or the Means in excess. The effects are mostly depicted verbally by Mental, Existential, and Relational processes that indicate human need for water. Meanwhile, the solutions are mostly depicted verbally by Material processes in which water (Goal) becomes an element to be saved by the Actors. In terms of complementarity, most of the elements of verbal and visual texts are completed by each other. Hence, encouraging students’ comprehension of the module, especially related to environmental issues, could be expanded by identifying both texts as a single whole.

(Re)sharing feminisms: Re-sharing Instagram Stories as everyday feminist practices

Contemporary experiences of everyday feminisms often include the use of social media platforms like Instagram. The introduction of Instagram Stories created a space for emerging feminist engagements, allowing for practices of re-sharing content that serve as small acts of political engagement, accommodating the participation of otherwise reluctant users. This article explores the feminist potential of these re-sharing practices, grounding it on the analysis of 2282 Instagram Stories, produced by 52 Instagram users in Portugal. This analysis combines qualitative textual analysis, close readings, and the use of digital methods to explore overarching patterns. The article foregrounds the multiple meanings of re-sharing, its social character, its ability to engage in intertextual conversations with the original context, while simultaneously recognising some of the limitations of the Stories’ format for feminist action. In this way, this article reflects on the tensions and possibilities of these small acts of political engagement.

Perceptions of Therapeutic Climbing for Patients with Multiple Sclerosis in Neurorehabilitation: A Qualitative Study.

Therapeutic climbing (TC) has emerged as a prospective rehabilitation approach for individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). The existing literature primarily focuses on the physical and psychological benefits of TC across diverse populations but is limited concerning its application and efficacy for patients with MS. This study aimed to delineate the experiences, subjective effects, and perceptions of both individuals with MS and therapists regarding TC, highlighting the potential benefits and challenges of this therapeutic approach. Using a qualitative design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with patients living with MS (N = 5) and therapists (N = 7) involved in TC sessions at a rehabilitation facility. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and subjected to thematic qualitative text analysis. Our analysis resulted in the identification of five main categories: (1) motivational factors, (2) training conditions, (3) training content, (4) observed effects, and (5) safety protocol. Our findings primarily centred around the motivational aspects of TC. Participants consistently reported experiencing feelings of accomplishment, success, enjoyment, and increased self-confidence. Furthermore, TC was often perceived as a comprehensive intervention, addressing endurance, strength, flexibility, neuromotor functions, cognition, and mental health while having a low-risk profile. However, due to the demanding nature of TC, careful fatigue management is crucial. This entails personalised intensity adjustments during sessions and coordinating TC with other physically demanding therapies when implementing TC within a rehabilitation environment. TC shows promise within MS rehabilitation and can be considered safe under certain framework conditions. This research sheds light on its potential benefits, facilitators, and barriers and provides insights for practical integration into rehabilitation programs.

An Analysis of the Legislative Protection for Journalists and Lawyers Under Zimbabwe’s Interception of Communications Act

Abstract This paper provides a legal analysis that interrogates the Information Communication Act (ICA) in Zimbabwe. Its purpose is to examine the extent to which the ICA protects journalists and lawyers privileges, critical constituencies in any democratic state. The ICA, passed in 2007, has remained a heavily contested legislation in the country. On the one hand, it is understood to be security minded legislation, yet, other critics have argued that it interferes with the journalist’s source privilege, and lawyer–client confidentiality. In this paper, we are concerned about whether the Act provides adequate safeguards where the subject of surveillance is a practising journalist or lawyer. Thus we ask; to what extent does the ICA provides adequate legal safeguards to lawyers and journalists? Through a qualitative textual analysis of the law, the paper determines the constitutional implications of the main provisions of the Act on whether they reflect constitutional norms that safeguard the legal privileges accorded to the professions. We note that the ICA does not provide adequate safeguards for the protection of lawyers and journalists. We, therefore, argue that ICA is a weaponized legislation meant to emasculate these two communities of practice. As such, we call for the Act’s alignment with the current broadened constitutional provisions. South Africa’s Constitutional Court has invalidated unconstitutional provisions within its surveillance and interception laws, likewise identical provisions within its neighbouring state, Zimbabwe should follow the same. Both countries share common historical, political and economic ties.

