Representation Of Nojoud’s ‘Early’ Marriage: A CDA Of Online English-Language Yemeni Newspapers

Abduljalil al-Sharabi, Noraini Ibrahim, Nor Fariza Mohd Nor

Abstract


Online English-language newspapers in Yemen are considered official windows through which Yemen is portrayed to the global world. Investigating the representation of a Yemeni social event (the Nojoud’s phenomenon) to foreign readers, this paper specifically aims to identify the discourses that the newspaper texts draw upon in representing ‘early marriage’ in Yemen. Besides, it investigates the assumptions that the texts presuppose and the way the social actors are identified. As a qualitative analytic research, Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis as well as Kress and van Leeuwen’s (critical) multimodal discourse analysis employed the micro and macro discourse analysis of the online version of Yemen Times newspaper. Data analysis  reveals that the selected texts draw upon a number of foregrounded and backgrounded discourses in representing ‘early marriage’ in Yemen including backgrounded Yemeni legal discourse, backgrounded Sharia discourse of ‘maturity’, and fore grounded discourse of minimum age of 18, and fore grounded discourse of sexual abuse. Simultaneously, it is uncovered that the texts presuppose many assumptions such as ‘marriage in Islam’, ‘puberty’ and the ‘age documentation’ in Yemen. While some of the important social actors are absent, the main social actors in the represented case are mainly identified by ‘overwordings’ of the age. This paper ends by offering several suggestions and recommendations that would benefit EFL (Yemeni) students, teachers, curriculum designers, journalists and translators when dealing with English-language texts reporting on local phenomenon.


Keywords


critical discourse analysis, semiotic analysis, representation, multimodality, ‘early’ marriage in Yemen.

Full Text:

PDF

References


Alford, J. (2005). Discursive patterns in ESL policy: Competing discourses in the new ‘Education Queensland’ ESL policy and guidelines document. Proc. Hamilton. (Online) Retrieved 23 May 2009, from http://eprints.qut.edu.au/1012/

Al-Samawi, A. (2000). Introduction to research techniques in linguistics and literature. Sana’a: Awan.

Bhatia, A. (2009). The discourses of terrorism. Journal of pragmatics, 41, 279-289.

Bignell, J. (1997). Media semiotics an introduction. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Daragahi, B. (2008). The child bride who sought a divorce. Los Angeles Times. (Online) Retrieved 12 June 2008, from http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2008/06/yemen-meeting-t.html

Fairclough, N. (1989). Language and power. UK: Longman Group.

Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse and social change. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Fairclough, N. (1995). Media discourse. London: Edward Arnold.

Fowler, R. (1987). The intervention of the media in the reproduction of power. In I. M. Zavala, T. van Dijk, & D. M., Diaz (Eds.), Approaches to discourse, poetic and psychiatry (pp. 67-80). Amsterdam: Benjamins.

Guijarro, J., & Sanz, M. (2008). Compositional, interpersonal and representational meanings in a children’s narrative: A multimodal discourse analysis. Journal of Pragmatics, 40, 1601-1619. (Online) Retrieved 22 May 2009, from www.esevier.com/locate/pragmtics

Haig, E. S. (2005). Media representations of political discourse: A critical discourse study of four reports of Prime Minister's Question. (Online) Retrieved 17 April

, from http://www.lang.nagoyau.ac.jp/tagen/media/journal/200503/haig/haig.pdf

Hakam, J. (2009). The cartoons controversy: a critical discourse analysis of English-language Arab Newspaper discourse. Discourse & Society, 20, 33-57.

Halliday, M. A. K. (1985). An introduction to functional grammar. London: Edward Arnold.

Hamid Tabet (2008). For the first time in Yemen 8 year-old girl asks for divorce. Yemen Times. (Online) Retrieved 17 April, 2009 from http://www.yementimes.com/defaultdet.aspx?SUB_ID=25055

Hoepfner, Y. (2006). Analysing the beauty advertisement discourse: Dove’s campaign for real beauty. (Online) Retrieved 23 May 2009, from http://www.discourseanalysis.de/media/pdfs/Hoepfner%202006%20Dove.pdf

Knox, J. (2007). Visual-verbal communication on online newspaper home pages. Visual Communication, 6, 19-53.

Kok, K. C. (2004). Multisemiotic mediation in hypertexts. In K.L. O’Halloran (Ed.), Multimodal discourse analysis: Systemic functional perspectives (pp. 131-162). London: Continuum.

Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (1998). Front pages: the (critical) analysis of newspaper layout. In B. A. Garrett (Ed.), Approaches to Media Discourse (pp. 186-219). Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.

Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (2001). Multimodal discourse: the modes and media of contemporary communication. London: Arnold.

Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (2006). Reading images: The grammar of visual design second edition. London: Routledge.

Lean, M. L. (2007). Passing the baton: A discourse representation of two Malaysian premiers. In P. T. C. Ho (Ed.), Discourse Analysis Volume (pp. 128-141). Singapore: Marshall Cavendish.

Li, J. (2009). Intertextuality and national identity: Discourse of national conflicts in daily newspapers in the United States and China. Discourse and Society, 20, 85-121.

Magalhaes, M. (1995). A critical discourse analysis of gender relations in Brazil. Journal of Pragmatics, 23, 183-197.

Mautner, G. (2008). Analyzing newspapers, magazines and other print media. In K. Wodak (Ed.), Qualitative Discourse Analysis in the Social Sciences (pp. 30-53). China: Palgrave Macmillan.

Oktar, L. (2001). The ideological organization of representational processes in the presentation of us and them. Discourse and Society, 12, 313-364.

Pan, X. (2002). Consensus behind disputes: a critical discourse analysis of the media coverage of the right-of-abode issue in postcolonial Hong Kong. Media, Culture & Society, 24, 49-68.

Pastor, J. C. (2006). Constructing problems and solutions for indigenous people: a critical discourse analysis about identity and cultural violence in Mexican main political platform. MA. Thesis, University of East Anglia. (Online) Retrieved 23 May 2009, from http://juanchobarron.googlepages.com/Masterdissertation.pdf

Pietikäinen, S. (2004). Indigenous identity in print: Representations of the Sami in the news discourse. Discourse and Society, 14, 581-609.

Richardson, J. (2007). Analysing newspapers: An approach from critical discourse analysis. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Saba News Agency. (2009). Press and publications law. (Online) Retrieved 30 April 2009, from http://www.sabanews.net/ar/news44000.htmSalem, A. (2004). Early marriage a challenge to development. (Online) Retrieved 23 May 2009, from http://www.hoodonline.org/print.php?sid=584

Stockard, J. (2002). Marriage in culture: Practice and meaning across diverse societies. New York: Wadsworth Publishing.

Stockwell, P. (2007). Sociolinguistics. London: Routledge.

United Nations, (2009). Technical report on the status of civil registration and vital statistics in ESCWA region, United Nations. (Online) Retrieved 30 May 2009, from http://unstats.un.org/unsd/vitalstatkb/Attachment100.aspx

van Dijk, T. (1998). Ideology: A multidisciplinary introduction. London: Sage Publisher.

Verma, B. R. (1975). Muslim marriage and dissolution. Allahbad: J. N. Bagga Publishers.

Wodak, R., & Meyer, M. (2001). Methods of critical discourse analysis. London: Sage publications.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


 

 

 

eISSN : 2550-2131

ISSN : 1675-8021