Projecting (un)certainty
A text-world analysis of three statements from the Meredith Kercher murder case
Yufang Ho | University of Huddersfield
Jane Lugea | Queen’s University Belfast
Dan McIntyre | University of Huddersfield
Jing Wang | Sheffield Hallam University
Zhijie Xu | University of Huddersfield
This article uses Text World Theory (Werth 1999; Gavins 2007) in conjunction with VUE (Visual Understanding Environment) concept mapping software to analyze three
statements from the trial of Amanda Knox, who was charged (along with her boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito) with the murder of
Meredith Kercher in 2007. We compare the cognitive patterns (i.e. text-worlds) as reflected in Knox’s statements and use the
insights gained to guide an examination of their individual linguistic features and associated potential legal implications. In
the first two dictated statements, Knox is projected as an actor responsible for the reported actions/events that
implicate her in the crime, whereas in the third statement (handwritten in English), she is projected as a
senser, presenting more prominent epistemic uncertainty and indicating bewilderment. Further micro-level
linguistic comparison indicates signs of textual alteration in the first two statements, i.e. crucial text was altered and thus
resulted in a change of meaning and legal significance.
Keywords: Amanda Knox, epistemic (un)certainty, legal discourse, Meredith Kercher, Text World Theory, VUE concept mapping software
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Text World Theory
- 3.A text-world analysis of Knox’s three statements to police
- 3.1Context, police interrogation protocol, discourse structure, and translation issues
- 3.2Diagramming software: VUE
- 3.3Text-world structures of the three statements
- 3.4Process types and discourse function
- 4.A linguistic comparison of the dictated/written statements
- 1.Level of information
- 2.Deviant reference
- 3.Salutations in Knox’s text message to Lumumba
- 5.Conclusion and future work
- Notes
-
References
Published online: 19 October 2018
https://doi.org/10.1075/etc.00012.ho
https://doi.org/10.1075/etc.00012.ho
References
Annunziato, Sarah
Browse, Sam
Framer, Isabel
Gavins, Joanna
Gavins, Joanna & Paul Simpson
Gies, Lieve & Maria Bortoluzzi
Gill, Peter
Giovanelli, Marcello
Halliday, Michael & Christian Matthiessen
Heydon, Georgina
Ho, Yufang, Jane Lugea, Dan McIntyre, Zhijie Xu & Jing Wang
Lugea, Jane
Mirabella, Julia Grace
Nuyts, Jan
Olsson, John
Page, Ruth
The Murder Of Meredith Kercher Wiki Site
Online]. http://themurderofmeredithkercher.com (Last accessed on 3 November 2017).
Van der Bom, Isabelle
Werth, Paul
Cited by
Cited by 3 other publications
Canning, Patricia, Yufang Ho & Sara Bartl
Fegitz, Ella
Ho, Yu-Fang, Jane Lugea, Dan McIntyre, Zhijie Xu & Jing Wang
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