[IGALA] New book: From Fritzl to #metoo: Twelve years of rape coverage in the British press

[Alessia Tranchese]

Dear colleagues,

I am really pleased to share the news that my research on the
representation of sexual violence has finally been published in a book: *From
Fritzl to #metoo: Twelve years of rape coverage in the British press
<https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-09353-1>* (Palgrave
Macmillan). The book is part of the Palgrave Studies in Language, Gender
and Sexuality. If you're interested in knowing more, I've added a short
summary and reviews below.

*About the book*
This book provides a much-needed longitudinal analysis of the language used
by the British press to talk about sexual violence. Through a diachronic
analysis informed by corpus linguistics and feminist theory, the book
examines how rape discourse has (or has not) changed over the past decade,
and it explores how age-old myths about sexual violence re-emerge in
different forms within news narratives. Against the backdrop of twelve
years of newspaper coverage of rape, including many high-profile cases,
this study also traces the rise of “celebrity culture”, the emergence of
#metoo, and the development of the backlash against it. The historical
events and media trends covered in this book are placed within broader
debates on feminism and the role played by (social) media in shaping
contemporary rape discourse.

More information about the author is available here
<https://www.port.ac.uk/about-us/structure-and-governance/our-people/our-staff/alessia-tranchese>
.

*Reviews*
“An important, rigorous and very readable book which will be an essential
point of reference for future studies of sexual violence in the news.
Tranchese demonstrates which myths about rape have persisted, as well as
highlighting how they have adapted to the digital news environment. Her
analysis is clear and persuasive and provides activists with new tools and
evidence to push for change. This is feminist media studies at its best. I
cannot recommend this book highly enough.”
*Karen Boyle*, Author #MeToo, Weinstein and Feminism, University of
Strathclyde

“This book is essential reading for anyone who really wants to understand
how the myths and stereotypes around rape are moulded and sustained by the
British media, distracting from the profound structural changes required to
dismantle misogyny and deliver real justice for women, too often denied by
the courts.”
*Yvonne Roberts*, journalist and campaigner

“This analysis of what changed, and what didn’t, in British press coverage
of sexual violence against women between 2009 and 2019 is a valuable and
much needed contribution to our understanding of a pervasive social
problem. Tranchese shows how the media’s choices about what to report and
how contribute to that problem, and how recent developments like the rise
of online media consumption and the ‘celebrification’ of news have made
things worse. It’s a sobering but necessary read, which will be welcomed by
linguists and other social scientists researching violence against women,
media discourse or both.”
*Deborah Cameron*, Professor of Language and Communication, University of
Oxford, UK

“A fascinating analysis of linguistic and discursive patterns surrounding
press reporting of sexual violence towards women both before and during the
#MeToo era.”
*Paul Baker*, Professor of Linguistics and English Language at Lancaster
University, UK

“An exceptionally well-researched account of how the British media have
represented sexual violence over the past two decades. Through in-depth
discourse analysis, Tranchese powerfully charts the mythologies embedded in
press coverage of men’s sexual violence against women, and details how
these contribute to the social conditions that make such violence possible.”
*Dr. Fiona Vera-Gray*, Deputy Director of the Child and Woman Abuse Studies
Unit at London Metropolitan University, UK


Best wishes,

Alessia


-- 
Dr Alessia Tranchese
Senior Lecturer in Communication and Applied Linguistics
Departmental Director of Postgraduate Research (DDPGR)
School of Languages and Applied Linguistics
University of Portsmouth
p: +44 (0)23 9284 6044
PK 4.09

   - Tranchese, A. (2023). From Fritzl to# Metoo: Twelve Years of Rape
   Coverage in the British Press
   <https://link.springer.com/book/9783031093524>. Palgrave MacMillan.
   - Tranchese, A., Sugiura, L. (2021). “I don’t hate all women, just those
   stuck-up bitches”: How Incels and mainstream pornography speak the same
   extreme language of misogyny. *Violence Against Women*, *27*(14),
   2709-2734.  DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801221996453
   - Tranchese, A. (2020). Rape victims and the law: Victim-blaming and
   victimisation in reports of rape in the British press. In H. Ringrow, & S.
   Pihlaja (Eds.), *Contemporary Media Stylistics*. Bloomsbury Publishing
   Company.
   - Tranchese, A. (2019). Covering rape: how the media determine how we
   understand sexualised violence. *Gender and Language*, *13*(2), 174-201.
   DOI: 10.1558/genl.34445 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1558/genl.34445>
   - Tranchese, A. (2019). Using corpora to investigate the representation
   of poverty in the 2015 UK general election campaign. *Journal of Corpora
   and Discourse Studies*, *2*, 65–93. DOI: http://doi.org/10.18573/jcads.9
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