Wesley Bell-Surette | University of East Anglia (original) (raw)
Masters student at The University of East Anglia focusing on 'post-racial' America, knowledge/power, and critical discourse analysis.
Supervisors: Dr. Marina Prentoulis
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University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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The contemporary American media and political elite have made claims to the nations ‘post-racial’... more The contemporary American media and political elite have made claims to the nations ‘post-racial’ disposition since the election of President Obama. However, in light of the recent ‘Black Lives Matter’ protest movement, the media reaction seems to prove otherwise—that there is still a racially formed hierarchy and racist preconceived notions regarding the black community. This is shown by the way in which the mainstream media makes constant efforts to invalidate the protests and protesters with ‘discourses of invalidation’ that exert claims to knowledge/truth over the entire protest narrative.
By using Critical Discourse Analysis as conceived of by van Dijk, this dissertation analyses myriad discourses of invalidation which are: the fetishisation of the riots, a denial of significant racial issues in the social formation of contemporary America, comparisons to the Civil Rights Movement that create a pre-determined protest framework that race related protest must follow to be considered legitimate, and the valorisation and glorification of the police institution.
The contemporary American media and political elite have made claims to the nations ‘post-racial’... more The contemporary American media and political elite have made claims to the nations ‘post-racial’ disposition since the election of President Obama. However, in light of the recent ‘Black Lives Matter’ protest movement, the media reaction seems to prove otherwise—that there is still a racially formed hierarchy and racist preconceived notions regarding the black community. This is shown by the way in which the mainstream media makes constant efforts to invalidate the protests and protesters with ‘discourses of invalidation’ that exert claims to knowledge/truth over the entire protest narrative.
By using Critical Discourse Analysis as conceived of by van Dijk, this dissertation analyses myriad discourses of invalidation which are: the fetishisation of the riots, a denial of significant racial issues in the social formation of contemporary America, comparisons to the Civil Rights Movement that create a pre-determined protest framework that race related protest must follow to be considered legitimate, and the valorisation and glorification of the police institution.