The Representation of the Algerian Movement ‘‘Hirak’’ in English Media
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Date
2020-09
Authors
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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