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Evaluation, metaphors and the ideal reader in media discourse

Evaluation, metaphors and the ideal reader in media discourse. LISE-LOTTE HOLMGREEN TORBEN VESTERGAARD Aalborg University, Denmark E-mail: holmgreen@hum.aau.dk , tvest@hum.aau.dk. Introduction. This presentation: Analysis of linguistic and conceptual devices in Danish print media

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Evaluation, metaphors and the ideal reader in media discourse

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  1. Evaluation, metaphors and the ideal reader in media discourse LISE-LOTTE HOLMGREEN TORBEN VESTERGAARD Aalborg University, Denmark E-mail: holmgreen@hum.aau.dk, tvest@hum.aau.dk

  2. Introduction • This presentation: Analysis of linguistic and conceptual devices in Danish print media • that may influence public attitudes to biotech. • 17 news articles from Politiken (January-September 2004: Lifting of moratorium) • Analysis of the relation between evaluation, metaphor and the construction of writer-reader relationship • Several theories to establish this relation: • Evaluation/Appraisal • Conceptual Metaphor Theory • New Rhetoric (audience)

  3. Evaluation/Appraisal • Attitude (deontic stance) • Affect (personal feelings) • Judgement (of people) • Appreciation (of ’things’) • Engagement (attribution, evidentiality, epistemic stance) • Graduation

  4. Attitude: Affect • Metonymy • USA og andre store producenter er sure over… 29.01 • The US and other major producers are annoyed that… • Nominalization • […] forbrugernes skepsis kan bremse de gensplejsede planter.13.03 • Consumer scepticism can halt the use of GM plants. • Presupposition • I fredags lykkedes det for miljøorganisationen at få to ud af tre forhandlere til… 15.03 • On Friday the environment organization managed to make two out of three dealers…

  5. Attitude: Judgement • Det er ikke ærligt over for befolkningen… 12.03. • That is not being honest with people… • [Talsmanden] afviser, at kommissionen løber fra sit ansvar. 09.09. • he spokesman denies that the Commission are fleeing from their responsibility • …forbrugerne [er] slet ikke klar til, at der kommer genmodificeret majs på hylderne… • 27.04. • Consumers are not at all prepared for having GM maize on the shelves.

  6. Factual statement > evaluation • Den multinationale virksomhed [Monsanto] har finansieret alle udviklingsomkostninger • ved produktionen af den delvist genmodificerede svenske øl, der netop har ramt det • danske marked, men biotekgigantens navn optræder ikke på produktet. 15.03. • The multinational corporation [Monsanto] has financed all development costs for the • production of the partially genetically modified Swedish beer which has just hit the Danish • market, but the biotechgiant’s name does not figure on the product.

  7. Attitude: Appreciation • Positive • Gensplejsede planter kan begrænse brugen af sprøjtegifte – og dermed gavne miljøet • 12.03. • GM plants can reduce the use of herbicides – to the benefit of the environment. • Negative • Rapsfrø kan ligge i mange år i jorden… 12.03 • Rape seeds can lie in the soil for many years. • Gensplejsede planter kan krydse med ukrudtsplanter… 12.03 • GM plants can cross-pollinate with weeds.

  8. Metaphors as argument and evaluation • Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff & Johnson 1980) • Coherent conceptual systems (cognitive vs. linguistic) • Structuring and understanding of abstract concepts (source to target domain) • Unconscious choice • New Rhetoric (Perelman 2005) • Metaphor as conscious communicative and rhetorical choice • Focus on audience and shared values • Emphasis on elements of common appeal (= effective line of argument)

  9. Argumentation in pairs of contrast, I • Natural/Artificial (good/bad) • Questioning or discrediting of opponent’s values (here: that of advocates) • From contrast between ecological/conventional farming • Implicit instead of explicit assessment • Men den frie natur kan man jo heller ikke holde gensplejsning ude af. Den vil også blive • inficeret. 12.03 • But it is impossible to keep genetic modification out of the free natural environment. It will also be infected. • Ifølge det nye lovforslag skal naboen med de genmodificerede marker betale regningen • for den forurenede afgrøde. 12.03 • According to the new Bill, the neighbour with the genetically modified fields must pay the bill for the polluted crop.

