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This study sought to examine linguistic and discursive strategies used to construct messages reflective of the implementation of the HIV and AIDS policy for Zimbabwe of 1999 by government and private newspapers. Such analysis was perceived to be important since media content has a bearing on Zimbabweans‘ perception and attitudes regarding HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment and control. The study was aimed at comparing messages from newspapers with views by the people of Zimbabwe regarding the implementation of the policy. Findings reveal that empowerment programmes particularly those targeting women and children are lagging behind as Zimbabweans, literature and newspaper data sources testify. In addition, information sources concur that cultural (For example, stigmatisation, polygamy, religious practices, spouse inheritance) and structural (For example, patriarchy, masculinity, bureaucracy, politics) are stumbling blocks that negatively affect the implementation of the policy. Further, even though private and government newspapers do not fully agree on the portrayal of human agents, there is a general consensus between newspaper reports and Zimbabweans that people still face socio-economic and econo-political challenges that militate against the smooth implementation of the HIV and AIDS policy. Government newspapers tend to downplay aspects which reveal inadequacies of government activities. The study notes this as betrayal of use of ideological squares both by government and private newspapers whereby certain aspects regarding the implementation of the policy are either downplayed or highlighted to influence perception. The study reveals that newspaper reports used nominalisation, quantification, positive politeness, thematisation, rhematisation, intertextuality, euphemism, proverbs, idioms, action verbs, metaphors and citation of experts as linguistic and discursive strategies both for agenda setting and building purposes regarding the implementation of the HIV and AIDS policy. Other devices used particularly in the encoding of Operation Murambatsvina are, claptraps, deictic referencing, personal pronouns, adjectives and direct speech. The study attributes problems regarding the Zimbabwean HIV and AIDS intervention model to the top – down approach inherent in the policy. Hence, the call for an adoption of an unhu/hunhu/ubuntu inspired bottom – up HIV and AIDS intervention model in Zimbabwe. This would inculcate pro-family, pro-village, pro-nation/people and ―servant leadership‖ (Mangena and Chitando, 2011) values in the fight against the pandemic through the embracing of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS). Unfortunately, such values largely continue to elude the radar of the current top – down HIV and AIDS intervention model cuurently in use in Zimbabwe. / African Languages / D. Litt et Phil. (African Languages)

This treatise is a study of media-related articles in the South African press February 1996 to April 1999. Through a discourse analysis approach, the treatise identifies two main discourses relating to normative press models: the watchdog discourse and the nation-building discourse. It is argued that the watchdog discourse largely resembles classical libertarian press ideals, while the nation-building discourse resembles social responsibility ideals. The analysis contains numerous examples of the tensions between the government and the newspaper industry in terms of normative press models. Finally, the treatise challenges the assumed tensions that exist between nation-building and watchdog discourses, and suggests communitarianism as an ideology which upholds the crucial interests of both the press and the government. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Miami University, Dept. of English, 2004. / Title from second page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 94-98).

The International, as the weekly newspaper of the International Socialist League, articulated from 1915 to 1919 an ideology which stood opposed both to organised labour and nationalist movements in South Africa. This situation reflected significant historical struggles during this period, which constitutes essential background to the discourse of the International. The International's writers opposed the institution of trade unionism in the labour movement because it was fragmented on the lines of skill and race. They opposed both the National Party and the South African Native National Congress because they advocated racial (and national) rather than working class interests. Instead, these writers, according to their international socialist paradigm, advocated a working class united irrespective of race and skill at the level of industry. To analyse these ideological positions, discourse analysis provides a fruitful method for locating its dynamics in relation to other positions and extra-ideological (contextual) practices: The International's writers g~nerated a socialist position against racism by engaging in an ideological struggle in discourse. They articulated their anti-racist position from international socialism's critique of the 'languages' of both militarism and trade unionism in the discourse of labour. Within the discourse of militarism, the working class was signified as divided between hostile nations. These writers applied this as a metaphor to the division of the local labour movement and criticised the latter accordingly. In their view, just as workers were divided between the nations (nationalism), so they were divided within the nation (racism) in South Africa. One context cohered with the other, and both agreed with imperatives of international capitalism. This was fundamentally opposed to the principles of international socialism which characterised the International's discourse. Within the dominant discourse oflabour, workers were signified as divided between different trade unions on the basis of skills. Furthermore, in the South African context, trade unions organised only white workers, and ignored the far larger proportion of black labour. In this context, the International advocated industrial unionism, and criticised the narrow base of the white trade unions for fragmenting and weakening the working class in South African. The International's writers were thus led by the discourse of international socialism to a new discourse, whereby not white workers alone, but a racially-united working class movement would be the key to a socialist future in South Africa. Their struggle entailed a bid in and over discourse to rearticulate the sign of the 'native worker' within their own discourse as the dominant discourse type. Underpinning their struggle was a fundamental opposition to capitalist class relations.

