172.237 slideshow presentation - Language of Death ass 3 2011

1. The Language of Death: “Words are about the world but they also form the world as they represent it” (Wetherell, 2001. p. 16) “Meaning emerges from complex social and historical processes” (Wetherell, 2001. p. 17). “Power is not simply exersized, it is also fought over in discourse” (Chouliaraki and Fairclough, 1999. p. 62).

2. 0000000000 Timor Leste The setting; 1975. Indonesia invades and occupies Timor, killing thousands.

3. . Five Australian journalists, sent to Timor to cover the story, were shot by Indonesian soldiers, their corpses dressed in uniforms, guns propped beside them, photographs taken, and a mock funeral staged and filmed. This photograph is courtesy of the Balibo Film publicity dept. All other photographs used in this presentation were taken by the author in Timor Leste.

4. They became known as The ‘Balibo Five’ (labeling requiring assumption of prior knowledge for understanding - Lee, 2007).It took years for the truth to emerge.The film’s title is the name of the tiny coastal town where the men died.

5. The Language of Death. they deliberately killed the journalists attributable their murderous nature otherization shoot the journalists to death explicit were killed accidentally in crossfire dissimulation executed with a bullet to the head connotation bullet was fired into his head passive voice summarily executed emotive the deaths of the Balibo Five presupposition their murderous intent accusatory

7. organised with possible future discourses in mind

8. adherence to genre and medium rules.

9. acknowledgement of socio-knowledge

10. Knowledge of cultural connotations. (Wetherell, 2001)

11. . Intertextuality connects elements of discourse to create “constructions of the real that reflect the interests of the speech community” (Chilton and Shaefer, 1997, p. 221). Meaning is relational – it exists because speech communities cooperate in having a shared understanding of the meaning of words (Wetherell, 2001).

12. Exerts from two texts to illustrate - 1. Graeme Dobell’s article ‘Some perspectives on Balibo’ published in The Interpreter, Lowy Institute of International Policy. 2.Shirley Shackleton spent years demanding the truth about her husband’s death – her open letter to the United Nations Prosecuter General.

13. A story is woven using: Representational understandings – Fretilin rebel forces/Indonesian militia/ larger issues of East Timor Common collocations – killed in crossfire/ heat of the battle/ full light of day/monumental blunder/ Chunked reused phrases – the Balibo Five/the murdered Australians/executed with a bullet in the top the head/growing weight of evidence Accepted truths – blaming the Indonesian army/the clear findings/the cover-up culture of Indonesia/professional testimony Acceptable attitudes – that is worth remembering/it is worth action against Indonesia

14. Shirley’s linguistic power struggle: Hedging and diminutives - I refer you to the fact/Fretilin had wisely withdrawn/as is often stated/certain historical accuracies Indirect speech – one would expect that/have been shown to be deeply flawed/ Acknowledges power differentials – Dear Sir/my reason for writing is to point out Face saving – this letter is not to persuade you/my reason for writing is Coercive – Indonesia itself needs this matter to come to court/the evidence before you Euphemisms –giant jig-saw puzzle/vital clues/mythical history/skirmishes Seeks common ground – we were all lied to/the world cared so little for justice/her own government officials Enables and allows for future discourse – you will no doubt hear of/of course there could be many valid reasons

15. Painting pictures to persuade: Kicking and yelling – masculinised from kicking and screaming Forgotten freelancer – altruistic, intrepid, martyr Cover-up culture – Western/Indonesian. Open/closed The fig-leaf of doubt could still be waved – humour depicting view of ‘the other’ as flimsy, archaic, mythical and easily exposed and embarrassed, reference back to cover-up culture. Cursed the Ind. troops as any Australian would -creating an ‘us’ group, positive stereotyping,

16. ‘Shock and horror’, ‘murder and mayhem’ are linguistically powerless, but….. Vilified and defamed (endured extremes) My mother-in-law committed suicide (unbearable despair) Marched to the wharf (military, asymmetrical power) Executed with a bullet to the head (brutal,, merciless) Embittered by the deaths (emotionally scarred) evoke strong emotion. Meaning is a joint production between the writer and the reader (Wetherell, 2001)

17. Headline - “Australia, Indonesia and East Timor” (names the players) Opening sentence - “Why are we still arguing about the six dead journalists?” (defines the subject, sets the topic) “Discourse is a social action” (Wetherell, M. 2001)

18. “Discourse builds worlds” (Wetherell, 2001) Discourse is constructive; it creates as it expresses.

19. It is indexical; meanings depend on context

20. It is collaborative; meaning is a joint production.

21. Discourse creates meaning around everythingin life - including how we talk about death. Timorese mourning houses in honour of the dead.