  10. Argumentation in pairs of contrast, II • Progress/Stagnation • Positive/negative relation turned upside-down • Perceived risks and dangers • Unconspicous/conventional, but structure understanding • Dansk landbrug står ikke i kø for at så gensplejsede planter på markerne, selvom • politikerne i Bruxelles og Folketinget er i færd med atbane vejen. 13.03 • Danish agriculture is not queuing up for the sowing of genetically modified plants, although politicians in Bruxelles and the Danish Folketing are paving the way. • I Forbrugerrådet er man rigtig ked af, at det ikke lykkedes fødevareministeren at • blokere for de genmodificerede majs. 27.04 • In the Danish Consumer Council they are really sorry that the Danish Minister of Food and Agriculture did not succeed in blocking genetically modified corn.

  11. The ideal reader • Hunston 1994: 191: • Expressing evaluation in a text involves both a statement of personal judgement and an appeal to shared norms and values. In that it creates a shared point of view of speaker/writer and hearer/reader, its meaning is essentially interpersonal. • Martin and White 2005: 152: • Upscaling of attitude frequently acts to construe the speaker/writer as maximally committed to the value position being advanced and hence as strongly aligning the reader into that value position.

  12. Concern for the environment, I • Negation • [lovgivningen] vil ikke fuldstændig hindre spredning. 12.03 • [This legislation] will not prevent proliferation completely. • >> proliferation should be prevented completell • Definite Noun Group • Det nye GMO problem… 28.03. • The new GMO problem… • >> there already is a GMO problem • Ostensibly non-evaluative clause • I mange lande kan genmodificerede afgrøder dyrkes side om side med konventionelle • afgrøder. 09.09. • In many countries GM crops may be grown side by side with conventional crops. • >>It should not be allowed to grow GM crops side by side with conventional crops.

  13. Concern for the environment, II • Graduation • It will be almost impossible to prevent proliferation. • There are many environmental problems. • Denmark suffered a decisive defeat in the EU.

  14. Concern for the environment, III • Metaphorical constructions • Regeringens forslag indeholder også et krav om erstatning til de landmænd, der • utilsigtet får deres jord forurenet med genmodificerede frø … 12.03 • The Government’s Bill also contains a demand for compensation for the farmers whose land is inadvertently polluted with genetically modified seeds … • Danske forskere advarer nu om en hidtil upåagtet trussel ved bestemte gensplejsede • afgrøder. 28.03 • Danish researchers are now warning of a threat with certain GM crops, which was unknown until recently.

  15. Concern for the consumer • [De genmodificerede planter der er på vej] har ikke mange fordele for forbrugeren. 08.09 • [The GM plants that are on their way] do not offer the consumer many advantages. • >>Using GM crops should give the consumer advantages. • Behovet for mærkning af såsæd […] bliver ellers endnu mere udtalt […] 09.09 • The need for labelling seed grain will be even more pronounced. • >> There is already a pronounced need for labelling seed grain. • […] der er store mængder gensplejset soja I det såkaldte non-gmo foder […] 30.06 • There are large quantities of GM soy in so-called non-GM feed. • >> There should not be large quantities of GM soy in non-GM feed.

  16. Suspicion of big industry, I • Hvis sukkerfrit tyggegummi er tyggegummi uden sukker […] Så er gmo-frit dyrefoder • vel dyrefoder uden gmo […] Skulle man tro. Men ikke hos Danmarks største • foderselskab, Dansk Landbrugs Grovvareselskab (DLG), der laver såkaldt gmo-frit foder • til svin, der ender som særlige gmo-frie grise på landets største slagteri, Danish Crown. • 26.06 • If sugar free chewing gum is chewing gum without sugar […] Then GM free animal feed • supposedly is animal feed without GMO […] one would think. But not with Denmark’s largest feed company, Dansk Landbrugs Grovvaresselskab (DLG), which produces so-called GM free feed for pigs which end up as special GM free pigs in the country’s largest slaughter house, Danish Crown.

  17. Suspicion of big industry, II • Metaphorical constructions • Slagteriet har sat sine helt egne grænser for, hvor meget gmo det tillader i gmo-frit • foder. 30.06 • The slaughter house has established its own private limits as to how much GMO it will accept in GM-free feed.

  18. Concluding remarks • Risk and danger prevalent associations with GMO • Assessment of human capabilities and behaviour less in focus • Multinationals construed negatively (‘giants’) • Citizen/ordinary farmer construed positively • Objects of discussion, GMOs and ecological crops, much up for discussion • GMOs assessed negatively • Ecological crops construed positively • Fundamental dichotomy between good/bad • Natural/artificial + Progress/stagnation • Metaphors salient in strengthening opponents’ side of debate (reference to basic values)

  19. Concluding remarks, cont’d • The ideal reader? (of Politiken news articles) • Suspicious of big industry • Cares about the environment • Cares about the consumer • Worries that change means change for the worse

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