Article published In:
Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict: Online-First Articles

They were not radical, even when they committed that

An appraisal-driven discourse analysis of feelings and attitudes towards the 17-A terrorist cell in Barcelona

ORCID logo | University of Zaragoza
ORCID logo | University of Granada
ORCID logo | University of Granada
ORCID logo | University of Córdoba
ORCID logo | University of Córdoba

Identity conflict and the loss of meaning experienced by some Muslim young people in Western countries are key factors behind fanaticism, leading some of them to find purpose in life within extremist groups (Adam-Troian et al. 2021; Moyano and González 2021). The narrative that emerges from the radicalisation process provides a rich source for psychologists and discourse analysts, exploring not only the ‘why’ and the ‘how’, but also issues stemming from self-perception and other-representation. Such conflict-based narratives materialise in individuals’ evaluative language patterns (Etaywe and Zappavigna 2022). In this paper, we conduct a close analysis of the discursive construction of emotion and opinion in a collection of semi-structured interviews with social workers or neighbours who knew the perpetrators of the 2017 terrorist attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils. To do so, we use corpus-driven methodologies and a refined version of Martin and White’s (2005) Appraisal framework (see Benítez-Castro and Hidalgo-Tenorio 2019). Our analysis aims to cast light on the social frictions that may have contributed to their endorsement of violence (Moyano et al. 2021).

