Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education

 

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

6-2013

Citation

Published in International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, 2013; doi: 10.1080/01924036.2013.803768

Comments

Copyright © 2013 School of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University; published by Routledge/Taylor & Francis. Used by permission.

Abstract

Discriminatory practices against Roma (also known as Romanies) occur on a daily basis in many countries around the world through media discourse. This paper investigates the representation of Romanies in U.S. and Canadian online newspaper crime reports and compares this representation to Wall Street/CEOs in crime reports demonstrating how identity of both groups is constructed through a variety of linguistic and non-linguistic strategies. Drawing on Mayr and Machin’s (2012) critical linguistic analysis of the language of crime, this multimodal study incorporates a variety of tools such as Critical Discourse Analysis and Cognitive Linguistics in order to dig below the surface to reveal ideological frames. Results illustrate the denaturalization (and negative representation) of Romanies and contrasting naturalization of CEOs and point to a growing need for consciousness-raising through critical linguistic analysis such as this in order to continue to fight for social change and a more just system for the Roma.

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