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Achieving a Comprehensive Peace: The Linguistic Factor
Author(s) -
Wenden Anita L.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
peace and change
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1468-0130
pISSN - 0149-0508
DOI - 10.1111/1468-0130.00258
Subject(s) - ideology , meaning (existential) , sociology , linguistics , epistemology , factor (programming language) , political science , politics , law , computer science , philosophy , programming language
This paper is based on theories from critical linguistics, which view language not as a neutral medium for the description of reality but as actively shaping and giving meaning to human experience. It, therefore, argues that the linguistic factor be taken into account in the analysis of and prescription for problems deriving from social and ecological violence that challenge contemporary societies. To that end, it outlines the components of a linguistic framework that illustrates how language communicates ideologies, which shape group attitudes and justify social practices that sustain the use of such violence, and then it applies the framework to an analysis of two brief texts on environmental security and President Bush's September 20, 2001, address to Congress.