The assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and the terrorist attacks of 9/11 are two events that scarred America and its people. In the aftermath of the assassination and the terrorist attacks, the American public was forced to sift through competing messages existing in the public sphere in order to make meaning out of the events. Although the American government, within a few days of both events, released who was ultimately responsible (Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated President Kennedy and Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda were responsible for 9/11), the people were still left with coming to terms for why such violence occurred. In order to provide a frame from which the American people could view and understand the assassination and the terrorist attacks, two blue ribbon commissions were formed: the Warren Commission, which investigated the assassination of President Kennedy and the 9/11 Commission, which investigated the terrorist attacks. Despite the reports’ purposes, significant segments of the population questioned both Commissions’ conclusions. In both instances, conspiratorial understandings of the events grew after the publication of the reports so that, in the case of the Warren Commission, most of the American public believe Oswald did not act alone and, in the case of the 9/11 Commission, there is growing belief that the government’s failure to predict and prevent the terrorist attacks was the result of a governmental conspiracy. This dissertation seeks to understand why, in our current times, official discourses are unable to prevail over conspiracy theories. This study proposes to illustrate the power of conspiracy discourse by examining it through the lens of official discourses that were designed, in part, to head-off conspiracy beliefs before they gained momentum within the American public. Such an inquiry will provide three main benefits: it will contribute to a more exacting understanding of the rhetorical power of conspiracy arguments in our times; it will provide insight into the relationship between official and conspiracy discourses (especially as they now exist); and, such a study has implications for determining the current direction of political life.

From a social constructionist understanding of social reality, this research explores how the female entrepreneurs and female entrepreneurship are represented in official discourses. From the view point of post-structuralist feminism, this research takes the position that discourses are linguistic practices that create truth effects. It finds that the texts on the official website, including the policies and the female entrepreneurs¡¦ stories, have the potential to reproduce the stereotype of gender.

The aim of this study is to analyze the transformation of the official discourse and perception of the Kurdish issue and Kurds through its representations in Turkish media since 1990. Ottoman period and the Republican period till 1990s are studied in the first phase, in order to provide the historical backgroud of the Kurdish question and state&rsquo / s perception of the issue. In the second phase, representations of state&rsquo / s perception of the Kurdish issue in H&uuml / rriyet and Cumhuriyet newspapers are analyzed by using Critical Discourse Analysis techniques. The transformation of the official discourse of the Kurdish issue is examined through eight cases: the Gulf War I in 1991, events occurred during the Parliamentary Oath Ceremony in 1991, Nevruz of 1992, HADEP congress in 1996, capture of Semdin Sakik in 1998 and Abdullah &Ouml / calan in 1999, the Gulf War II in 2003, Nevruz of 2005, Semdinli incident and debates on identity in 2005 and 2006. In this study, it is claimed that state&rsquo / s perception and discourse of the Kurdish issue has transformed since 1990s without a total detachment from its traditional perception and discourse of the issue.

Orientador: Fernanda Cátia Bozelli / Resumo: Apesar de existir vários atributos que justificam o ensino de Astronomia nas escolas, ainda é possível verificar nos últimos anos, por meio de pesquisas, que professores apresentam dificuldades em abordar esse conhecimento. Deste modo, que ensino de Astronomia tem sido praticado nas escolas considerando-se uma quantidade relevante de pesquisas já existentes na área de Ensino de Ciências, bem como de orientações oficiais? Esse e outros questionamentos levantados no contato com materiais didáticos, professores, escolas e leituras de pesquisas em ensino de Ciências levaram a seguinte questão de pesquisa: Comparando-se o Discurso Oficial e o de professores que lecionam Física, o que se pode dizer acerca do ensino de temas relacionados à Astronomia no Ensino Médio? Nesta pesquisa, buscou-se comparar o Discurso Oficial, proveniente de documentos oficiais (Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais para o Ensino Médio (PCNEM), Currículo do Estado de São Paulo, Orientações Curriculares Complementares aos Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais (PCN+), Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais para o Ensino Médio (DCNEM)) e o Discurso do Professor que leciona Física, a fim de se discutir o que é possível dizer acerca do ensino de temas relacionados a Astronomia. A pesquisa é de natureza qualitativa e foi realizada com professores que lecionam a disciplina de Física no primeiro Ano do Ensino Médio de uma escola pública do interior do estado de São Paulo por meio da realização de entrevistas semiestruturadas.... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Although there are several attributes to justify astronomy teaching in schools, it is possible to verify in recent years, through research, that teachers have difficulties in working with this topic. Thus, what kind of Astronomy teaching has been practiced in schools considering a relevant amount of research already existing in the area of Science Teaching, as well as official guidelines? This and other questions raised through the contact with teaching materials, teachers, schools and readings of research in science teaching led the following research question: Comparing the Official Discourse and that one of Physics teachers, what can be said about the teaching topics related to Astronomy in High School? In this research, we sought to compare the Official Discourse, from official documents (National Curriculum Parameters for Secondary Education (PCNEM), State of São Paulo Curriculum, Complementary Curricular Guidelines for National Curricular Parameters (PCN +), National Curricular Guidelines for High School (DCNEM)) and the Professor's Discourse of Physics teachers, in order to discuss what can be said about the topics related to astronomy teaching. The research has a qualitative nature and was carried out with Physics teachers that lecture in the first year of high school of a public institution in the state of São Paulo, through semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was based on the French Discourse Analysis using Eni Orlandi’s framework. The results show that the te... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