This dissertation investigates the role of media in the identity construction of minority language speakers in Botswana, with a focus on the Bakalanga. The study is informed by debates around the degree to which the media can be seen to play a central role in the way the Bakalanga define their own identity. As part of this, it considers how such individuals understand their own sense of identity to be located within processes of nation-building, and in particular in relation to the construction of a national identity. It focuses, more particularly, on the extent to which the absence of particular languages within media can be said to impact on such processes of identity formation. The study responds, at the same time, to the argument that people’s more general lived experiences and their broader social environment have a bearing on how they make sense of the media. As such, it can be seen to critique the assumption that the media necessarily play a central and defining role within processes of socialisation. In order to explore the significance of these debates for a study of the Bakalanga, the dissertation includes a contextual discussion of language policy in Botswana, the impact of colonial history on such policy and the implications that this has had for the linguistic identity of the media. It also reviews theoretical debates that help to make sense of the role that the media plays within the processes through which minority language speakers construct their own identity. Finally, it includes an empirical case study, consisting of qualitative interviews with individuals who identify themselves as Bakalanga. It is argued that, because of the absence of their own language from the media, the respondents do not describe the media as central to their own processes of identity formation. At the same time, the respondents recognise the importance of the media within society, and are preoccupied with their own marginalisation from the media. The study explores the way the respondents make sense of such marginalisation, as demonstrated by their attempts to seek alternative media platforms in which they can find recognition of their own language and social experience. The study thus reaffirms the significance of media in society – even for people who feel that they are not recognised within such media.

A presente pesquisa teve como objetivo principal compreender como a identidade do professor é discursivizada em comentários online produzidos no perfil institucional da APP-Sindicato PR na rede social Facebook durante o período da Greve dos Professores, ocorrida no primeiro semestre de 2015. Como a identidade docente tem sido constantemente questionada, contestada, depreciada e reformulada tanto por discursos depreciativos quanto por políticas públicas, que precarizam a carreira docente, faz-se relevante o desenvolvimento de estudos acerca dos discursos que emergem em período de crise para compreender as novas maneiras de “olhar” o professor. Para isso, compõem a base teórico-metodológica dessa dissertação estudos a respeito da identidade (HALL, 2006; GEE, 2000) e da identidade docente (FREIRE, 1967; NÓVOA, 1991, 2009; KLEIMAN, 2006; TARDIF, 2012; GERALDI, 2010); pesquisas relacionadas a ambientes online de interação e sites de redes sociais (RECUERO, 2009, 2014; BARTON e LEE, 2015) e conceitos fundantes como: discurso, enunciado, alteridade e dialogismo, ancorados nos estudos do Círculo de Bakhtin (BAKHTIN, 1997[1979], 2006[1929],2015 [1929], 1987[1965], 2015[1975] 2010 [1986]; VOLOCHÍNOV, 2013[1926], 2013[1930]). Os dados gerados para a análise constituem-se de enunciados produzidos no primeiro semestre de 2015, período em que a greve dos professores e funcionários públicos da educação pública do estado do Paraná estava acontecendo. Esse evento propiciou um ambiente de arena discursiva, em que o confronto de vozes e ideologias gerou, nos espaços midiáticos, uma grande produção de enunciados que tematizavam a identidade docente. Assim, compõem o conjunto de dados gerados para este trabalho um total de 180 enunciados do gênero comentário online, selecionados do perfil oficial do Facebook da APP-Sindicato, instituição sindical que organizou e promoveu o movimento de greve. Dentre as regularidades discursivas acerca da identidade docente, destacaram-se discursos depreciativos, a saber: a identidade do professor “mal formado”; o professor “massa de manobra” da esquerda política; a docência como um dom; a (in)competência da escola pública. Além das diferentes formas de discursivizar a identidade do professor, foi possível observar que, nos espaços de escritas online, os sujeitos tendem a utilizar um tom mais agressivo ao produzir e reenunciar discursos depreciativos acerca da identidade docente, ignorando a responsabilidade do ser e agir. Em outros termos, produzem um discurso que não leva em conta o não álibi do ser. Por fim, além dos comentários que depreciam a docência e a educação pública de modo geral, foram salientes enunciados que apontam