The Representation of the Algerian Movement ‘‘Hirak’’ in English Media

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Date

2020-09

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Université Mouloud Mammeri Tizi Ouzou

Abstract

The present study intends to investigate the linguistic representation of the Algerian Hirak movement in the media written in English. The aim of this paper is to explore whether the Hirak movement is represented positively or negatively in the foreign media. Hence, this study seeks to attain two main objectives. The research aims first to identify the foreign journalists’ motivation to cover the 2019 Algerian protests. The second objective consists in unveiling the journalists’ different ideologies. To achieve these objectives, we have selected four newspapers, namely the New York Times, the Guardian, the Independent, and the Daily Mail newspapers extracting from them twenty articles written by foreign journalists. Additionally, this data is supplemented by an online interview conducted with three journalists (Adam Nossiter, Ruth Michaelson, and Borzou Daragahi) and two others from the Conversation( Yahia Zoubir) and the Financial Times(Anonymous) newspapers. Moreover, the study relies on two theoretical frameworks: Fairclough’s Social Theory of Discourse focusing on two grammatical features in terms of vocabulary and grammar and Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics with emphasis put on the textual, interpersonal, and ideational metafunctions. The study is qualitative in nature; hence, the results obtained from the analysis of both the news articles and the online interview are interpreted using the Qualitative Content Analysis following Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis and Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics. The findings of the study suggest that the Hirak event portrayal is rather positive with some negative aspects of its representation linked to the socio-economic and political challenges of Algeria. Besides, it was found that the identified ideologies of the journalists deduced from the concerned articles are related to justice, democracy, pluralism, and transparency. Still, some of them pretend to be neutral in their writings. Ultimately, the research provides further recommendations within the political field.

Description

30cm ; 83p. ; ill. en coul.

Keywords

The Hirak, News Articles in English, Foreign Journalists, Critical Discourse Analysis, Systemic Functional Linguistics.

Citation

Language and Communication