The master thesis titled China as the Enemy? : Representations of China in the U.S. Security Discourse explores discursive foundations of American policies towards China in military, economic and political sector. First chapter introduces concepts used in the formal analysis of China representations. It departs from post-structuralist theory of discourse by Ernesto Laclau, Chantal Mouffe and Lene Hansen and combines it with several other authors including the classical work of Carl Schmitt On the Political. The second chapter offers historical overview of key events and discourses that preceded George W. Bush Administration. One part is devoted to Evelyn Goh's analysis of internal official discourse of the "rapprochement" period between China and the U.S. Third chapter contains sections on basic characteristics of the official discourse in recent years including signifiers of China, the concept of "responsible stakeholder" and the geopolitical shift to Pacific in U.S. identity construction. Chapter 4, 5 and 6 follow the sectoral division and are further subdivided into individual themes. These are analyzed in three steps. First, the basic elements of China representation are introduced and their dynamics in the period 2001-2011 analyzed. Second, elements of the U.S. identity in the given context...

Following the bloody Revolution of 1910-1917, Mexican leaders took a great interest in rebuilding their devastated, war-torn country. In an attempt to further national unity, the post-Revolutionary regime sought to construct a unified, national identity. Many officials, such as José Vasconcelos, Mexico's first Secretario de Educación, viewed education as one of the keys to redeeming the nation. These government officials, empowered by their ideals and their sense of civic duty, worked to extend educational benefits to even the most overlooked segments of Mexican society. This thesis will examine two fictional texts that consider these efforts to transform and unify the nation through education in the post-Revolutionary years. Emilio "El Indio" Fernández's film, Río Escondido (1947), and Rosario Castellanos's novel, Balún Canán (1957), document the results of this federal intervention on behalf of its citizens in frontier towns far from the nation's capital. Nonetheless, Fernández and Castellanos provide very different appraisals of Mexico's post-Revolutionary education agenda. I view Río Escondido as official discourse because it lauds the national government initiatives to extend learning to all Mexicans and suggests that education will redeem the Mexican people. In Balún Canán, on the other hand, those in power utilize the education system to maintain control in society. Thus the novel criticizes failures within federal policies to provide education to less privileged sections of society. Despite their differences, both texts speak to a reality that Mexico dealt with during the mid-twentieth century when it attempted to solve its problems through education.

This research critically challenges the conventional understanding of terrorism, which is influenced by the views of states that label certain non-state actors as terrorists and their action as terrorism. The research demonstrates that there is a need to critically study the characteristics of every armed conflict constructed as terrorism. This is the case of the Turkish-Kurdish conflict, which is constructed in the Turkish official discourse as a phenomenon of terrorism perpetrated by the PKK. In addition, the Turkish narrative of terrorism is not limited to the PKK, but it transcends to the Syrian Kurdish PYD and YPG, and other Kurdish movements and individuals. The findings of this research reveal that the Turkish official narrative of terrorism functions to achieve two main goals. The first goal is to delegitimize the PKK and the other Kurdish movements. The second goal is to legitimize the repressive policies of the Turkish authorities regarding these movements in particular and the Kurds in general. This is interconnected with the denial of the existence of the Kurdish question and framing it in the context of the narrative of terrorism. The research also reveals that the language and policy of peace and war could change according to the interests of states’ elites. This is the case of the approach of the Turkish authorities regarding the Kurdish question, which changed under the influence of the elections and voting agendas of Erdogan and AKP. The research found that during the peace process and before the June 2015 elections, the approach of Turkish authorities was pro-peace negotiations and non-military action. However, as the AKP was not able to secure the majority that it sought in the June elections, the AKP authorities abandoned the peace process and adopted a military campaign and repressive policies. The latter matched the appeal of the AKP leadership to the votes of nationalist Turks in the November 2015 elections and the April 2017 referendum. / The full text was made available after embargo; 28th August 2020