The Potential of Narrative Strategies in the Discursive Construction of Hegemonic Positions and Social Change
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Nicolina Montesano Montessori
Abstract
This chapter illustrates ways in which narrative strategies contribute to the construction of hegemonic processes of social change. Narratives have transformational power because they shape new imaginaries about social life, help to legitimate them and create consensus. It is argued that effective hegemony constitutes power over social reality and will be generally accepted as a ‘matter of course’. This chapter is based on a study of the struggle for hegemony between former Mexican President Gortari and the Zapatista movement and integrates a Gramscian view on hegemony with discourse theory (Laclau and Mouffe 1985). The study contributes to the development of discourse theory on hegemony, using the concept of three levels of abstraction, or ‘orders of discourse’, found in Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough, 2001, 2003); and a discourse-historical approach (Reisigl and Wodak 2001). A comparison is made with Eleveld’s study of storylines (this volume) and Filardo Llamas’ text worlds, leading to the presentation of criteria for qualitative research and some ideas for further research.
Abstract
This chapter illustrates ways in which narrative strategies contribute to the construction of hegemonic processes of social change. Narratives have transformational power because they shape new imaginaries about social life, help to legitimate them and create consensus. It is argued that effective hegemony constitutes power over social reality and will be generally accepted as a ‘matter of course’. This chapter is based on a study of the struggle for hegemony between former Mexican President Gortari and the Zapatista movement and integrates a Gramscian view on hegemony with discourse theory (Laclau and Mouffe 1985). The study contributes to the development of discourse theory on hegemony, using the concept of three levels of abstraction, or ‘orders of discourse’, found in Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough, 2001, 2003); and a discourse-historical approach (Reisigl and Wodak 2001). A comparison is made with Eleveld’s study of storylines (this volume) and Filardo Llamas’ text worlds, leading to the presentation of criteria for qualitative research and some ideas for further research.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Positions of Parties and Political Cleavages between Parties in Texts 1
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PART I. Computational Methods for Political Text Analysis
- PART I: Introduction 23
- Comparing the Position of Canadian Political Parties using French and English Manifestos as Textual Data 27
- Leveraging Textual Sentiment Analysis with Social Network Modelling 47
- Issue Framing and Language Use in the Swedish Blogosphere 71
- Text to Ideology or Text to Party Status? 93
- Sentiment Analysis in Parliamentary Proceedings 117
- The Qualitative Analysis of Political Documents 135
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PART II. From Text to Political Positions via Discourse Analysis
- PART II: Introduction 163
- The Potential of Narrative Strategies in the Discursive Construction of Hegemonic Positions and Social Change 171
- Christians, Feminists, Liberals, Socialists, Workers and Employers 189
- Between Union and a United Ireland 207
- Systematic Stylistic Analysis 225
- Participation and recontextualisation in New Media 245
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PART III. Converging methods
- PART III: Introduction 271
- From Text to the Construction of Political Party Landscapes 275
- From Text to Political Positions 297
- About the authors 325
- Index 331
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Positions of Parties and Political Cleavages between Parties in Texts 1
-
PART I. Computational Methods for Political Text Analysis
- PART I: Introduction 23
- Comparing the Position of Canadian Political Parties using French and English Manifestos as Textual Data 27
- Leveraging Textual Sentiment Analysis with Social Network Modelling 47
- Issue Framing and Language Use in the Swedish Blogosphere 71
- Text to Ideology or Text to Party Status? 93
- Sentiment Analysis in Parliamentary Proceedings 117
- The Qualitative Analysis of Political Documents 135
-
PART II. From Text to Political Positions via Discourse Analysis
- PART II: Introduction 163
- The Potential of Narrative Strategies in the Discursive Construction of Hegemonic Positions and Social Change 171
- Christians, Feminists, Liberals, Socialists, Workers and Employers 189
- Between Union and a United Ireland 207
- Systematic Stylistic Analysis 225
- Participation and recontextualisation in New Media 245
-
PART III. Converging methods
- PART III: Introduction 271
- From Text to the Construction of Political Party Landscapes 275
- From Text to Political Positions 297
- About the authors 325
- Index 331