Keywords: identity conflict, radicalisation, 17-A terrorist cell, CDA, Appraisal framework, emotion
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1The current threat of terrorism
    • 1.2The 17-A cell and attacks
    • 1.3The cell’s local context
    • 1.4Research goals
  • 2.Theoretical framework
    • 2.1Corpus linguistics and CDA
    • 2.2The language of evaluation
  • 3.Data and method
    • 3.1The interviews
    • 3.2The tagging system
  • 4.Results and discussion
    • 4.1What are the most salient evaluative representations of the cell, their environment and the terror attacks in the eyes of all the interviewees?
    • 4.2What emotions and opinions feature most frequently in the interviews with the two Muslim interviewees?
    • 4.3Are there any differences in the communicative style of the two interviewees?
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Declaration of interest statement
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 6 June 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlac.00084.ben
References
Adam-Troian, Jais, Ayşe Tecmen, and Ayhan Kaya
2021 “Youth Extremism as a Response to Global Threats? A Threat-regulation Perspective on Violent Extremism among the Youth.” Eur Psychol 261: 15–28. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Altuna Galán, Sergio, and Carola García-Calvo
2020 “¡Castigo de Alá! El Movimiento Yihadista Global ante la Crisis del COVID-19”. Real Instituto Elcano. [URL]
Benítez-Castro, Miguel-Ángel, and Encarnación Hidalgo-Tenorio
2019 “Rethinking Martin & White’s affect Taxonomy.” In Emotion in Discourse, edited by J. Lachlan Mackenzie, and Laura Alba Juez, 301–331. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2022 “ ‘I Am Proud to Be a Traitor’: The emotion/opinion interplay in jihadist magazines.” Pragmatics and Society 13 (3): 501–531. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baker, Paul
2008 Sexed Texts: Language, Gender and Sexuality. London: EquinoxGoogle Scholar
2011 “Social Involvement in Corpus Studies.” In Perspectives on Corpus Linguistics, edited by Vander Viana, Sonia Zyngier, and Geoff Barnbrook, 17–28. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2014 Using Corpora to Analyze Gender. London: Bloomsbury Academic.Google Scholar
Baker, Paul, and Erez Levon
2015 “Picking the Right Cherries? A Comparison of Corpus-based and Qualitative Analyses of News Articles about Masculinity.” Discourse & Communication 9(2): 221–236. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baker, Paul, and Tony McEnery
(Eds.) 2015 Corpora and Discourse Studies: Integrating Discourse and Corpora. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baker, Paul, Rachelle Vessey, and Tony McEnery
2021 The Language of Violent Jihad. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bednarek, Monica
2008 Emotion Talk across Corpora. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bélanger, Jocelyn J., Manuel Moyano, Hayat Muhammad, Lindsy Richardson, Marc-André K. Lafrenière, Patrick McCaffery, Karyne Framand, and Noëmie Nociti
2019 “Radicalization Leading to Violence: A Test of the 3N Model.” Frontiers in Psychiatry 101: 1–12. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Biber, Douglas, Susan Conrad, and Randi Reppen
1998 Corpus Linguistics: Investigating Language Structure and Use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Coates, Jennifer
1986 Women, Men and Language. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Coffin, Caroline, and Kieran O’Halloran
2005 “Finding the Global Groove: Theorising and Analysing Dynamic Reader Positioning Using APPRAISAL, Corpus, and a Concordancer.” Critical Discourse Studies 2(2): 143–163. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Etaywe, Awni, and Michele Zappavigna
2022 “Identity, Ideology and Threatening Communication: An Investigation of Patterns of Attitude in Terrorist Discourse.” Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict 10 (2): 315–350. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Europol. European Union Terrorism Situation and Trend Report 2021 (TESAT)
[URL]
Fairclough, Norman
1995 Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language. Boston: Addison Wesley.Google Scholar
Fontaine, Johnny J. R., Klaus R. Scherer, and Cristina C. Soriano
(Eds.) 2013 Components of Emotional Meaning: A Sourcebook. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fuoli, Matteo, and Charlotte Hommerberg
2015 “Optimizing Transparency, Reliability and Replicability: Annotation Principles and Intercoder Agreement in the Quantification of Evaluative Expressions.” Corpora 10 (3): 315–349. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
González, Irene, Manuel Moyano, Roberto M. Lobato, and Humberto M. Trujillo
2022 “Evidence of Psychological Manipulation in the Process of Violent Radicalisation: An Investigation of the 17-A Cell.” Frontiers in Psychiatry 131: 1–11. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hidalgo-Tenorio, Encarnación, and Miguel-Ángel Benítez-Castro
2021 “The Language of Evaluation in the Narratives by the Magdalene Laundries Survivors: The Discourse of Female Victimhood.” Applied Linguistics 42 (2): 315–341. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2022 “Trump’s Populist Discourse and Affective Politics, or on how to Move ‘the People’ through Emogion.” Globalisation, Societies and Education 20 (2): 86–109. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Holmes, Janet
1997 “Women, Language and Identity.” Journal of Sociolinguistics 1 (2): 195–223. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Horgan, John
2008 “From Profiles to Pathways and Roots to Routes: Perspectives from Psychology on Radicalization into Terrorism.” The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 618(1): 80–94. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hunston, Susan, and Gill Francis
2000 Pattern Grammar: A Corpus-driven Approach to the Lexical Grammar of English. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Igualada, Carlos
2021 “International Links and the Role of the Islamic State in the Barcelona and Cambrils Attacks in 2017.” Perspectives on Terrorism 15(4): 65–75.Google Scholar
Institut d’Estadística de Catalunya (IDESCAT)
2021 [URL]
Khalil, James, John Horgan, and Martine Zeuthen
