Gay intolerance in the language of Stellenbosch students : a critical discourse analysis of Campus News Media
Date
2008-03
Authors
Mongie, Lauren
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
Abstract
This thesis has been written in partial fulfillment of the requirements of a masters
programme in intercultural communication. The study focuses on aspects of linguistic
communication, specifically in media discourse, where “cultural boundaries” are
determined by sexual difference and where much misunderstanding appears to be
founded in different conceptions of homosexuality. I have investigated the theoretical
frameworks within which discursive reflection on homosexuality can be studied from
an interdisciplinary perspective. The research examines reports in a student
newspaper that topicalise homosexuality; it also considers reports that are part of a
discourse in which communication takes place between a heterosexual majority and a
homosexual minority. Reports that were published across a period of five years were
examined, in order to determine whether there has been any development in the
discourse.
This investigation of a particular kind of intercultural media discourse has been
augmented by investigating attitudes towards the minority group by means of a
questionnaire, designed by Kite and Deaux (1986: 137). This questionnaire was
distributed among 240 students in an attempt to determine whether their reported
attitudes coincide with those reported in the media. Despite the fact that
homosexuality was removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders (DSM) more than 30 years ago, reports of homophobic violence and
attitudes in news media reveal that a significant percentage of the population still
views homosexuality as an illness, a psychological disorder or as sin.
The aim of this thesis was to examine the possible (re)enforcement of such
homophobic ideologies in news media, as well as the possible (re)enforcement of
increasingly tolerant ideologies, by making use of frameworks developed within
Critical Discourse Analysis, by van Dijk (1998) and Gelber (2002). While the results
of the media analysis indicate a growing acceptance of homosexuality, the survey
results reveal that the majority of the heterosexual students surveyed still maintain homophobic attitudes. Furthermore, discrepancies in the survey results reveal the
complex nature of such attitudes.
Description
Thesis (MPhil (General Linguistics))--Stellenbosch University, 2008.
Keywords
Intercultural communication, Homosexuality, Homophobia, Language and culture -- South Africa -- Stellenbosch, College students -- Attitudes -- South Africa -- Stellenbosch, Cultural pluralism -- South Africa -- Stellenbosch, Dissertations -- Linguistics, Theses -- Linguistics