para a discursividade de uma nova identidade docente, a do professor que luta pelos seus direitos e ensina o agir democrático por meio de atos de cidadania. / The present research aims to comprehend how teacher's identity is represented by discursive interactions in online comments produced in the APP-Sindicato's Facebook profile, in the period of Teachers Strike that occurred in the first semester of 2015. With the teacher's identity being constantly questioned, contested, depreciated and reformulated both by depreciative discourses and public policies that weakens the teacher's career, it becomes important to study the discourses that emerges within this crises period to comprehend the new ways to "look" the teacher's identity. For this porpouse, the theoretical and methodological approach is composed by studies about identity (HALL, 2006; GEE, 2000) and teacher's identity (FREIRE, 1967; NÓVOA, 1991, 2009; KLEIMAN, 2006; TARDIF, 2012; GERALDI, 2010); researches about online interaction environments and social networks websites (RECUERO, 2009, 2014; BARTON e LEE, 2015) and founding concepts as: discourse, alterity, dialogism and enunciation as seen in the Bakhtin's Circle studies (BAKHTIN, 1997[1979], 2006[1929],2015 [1929], 1987[1965], 2015[1975] 2010 [1986]; VOLOCHÍNOV, 2013[1926], 2013[1930]). The research data were produced at the first semester of 2015, period when the Teachers Strike of State of Paraná took place, which provides a discoursive arena where the voices and ideologies confrontation are produced, in the media spaces, a large amount of enunciations that approaches the teacher's identity as the main theme. Thereby, this research data set are composed by an amount of 180 online comments, selected from the APP-Sindicato Facebook profile, syndical institution which organized the strike movement. Within the discursive regularities observed in the comments, we highlighted: the "poorly academic educated" teacher; the teacher as a "maneuver mass" for the left-wing political parties; the teaching as a "gift"; the (in)competence of public school. Besides the different ways of represent teacher's identity in discourse, it was possible to observe that in the online interaction environments, the subjects tend to use an aggressive tone when produces and reenounce depreciative discourses about teacher's identity, ignoring their responsability of being and acting, in other terms, producing discourses that does not consider the non-alibi of being. Lastly, besides the comments that depreciate the teaching and the public school in general, we highlighted comments pointing to a new discourse about the teachers identity, the identity of a teacher who fights for its rights and teaches the democratic acting through their acts.

A presente pesquisa teve como objetivo principal compreender como a identidade do professor é discursivizada em comentários online produzidos no perfil institucional da APP-Sindicato PR na rede social Facebook durante o período da Greve dos Professores, ocorrida no primeiro semestre de 2015. Como a identidade docente tem sido constantemente questionada, contestada, depreciada e reformulada tanto por discursos depreciativos quanto por políticas públicas, que precarizam a carreira docente, faz-se relevante o desenvolvimento de estudos acerca dos discursos que emergem em período de crise para compreender as novas maneiras de “olhar” o professor. Para isso, compõem a base teórico-metodológica dessa dissertação estudos a respeito da identidade (HALL, 2006; GEE, 2000) e da identidade docente (FREIRE, 1967; NÓVOA, 1991, 2009; KLEIMAN, 2006; TARDIF, 2012; GERALDI, 2010); pesquisas relacionadas a ambientes online de interação e sites de redes sociais (RECUERO, 2009, 2014; BARTON e LEE, 2015) e conceitos fundantes como: discurso, enunciado, alteridade e dialogismo, ancorados nos estudos do Círculo de Bakhtin (BAKHTIN, 1997[1979], 2006[1929],2015 [1929], 1987[1965], 2015[1975] 2010 [1986]; VOLOCHÍNOV, 2013[1926], 2013[1930]). Os dados gerados para a análise constituem-se de enunciados produzidos no primeiro semestre de 2015, período em que a greve dos professores e funcionários públicos da educação pública do estado do Paraná estava acontecendo. Esse evento propiciou um ambiente de arena discursiva, em que o confronto de vozes e ideologias gerou, nos espaços midiáticos, uma grande produção de enunciados que tematizavam a identidade docente. Assim, compõem o conjunto de dados gerados para este trabalho um total de 180 enunciados do gênero comentário online, selecionados do perfil oficial do Facebook da APP-Sindicato, instituição sindical que organizou e promoveu o movimento de greve. Dentre as regularidades discursivas acerca da identidade docente, destacaram-se discursos depreciativos, a saber: a identidade do professor “mal formado”; o professor “massa de manobra” da esquerda política; a docência como um dom; a (in)competência da escola pública. Além das diferentes formas de discursivizar a identidade do professor, foi possível