2019 “The Attitudes-Behaviors Corrective (ABC) Model of Violent Extremism.” Terrorism and Political Violence 34(3): 425–450. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kilgarriff, Adam, Vít Baisa, Jan Bušta, Miloš Jakubíček, Vojtěch Kovář, Jan Michelfeit, Padel Rychlý, and Vít Suchomel
2014 “The Sketch Engine: Ten Years on.” Lexicography 1(1): 7–36. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Klann-Delius, Gisela
2015 “Emotion in Language.” In Emotion in Language: Theory – Research – Application, edited by Ulrike M. Lüdtke, 135–156. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kruglanski, Arie W., Jocelyn J. Bélanger, and Rohan Gunaratna
2019 The Three Pillars of Radicalization: Needs, Narratives, and Networks. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Martin, James. R., and Peter R. R. White
2005 The Language of Evaluation: Appraisal in English. London: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McEnery, Tony, and Andrew Hardie
2012 Corpus Linguistics: Method, Theory and Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
McEnery, Tony, Richard Xiao, and Yukio Tono
2006 Corpus-based Language Studies: An Advanced Resource Book. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Miller, Michelle L., James I. Gerhart, Anissa J. Maffett, Angela Lorbeck, Ashley Eaton England, and Sean O’Mahony
2022 “Experiential Avoidance and Post-traumatic Stress Symptoms among Child Abuse Counselors and Service Workers: A Brief Report.” Journal of Interpersonal Violence 37(11–12): NP10382–NP10392. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mossos d’Esquadra
2018 Diligencias policiales número 680566/2017. Comissaria Superior de Coordinació Central. [URL]
Moyano, Manuel
2019 Radicalización Terrorista. Gestión del Riesgo y Modelos de Intervención. Madrid: Síntesis.Google Scholar
Moyano, Manuel, and Irene González
2021 “Jóvenes y Radicalización Violenta: La Encrucijada de la Prevención.” In Una Aproximación a los Procesos de Radicalización y Extremismo Violento (PREDEIN), edited by Jordi Pàmies Rovira, and Silvia Carrasco, 36–41. Bellaterra: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.Google Scholar
Moyano, Manuel, and Humberto M. Trujillo
2013 Radicalización Islamista y Terrorismo. Claves Psicosociales. Granada: Universidad de Granada.Google Scholar
Moyano, Manuel, Roberto M. Lobato, Jocelyn J. Bélanger, and Humberto M. Trujillo
2021 Preventing and Countering Violent Radicalization: A Guide for First-Line Practitioners. Córdoba: Universidad de Córdoba.Google Scholar
O’Donnell, Mick
2016 UAM CorpusTool. [URL]
Oppetit, Alice, Nicolas Campelo, Laura Bouzar, Hugues Pellerin, Serge Hefez, Guillaume Bronsard, Dounia Bouzar, and David Cohen
2019 “Do Radicalized Minors Have Different Social and Psychological Profiles from Radicalized Adults?” Frontiers in Psychiatry 101: 1–7. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pla Marc d’Intervencio Comunitaria envers les identitats socials (Pla-MIC)
2021 Modelo de convivencia Ripoll-Ripolles. Consorci de Benestar social del Ripollès. [URL]
Salazar, Philippe-Joseph
2017 Words Are Weapons: Inside ISIS’s Rhetoric of Terror. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Searle, John R.
1969 Speech Acts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Speer, Susan A., and Elizabeth Stokoe
(Eds.) 2012 Conversation and Gender. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Sunderland, Jane
2004 Gendered Discourses. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tannen, Deborah
1990 “Gender Differences in Topical Coherence: Creating Involvement in Best Friends’ Talk.” Discourse Processes 13(1): 73–90. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Thompson, Geoff
2014 “Affect and Emotion, Target-value Mismatches, and Russian Dolls: Refining the Appraisal Model.” In Evaluation in Context, edited by Geoff Thompson, and Laura Alba-Juez, 47–66. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tracy, Karen, and Jessica Robles
2002 Everyday Talk: Building and Reflecting Identities. New York and London: The Guildford Press.Google Scholar
Trujillo, Humberto M., Ferrán Alonso, José Miguel Cuevas, and Manuel Moyano
2018 “Evidencias Empíricas de Manipulación y Abuso Psicológico en el Proceso de Adoctrinamiento y Radicalización Yihadista Inducida.” Revista de Estudios Sociales 661: 42–54. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
van der Vegt, Isabelle, Bennett Kleinberg, and Paul Gill
2022 “Understanding Lone-actor Violence through Linguistic Analysis.” In Lone-actor Terrorism: An Integrated Framework, edited by Jacob C. Holzer, Andrea J. Dew, Patricia R. Recupero, and Paul Gill, 96–105. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
van Dijk, Teun
2009 “Critical Discourse Studies: A Sociocognitive Approach.” In Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis, edited by Ruth Wodak, and Michael Meyer, 62–86. London: Sage.Google Scholar
van Leeuwen, Theo
2008 Discourse and Practice: New Tools for Critical Discourse Analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
West, Candance D., and Don H. Zimmerman
1977 “Women’s Place in Everyday Talk: Reflections on Parent-child Interaction.” Social Problems 24(5): 521–529. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Widdowson, Henry G.
1998 “Context, Community and Authentic Language.” TESOL Quarterly 32(4): 705–716. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wodak, Ruth
2001 “The Discourse-historical Approach.” In Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis, edited by Ruth Wodak, and Michael Meyer, 63–94. London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
2020 “Analysing the Politics of Denial: Critical Discourse Studies and the Discourse-historical Approach.” In Discourses in Action: What Language Enables us to Do, edited by Klaus Krippendorff, and Noor Halabi, 19–36. London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wolfowicz, Michael, Yael Litmanovitz, David Weisburd, and Badi Hasisi
2021 “Cognitive and Behavioral Radicalization: A Systematic Review of the Putative Risk and Protective Factors.” Campbell Systematic Reviews 17(3): 1174. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wright-Neville, David, and Debrah Smith
2009 “Political Rage: Terrorism and the Politics of Emotion.” Global Change, Peace & Security 21(1): 85–98. DOI logoGoogle Scholar