Discourses of cultural heritage in times of crisis: The case of the Parthenon Marbles

The paper focuses on the commodification and politicisation of cultural heritage using as a case study the ongoing debate on the return of the Parthenon Marbles from the U.K. to Greece, recently reignited by the press release for the movie The Monuments Men in 2014. Greece has been in the throes of a severe financial crisis for over six years with the ever imminent threat of Grexit constantly disputed. In parallel with this ongoing turmoil, discourses of Greek antiquity have been persistently prominent in the media. In this context, we problematise the complex nexus of relationships between the financial crisis, national identity and cultural heritage. We combine the Discourse‐Historical Approach and Interactional Sociolinguistics drawing data from an online forum, and investigate how the users negotiate pro‐/anti‐return positions and make the financial crisis relevant in the argumentation process. The analysis shows that history, identity, value, and debt are recontextualised in relation to the Parthenon sculptures. The analysis identifies an underlying process of value trade off and brings the current political and economic environment to the fore. We close the paper by foregrounding the implications of our study and provide directions for further research.     

When managerialism meets professional autonomy: The university ‘budget update’ as genre of governance

Through analysis of 178 texts posted online by university leaders during a severe budget shortfall, I explore the tensions that arise as managerialist practices are recontextualized within university governance. I identify 64 texts constitutive of a hybrid genre, which I call the ‘budget update’. The structure and linguistic features of this genre are described. Interdiscursive and intertextual analysis demonstrate hybridities that emerge when leaders enact, negotiate, and resist managerialism.     

Racial diversity in the suburbs: how race-neutral responses to demographic change perpetuate inequity in suburban school districts

Suburbs across the US are experiencing dramatic demographic shifts, yet there is little research available on how suburban school districts are dealing with these changes. In this article, we examine the discourses surrounding race and demographic change in three suburban school districts that have been undergoing rapid demographic changes and which contain demographically distinct areas within their district boundaries. Utilizing a critical discourse analysis (CDA) approach, we analyze how the policy context (federal and state) frames actors’ discourses and understandings of race, paying particular attention to the political and institutional factors affecting school policy. We illustrate how the discourse, in turn, is related to the actions (or inactions) taken by district and school leaders to respond to demographic change. We conclude the article by discussing policy implications and potential challenges districts may face in the future if efforts to purposively address racial changes continue to be avoided.     

微博、公共知识分子与话语权力

微博因其“平权”、“零散”与“再中心化”的技术特质,具有对公众“表达自由”的“赋权”能力.目前,一批知识分子正以微博意见领袖身份,回应微博技术的赋权,参与公共话语的表达.文章总结公共知识分子在微博空间行使话语权的表现；提出制约其话语影响力发挥的因素和关系；并进一步探讨如何将微博的技术赋权转化为自身的机遇.结论认为:公共知识分子的微博生存存在多个方面的问题和隐忧；而微博“共景监狱”式的开放结构,让知识分子“虚妄的公共性”更为显性.为实现自我身份和公共价值的重新认同和构建,公共知识分子应积极介入、充分利用微博空间；秉持批判与道义传统,以特殊知识分子的身份,进行中观和微观政治话语的表达,彰显自身的中心话语权力；推动公民交往理性和公民社会的建构.     

“Open to all and everybody”? The Irish Film Board: accounting for the scarcity of women screenwriters

Despite the many social and cultural changes that have occurred in Irish society since the Irish Film Board was re-established in 1993, the Irish film industry remains strongly male dominated. Specifically, Irish women constitute a minority of produced screenwriters and writer/directors. This article contributes to an understanding of the discursive resources that key decision makers in the Irish Film Board draw upon in order to talk about gender. A number of interpretative repertoires are used to rationalize its position in relation to the dearth of women screenwriters, four of which are examined here: evasion and deflection; gender neutrality; project-led funding; and a difficulty making sense of entrenched gender issues, articulated here as “I don’t know.” Within the respondents’ repertoires an ideological dilemma can be identified in the conceptualization of gender as both relevant and irrelevant.     

从情态量值的角度对比英汉学术口语中的情态分布

以英国学术英语口语语料库(BASE)中关于lecture和seminar两个主题和情景的话语为语料,建立相对应的汉语语料库,基于Halliday系统功能语法中的情态理论,从情态量值的角度对比英汉学术口语语体中的情态分布特征.研究发现:(1)情态在英汉学术口语中的分布存在显著性差异;(2)英汉两种语言都倾向于使用情态的肯定形式,较少用否定形式;(3)英语学术口语更倾向使用低、中量值的情态词,而汉语学术口语则多使用低、高量值的情态词;(4)英语学术口语的高频情态词分布不均衡,较多地使用了低量值情态词can,而汉语的高频情态词分布相对集中,没有表现出过多使用某个情态词的特点.     

Fighting words? Joning as conflict talk and identity performance among African American preadolescents

This study examines how preadolescent African American students in Washington, D.C., used a linguistic practice called ‘joning,’ a style of verbal play similar to ritual insults, in peer interactions. Sociolinguists have focused on how children socialize each other into vernacular styles appropriate for peer group use but often assume that they disalign with social and linguistic norms for classroom behavior. Drawing from a nine‐month ethnographic study that the author conducted in an after‐school program, this article analyzes the structure and function of joning as a vernacular style of African American Vernacular English and its uses in constructing classroom identities. Joning often facilitated student learning, but it was perceived as a socially and physically risky linguistic practice because of its uses as conflict talk in the local community. Focusing on preadolescence as a key stage of language socialization, this article shows how minority students modify peer‐learned linguistic practices to pursue academic success on their own terms.     

＂贫困＂的多模态表征

本文以中介话语分析、多模态社会符号学为理论框架从语言、图像两方面探讨"贫困"现象的话语表征方式。基于BNC语料库揭示"贫困"的词汇语法模式,在语篇层面以媒体对贫困弱势群体表征为例分析其语篇语法,并探讨新闻报道中与"贫困"相关的视觉语法。"贫困"不仅仅表征为穷者匮乏的物质存在,更表征所映现的符号状态和人类精神。     

“没有晚清,何来五四”与现当代文学学科话语增生

"没有晚清,何来五四"对晚清文学知识考古式重返,把现代文学起点推到晚清,拓宽了现代文学疆界,并从对现代起源的关注转向如何想象并谈论中国"现代"的方式,引发了现当代文学研究范式的转换。论断对晚清现代性想象的释放,引发十七年文学"反现代的现代性"的探讨,使其在"革命中国"的阐释中具有了知识范畴的独立性和类似"乌托邦"的价值品格。而寻找中国现代性的努力暗合了中国作为大国经济崛起的"现实",这种承认的政治让现代性变成政治正确的概念而空洞化,重新落入西方思维模式中。对论断的反思是研究者超越时代限定并使现当代文学学科与研究者获得独立品格,走向成熟的关键。