[Linganth] Query from a student looking for resources on the way "terrorist" is used in everyday discourse

Fri Feb 10 21:32:08 UTC 2017

Good topic! I assume your student is thinking of the U.S., but there are some great comparative cases of reframing political separatist movements as "terrorist." One of the more flagrant examples of this is to be found in the Russian government's successful re-presentation of Chechen separatists as "terrorists" in the 1990s and early 2000s, which was a discursive prerequisite for mounting "counter-terrorist operations" (read: massively bloody wars) there. What makes this case particularly salient for similar discussions in the U.S. is that it looks like Chechen would-be separatists have been radicalized and acts of terror made increasingly common over the 1990s-2000s in response to the military actions justified by labeling Chechen separatists "terrorists." There has been quite a lot written on this in English, mostly by political scientists and military/intelligence types (and apologies if I'm forgetting or missing any ling anth work!). Here, for instance, is an interesting comparison of Chechnya, Kurdistan, and Kosovo--sort of a media discourse analysis by a political scientist using "framing" as the main theoretical framework:

Pokalova: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10576101003691564

Or Snetkov:

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09668130701655192

Both of these articles compare media discourse surrounding events, either in different locations or across time, which would be a sensible way to go about your student's project too.

Best wishes,

Kate

Kathryn E. Graber
Assistant Professor
Department of Anthropology &
Department of Central Eurasian Studies
Indiana University
Frances Morgan Swain Student Building 130
701 E. Kirkwood Avenue
Bloomington, IN 47405-7100, USA
+1 812.856.3777
graberk at indiana.edu
________________________________
From: Linganth <linganth-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org> on behalf of Colleen Cotter <c.m.cotter at qmul.ac.uk>
Sent: Friday, February 10, 2017 15:50
To: Pritzker, Sonya; LINGANTH at listserv.linguistlist.org
Subject: Re: [Linganth] Query from a student looking for resources on the way "terrorist" is used in everyday discourse

I have a student who is doing a similar project -- looking at when "terrorist" is used  or when the "loner" label or mental health diagnosis predominates -- and comparing usage across different media (tabloid vs. broadsheet) and stories. Reference to the killer of British MP Jo Cox, for instance, was initially to his mental health and later to terrorism. She is also noticing how "hate crime" is another label. (Jo Cox's family refer to her murder as a hate crime, and not an act of terrorism, for instance.) I don't have the reference handy, but Rae Moses wrote a short chapter about the language of hate some years ago which students find useful. Anyway -- I'll pass along your email, Sonya, and perhaps the two of them can confer.

Colleen

==================================

Dr. Colleen Cotter

Linguistics Department

School of Languages, LInguistics and Film

Queen Mary University of London

Mile End Road

London E1 4NS

UK

email: c.m.cotter at qmul.ac.uk

________________________________
From: Linganth <linganth-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org> on behalf of Pritzker, Sonya <sonya.pritzker at ua.edu>
Sent: Friday, February 10, 2017 5:27 PM
To: LINGANTH at listserv.linguistlist.org
Subject: [Linganth] FW: Query from a student looking for resources on the way "terrorist" is used in everyday discourse

From: "Pritzker, Sonya" <sonya.pritzker at ua.edu<mailto:sonya.pritzker at ua.edu>>
Date: Wednesday, February 8, 2017 at 4:27 PM
To: Linguistic Anthropology Discussion Group <LINGANTH at listserv.linguistlist.org<mailto:LINGANTH at listserv.linguistlist.org>>
Subject: Query from a student looking for resources on the way "terrorist" is used in everyday discourse

Hi All,

I have an undergrad student taking my Language & Culture class, and she sent me the following query:

 "I am really interested in doing research on the ramifications of using the word terrorism and how different actors use that word to designate certain groups as terrorists. Let me know if there is anything more i could look into or if this not something linguistic anthropology would deal with."

I've pointed her to social media and the news, and will meet with her to discuss other options. But I was wondering if anyone here could recommend any materials that she could read on the topic.

Thanks!
Sonya

Sonya Pritzker, Ph.D.,  Assistant Professor
University of Alabama, Department of Anthropology
350 Marr's Spring Rd. Tuscaloosa AL 35401
(205) 348-6554 (office)
(805) 574-0091 (mobile)
http://spritzker.people.ua.edu

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