Unpredictability and consequence in play-to-earn crypto gaming

ABSTRACT This study observes through qualitative textual analysis the Discord community of Virtually Human Studio’s play-to-earn (P2E), blockchain-based videogame ‘ZED Run’ to better understand the nature of non-fungible token (NFT) applications and their users. This study emphasizes gaming and gambling opportunities related to NFTs and blockchain technology which suggest shifts towards increased risk-taking and a blurring of financial and entertainment contexts. In ZED Run, users’ interactions with designed systems, as well as interest in improving one’s understanding of the application and its associated marketplace, is motivated by interest in financial reward. This work argues this close relationship of financial interests to gaming and gambling environments risks fostering an increasingly gamified approach to financial life. Ultimately, ZED Run represents the application of media affordances to an acceleration of risk-taking and an adoption of alternative financial assets that challenge governmental authority while placing users at greater personal and financial risk.

Linguistic Relativity Unveiled: An Exploration of Language and Cognition in Second Language Acquisition

In an era of rapid globalization, cultural exchange promotes a multilingual environment, thereby increasing exposure to different linguistic frameworks. This paper takes Chinese students with second language acquisition as the research object and tries to explore whether they are affected by psychological factors and environmental factors in the process of thinking and communication in their mother tongue or non-mother tongue. Based on the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which holds that language shapes thinking, the study investigates the cognitive linguistic challenges posed by the diversity between Chinese and Western languages and the cultural specificity behind different languages for Chinese students studying abroad. Eight in-depth interviews were conducted with Chinese students who have studied and lived abroad to gain a nuanced understanding of their language background, learning process and experiences in different language environments. Qualitative textual analysis of these interviews revealed the profound impact of cultural and thinking differences on the language difficulties encountered by participants. This study also explores the psychological factors that influence the choice of thought and expression language in the second language environment. The results show that context, common language with communication partners and cultural differences play a key role in language selection among Chinese students. In addition, the study explored the feasibility of how different languages might be better suited to express specific concepts or emotions.

Dyspozycje krytyczne wobec niepewności zdarzeń – aspiracje, dążenia i plany przyszłych nauczycielek

Functioning in a situation of change and uncertainty has become an important determinant of contemporary teachers’ condition. The article assumes the essential role of critical dispositions (especially the so-called critical orientation): courage, reflectiveness, rationality, reality, scepticism, progressive engagement, intellectual submissiveness, principle, independence, flexibility and tolerance for ambiguity, mindfulness and openness, and curiosity as mediators in the purchase of critical rationality, as well as in coping with non-obviousness of events. The qualitative analysis of essays’ content for 66 future teachers of preschool and early school education was concentrated on decoding their aspirations and plans within the process of creating the status change and on revealing by narrators their critical dispositions. Adopting a qualitative text analysis strategy allowed for capturing an in-depth, contextual view of the examined problem. Analysis of the content and form of written statements indicate significant negligence of this development area for students, which may be a derivative of macro-social, educational and personal barriers. Within the light of elaborated research material, it seems to be a matter of great importance to promote the value of critical dispositions as well as to create and apply programmes developing them during the process of preparing future teachers for their professional careers in the situation of cultural and technological changes.

Open Education and Alternative Digital Credentials in Europe

Learners who learn from OER often cannot have their learning assessed or receive a credential. Open credentials offer a potential solution to this problem, combining badges or micro-credentials with competence frameworks and digital seals. This study identified the current situation of open credentials in post-secondary education in Europe, the main themes of the discourse, and the points of agreement and divergence surrounding them. The data comprised a corpus of transcriptions from 12 expert interviews and a focus group. Qualitative text analysis identified the principal themes. Findings included the following: (a) few assessments are available as open content; (b) linking OER and credentials requires detailed and expensive work on learning outcomes and assessment; (c) the aggregation of open credentials to create higher-level qualifications is a widely accepted ambition; (d) the European Union’s infrastructure to support open credentials is appropriate and effective and can foster trust; (e) the outstanding challenges are organisational and practical, not technological; (f) assessment and content provisions should belong to separate organisational functions; and finally, (g) funding and support for open credentials in professional accreditation are essential for further progress.

