A corpus-driven comparison of English and French Islamist extremist texts

Paul Baker ^[2] ; Rachelle Vessey ^[1]
1. [1] University of London
  
  University of London
  
  Reino Unido
2. [2] Lancaster University
  
  Lancaster University
  
  Lancaster, Reino Unido
Localización: International journal of corpus linguistics, ISSN-e 1569-9811, ISSN 1384-6655, Vol. 23, Nº 3, 2018, págs. 255-278
Idioma: inglés
Enlaces
- Texto completo (pdf)

Resumen
- Using corpus linguistics and qualitative, manual discourse analysis, this paper compares English and French extremist texts to determine how messages in different languages draw upon similar and distinct discursive themes and linguistic strategies. Findings show that both corpora focus on religion and rewards (i.e. for faith) and strongly rely on othering strategies. However, the English texts are concerned with world events whereas the French texts focus on issues specific to France. Also, while the English texts use Arabic code-switching as a form of legitimation, the French texts use a formal register and quotation from scripture in discussions of permissions, rights, obligations and laws. Finally, the English texts refer to and justify violence to a greater extent than the French texts. This paper contributes to the field of terrorism studies and the field of corpus linguistics by presenting a new approach to corpus-driven studies of discourse across more than one language.