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Programme: accepted abstracts

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Abstract ID: 1038

Part of General Paper Session (Other abstracts in this session)

British press coverage of honour killings: Two case studies

Authors: Chafai, Habiba; Ermida, Isabel
Submitted by: Chafai, Habiba (Universidade do Minho, Portugal)

This paper attempts to examine how the phenomenon of “honour killings” is reported in the British press by looking at the different linguistic and discursive strategies used in the news coverage of two special victims, namely Banaz Mahmud from Iraqi Kurdistan and Samaira Nazir from Pakistan. More specifically, news reports from two British broadsheets The Guardian and The Times, andtwo British tabloids The Sun and The Daily Mail will be selected in order to examine the representations of honour killings among Muslim communities in Britain. The multidisciplinary movement of Critical Discourse Analysis, in particular van Dijk’s framework (1991, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2009) will provide the theoretical backdrop for the study. The description of the linguistic and discursive mechanisms will hopefully reveal the ideological constructions underlying the texts. The paper also intends to address such questions as whether the press associates honour killings with Islam and Muslims or with cultural tribal customs and whether or not the news reports voice a reproduction of popular stereotypes and/or a reinforcement of prejudice against Muslim immigrant communities. The paper thus aims at considering how the British press tackles the concepts of race, identity and difference in Britain’s growing multicultural and multireligious society.

 

Bibliography

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