Discourse and Silencing
Representation and the language of displacement
Editor
Silencing is not only a physically coercive act. It is also an act of language involving forms of selection, representation and compliance. Discourse and Silencing weaves together theories and examples of discourse from different disciplines in order to put forward a theory of silencing in language: that discursive systems filter, represent and displace types of knowledge into other forms of expression.
Each chapter of the book analyses examples of silencing through discourse in various social and political fields. The examples cover courtroom trials, government censorship, domestic violence, marital conversations, penal institutions, news media, and political rhetoric. They cover societies ranging from Eastern and Central Europe, Canada and the U.S. to New Zealand and Japan. The contributors clarify the difference between chosen silences and the silencing that, as a practice, seeks to limit, alter or de-legitimise another’s discourse. The book also examines the continuous resistances and shifts in discourse and silencing within the social and political frameworks in which interlocutors negotiate their relations to each other.
Each chapter of the book analyses examples of silencing through discourse in various social and political fields. The examples cover courtroom trials, government censorship, domestic violence, marital conversations, penal institutions, news media, and political rhetoric. They cover societies ranging from Eastern and Central Europe, Canada and the U.S. to New Zealand and Japan. The contributors clarify the difference between chosen silences and the silencing that, as a practice, seeks to limit, alter or de-legitimise another’s discourse. The book also examines the continuous resistances and shifts in discourse and silencing within the social and political frameworks in which interlocutors negotiate their relations to each other.
[Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture, 5] 2003. x, 315 pp.
Publishing status: Available
© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Table of Contents
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Acknowledgements | p. ix
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1. Introduction: Silencing in discourseLynn Thiesmeyer | pp. 1–33
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I. Gender and the discourses of privacy
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IntroductionLynn Thiesmeyer | pp. 37–41
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2. Silencing talk of men’s violence towards womenAlison Towns, Peter Adams and Nicola Gavey | pp. 43–77
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3. Conversational styles and ellipsis in Japanese couples’ conversationsShoko Okazaki Yohena | pp. 79–110
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II. Law and institutional discourses
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IntroductionLynn Thiesmeyer | pp. 113–118
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4. Quiet in the court: Attorneys’ silencing strategies during courtroom cross-examinationValérie Fridland | pp. 119–138
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5. Telling bits: Silencing and the narratives behind prison wallsPatricia E. O'Connor | pp. 139–169
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III. National politics and the discourses of exclusion
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IntroductionLynn Thiesmeyer | pp. 173–177
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6. Discourses of silence: Anti-Semitic discourse in post-war AustriaRuth Wodak | pp. 179–209
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7. Silencing by law: The 1981 Polish ‘performances and publications control act’Dariusz Galasiński | pp. 211–232
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8. News discourse of Aboriginal resistance in CanadaSandra Lambertus | pp. 233–272
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IV. Coda: Performance discourse and meta-commentaries on silencing
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IntroductionLynn Thiesmeyer | pp. 275–278
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9. Political silencing: A view from Laurie Anderson’s performance artAdam Jaworski | pp. 279–296
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Notes on contributors | pp. 297–298
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Name index | pp. 299–303
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Subject index | pp. 305–315
“What is truly distinctive about this volume is Thiesmeyer's ability to weave together a variety of studies of silencing into a coherent theory and illustration of the study of silencing as a discursive means of legitimizing some forms of language over others. [...] Through all of these studies, the theme of silencing as a powerful, though often invisible, tool to shape personal, legal, social, political and national discourses becomes apparent. [...] This edited volume is a well-written, well-argued, and compelling read.”
Lisa M. Coutu, University of Washington, in the Journal of Sociolinguistics, Vol. 8:4 (2004)
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[no author supplied]
2004. Publications Received. Journal of Sociolinguistics 8:2 ► pp. 319 ff.
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Subjects
Main BIC Subject
CFG: Semantics, Pragmatics, Discourse Analysis
Main BISAC Subject
LAN009000: LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General