Chapter 4. The circulation of violence in discourse
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Daniel N. Silva
Abstract
This paper examines two hypotheses concerning the relationship between language and violence. (1) Language does not merely represent violence, but enacts its own type of violence. (2) The use of violent language participates in the demarcation of political and subjective viability in the public sphere. I argue that these hypotheses are true to the extent that discourse circulates. I elaborate on two models of discourse circulation: iterability, a concept that Jacques Derrida proposed and that Judith Butler borrows in her understanding of the performativity of hate speech, and communicability, an anthropological concept devised by Charles Briggs to envision the complex infectious character of modern discourses. This paper also looks at the communicability of violent discourse in Brazilian contemporary political life.
Abstract
This paper examines two hypotheses concerning the relationship between language and violence. (1) Language does not merely represent violence, but enacts its own type of violence. (2) The use of violent language participates in the demarcation of political and subjective viability in the public sphere. I argue that these hypotheses are true to the extent that discourse circulates. I elaborate on two models of discourse circulation: iterability, a concept that Jacques Derrida proposed and that Judith Butler borrows in her understanding of the performativity of hate speech, and communicability, an anthropological concept devised by Charles Briggs to envision the complex infectious character of modern discourses. This paper also looks at the communicability of violent discourse in Brazilian contemporary political life.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Investigating violence in language 1
-
Part I. The language of violence
- Chapter 1. The invention of violence 33
- Chapter 2. Voice and silence in the suburbs of São Paulo 57
- Chapter 3. From the side of the road to the borders of the page 79
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Part II. The violence of language
- Chapter 4. The circulation of violence in discourse 107
- Chapter 5. Racist speech as a linguistic discriminatory practice in Brazil 125
- Chapter 6. Free speech, hate speech, and hate beards 141
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Part III. The intersections of violence, bodies and languages
- Chapter 7. On languages, bodies and epistemic violence 171
- Chapter 8. Queering violence and narrative 189
- Chapter 9. Discursive constructions of deviance in the narratives of a prison inmate 227
- Index 249
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Investigating violence in language 1
-
Part I. The language of violence
- Chapter 1. The invention of violence 33
- Chapter 2. Voice and silence in the suburbs of São Paulo 57
- Chapter 3. From the side of the road to the borders of the page 79
-
Part II. The violence of language
- Chapter 4. The circulation of violence in discourse 107
- Chapter 5. Racist speech as a linguistic discriminatory practice in Brazil 125
- Chapter 6. Free speech, hate speech, and hate beards 141
-
Part III. The intersections of violence, bodies and languages
- Chapter 7. On languages, bodies and epistemic violence 171
- Chapter 8. Queering violence and narrative 189
- Chapter 9. Discursive constructions of deviance in the narratives of a prison inmate 227
- Index 249