Neoliberal Tactics: An Analysis of Aravind Adiga and Mohsin Hamid’s Novels

Neoliberalism is a theory of the political and financial system, and it is also known as modern capitalism. It multiplies the wealth of the effluent but affects people with low incomes badly. The oppressed are getting in the worst position due to neoliberal policies. The current research examines The White Tiger and How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia from the particular perspective of privatization, which is thought to be the most significant feature of neoliberalism. The study has considered the concerns about neoliberalism raised by left-wing thinkers Chomsky and Krishna. The study employs qualitative textual analysis and neoliberal criticism as a theoretical framework. The novels highlight the difficulty of both protagonists doing jobs, particularly in private businesses. When they join private businesses, they pick up fraudulent methods and use them to make money. They use their connections with bureaucrats and commit crimes to enrich themselves in their own companies. According to the study, private organizations disproportionately impact the poor, while the rich receive more advantages in such inequality. Neoliberal policies are beneficial for the wealthy but detrimental to the poor.

Brazilian dance self-perceived impacts on quality of life of people with Parkinson's.

Parkinson's disease (PD) causes several motor and non-motor symptoms, resulting in negative impacts on physical, mental, emotional, and social aspects of people with PD quality of life. Dance has been considered as a potential non-pharmacological intervention to improve people with PD motor and non-motor symptoms, thereby enhancing quality of life. To analyze the self-perceive impacts of Brazilian Dance on the quality of life (physical, mental, emotional, and social) of PwPD, both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fourteen participants from the "Dança & Parkinson" project were included in this qualitative study. Data collection instruments consisted of a profile and personal data sheet; assessment of accessibility to the online dance classes; Telephone Montreal Cognitive Assessment by phone call; and semi-structured interview conducted through ZOOM video call. The participants characterization data were calculated using mean, standard deviation, and percentages with the Excel Program version 2013. Qualitative data was analyzed using the Thematic Analysis technique in the Nvivo, version 8.0, qualitative analysis of text, sound, and video program. The participants reported facing various challenges in dealing with PD, which negatively impact their quality of life. However, their resilience, acceptance, and dedication to treatment play an important role in coping with the issues related to the disease. Brazilian dance, both in-person before the COVID-19 pandemic and online during the pandemic, led the participants to perceive improvements in physical, mental, emotional, and social aspects of quality of life. The Brazilian dance appears to have a positive impact on the physical, mental, emotional, and social aspects of the participants' quality of life, both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The #PantamiMustGo political activism: A textual analysis of narrative agency in protest discourse

This study analyses the narrative structure of the #PantamiMustGo hashtag activism in Nigeria. Applying qualitative textual analysis, the study examines the issues that were made salient in the protests and how they were constructed. Through the analysis of narrative agency, the study finds that activists constructed Ali Pantami as a threat to national security and called for his resignation. Two discourse structures were salient in the discursive construction of Ali Pantami and the Buhari government, namely the use of comparison to link the past with the present and the use of labelling as means of constructing social and political insecurity in Nigeria. This study contributes to stressing the role of social media in political activism through narrative agency analysis in the process of negotiating change by people who feel threatened by the apparatus of the state.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF JACQUES DERRIDA IN THE CONTEXT OF MARXISM

Deconstruction has challenged conventional notions of dichotomies, literary interpretations, and Marxist ideological hierarchy in support of a broader focus on justice and ethical behavior. This research aims to ascertain the areas of overlap and difference between deconstruction and Marxism, as well as Derrida's understanding of Marxism. The utilization of qualitative textual and secondary source analysis in this study has resulted in a thorough understanding of the philosopher's perspectives within their relevant context. The study's findings elucidate Derrida's viewpoints on Marxism in the context of current concerns and provide optimism for reassessing socialist ideas. This research aims to elucidate Derrida's perspectives on Marxism and the process of deconstruction.