observar que, nos espaços de escritas online, os sujeitos tendem a utilizar um tom mais agressivo ao produzir e reenunciar discursos depreciativos acerca da identidade docente, ignorando a responsabilidade do ser e agir. Em outros termos, produzem um discurso que não leva em conta o não álibi do ser. Por fim, além dos comentários que depreciam a docência e a educação pública de modo geral, foram salientes enunciados que apontam para a discursividade de uma nova identidade docente, a do professor que luta pelos seus direitos e ensina o agir democrático por meio de atos de cidadania. / The present research aims to comprehend how teacher's identity is represented by discursive interactions in online comments produced in the APP-Sindicato's Facebook profile, in the period of Teachers Strike that occurred in the first semester of 2015. With the teacher's identity being constantly questioned, contested, depreciated and reformulated both by depreciative discourses and public policies that weakens the teacher's career, it becomes important to study the discourses that emerges within this crises period to comprehend the new ways to "look" the teacher's identity. For this porpouse, the theoretical and methodological approach is composed by studies about identity (HALL, 2006; GEE, 2000) and teacher's identity (FREIRE, 1967; NÓVOA, 1991, 2009; KLEIMAN, 2006; TARDIF, 2012; GERALDI, 2010); researches about online interaction environments and social networks websites (RECUERO, 2009, 2014; BARTON e LEE, 2015) and founding concepts as: discourse, alterity, dialogism and enunciation as seen in the Bakhtin's Circle studies (BAKHTIN, 1997[1979], 2006[1929],2015 [1929], 1987[1965], 2015[1975] 2010 [1986]; VOLOCHÍNOV, 2013[1926], 2013[1930]). The research data were produced at the first semester of 2015, period when the Teachers Strike of State of Paraná took place, which provides a discoursive arena where the voices and ideologies confrontation are produced, in the media spaces, a large amount of enunciations that approaches the teacher's identity as the main theme. Thereby, this research data set are composed by an amount of 180 online comments, selected from the APP-Sindicato Facebook profile, syndical institution which organized the strike movement. Within the discursive regularities observed in the comments, we highlighted: the "poorly academic educated" teacher; the teacher as a "maneuver mass" for the left-wing political parties; the teaching as a "gift"; the (in)competence of public school. Besides the different ways of represent teacher's identity in discourse, it was possible to observe that in the online interaction environments, the subjects tend to use an aggressive tone when produces and reenounce depreciative discourses about teacher's identity, ignoring their responsability of being and acting, in other terms, producing discourses that does not consider the non-alibi of being. Lastly, besides the comments that depreciate the teaching and the public school in general, we highlighted comments pointing to a new discourse about the teachers identity, the identity of a teacher who fights for its rights and teaches the democratic acting through their acts.

This thesis reports on the bonds that unify imagined communities (Anderson 1983) that are created in 40 letters prominently displayed on the opinions pages of the Daily Sun, a popular tabloid, and The Times, a daily offshoot of the mainstream national Sunday Times. An APPRAISAL analysis of these letters reveals how the imagined communities attempt to align their audiences around distinctive couplings of interpersonal and ideational meaning. Such couplings represent the bonds around which community identities are co-constructed through affiliation and are evidence of the shared feelings that unite the communities of readership. Inferences drawn from this APPRAISAL information allow for a comparison of the natures of the two communities in terms of how they view their agency and group cohesion. Central to the analysis and interpretation of the data is the letters’ evaluative prosody, traced in order to determine the polarity of readers’ stances over four weeks. Asymmetrical prosodies are construed as pointing to the validity of ‘linguistic ventriloquism’, a term whose definition is refined and used as a diagnostic for whether the newspapers use their readers’ letters to promote their own stances on controversial matters. Principal findings show that both communities affiliate around the value of education, and dissatisfaction with the country’s political leaders, however The Times’ readers are more individualistic than the Daily Sun’s community members, who are concerned with the wellbeing of the group. The analysis highlights limitations to the application of the APPRAISAL framework, the value of subjectivity in the analytical process, and adds a new dimension to South African media studies, as it provides linguistic insights into the construction of imagined communities of newspaper readership.