A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE KURDISH QUESTION WITH FOCUS ON THE DENIAL STRATEGIES
Keywords:
Critical discourse analysis, the Kurdish question, forms and functions of denial, racism.
Abstract
This study aims to explore how the denial of the Kurdish question operates in the Iraqi Kurds’ and Arabs’ personal experience narratives. To put it simply, this study explores the forms and functions of this denial in the personal experience narratives told by the Iraqi Kurds and Arabs within the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). Using open-ended interviews, forty personal experience narratives (20 by Kurds and 20 by Arabs) were elicited as the data sample for this study. This study follows a qualitative paradigm in analyzing the data sample. In view of that, van Dijk’s (1992) model of denial has been used. The model consists of eight forms and four functions of denial. The application of van Dijk’s model to the selected data has yielded some conclusions: The study’s participants (Kurds and Arabs) have used different forms of denial in their personal experience narratives namely; disclaimers, transfer, mitigations, justification, excused, provocation (blaming the victim), and reversal. By using these forms of denial, Iraqi Arab speakers could present themselves positively and save their self-image at the same time. Conversely, Kurdish speakers sometimes used denial strategies as a “counter-attack” device to blame the other group (Iraqi Arabs) for denying their rights of having their own state. This study has also explored three functions of denial namely; individual, social, and cultural. The participants of both groups (Kurds and Arabs) rely on their individual, cultural, and social backgrounds to refer to their ideologies using denial strategies.
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
References
Ahmed, M, M. (2012). Iraqi Kurds and nation-building. US: Palgrave Macmillan.
Al-Haims, M. M. (2013). دولة تحت التشكيل حوار النفي واثبات الوجود (كردستان العراق انموذجا). Journal of Education College/Wasit University, 1 (14), 222-237 https://doi.org/10.31185/eduj.Vol1.Iss14.384
Anderson, G. (1998). Fundamentals of educational research. London: Falmer Press.
Arkin, R. M. (1981). Self-Presentation Style. In J. T. Tedeschi (Ed.), Impression Management Theory and Social Psychological Research (pp. 311-333). New York: Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-685180-9.50020-8
Baker, P. & Ellege, S. (2011). Key terms in Discourse analysis. London: Continuum International Publishing Group.
Bedir-khan, K. E. (1960). The Kurdish question. Retrieved May 6, 2022, from https://www.academia.edu/25464075/THE_KURDISH_QUESTION
Blackmore, D. (2002). Relevance and linguistic meaning: The semantics and pragmatics of discourse markers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Brown, G. & Yule, G. (1983). Discourse analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Chouliaraki, L., & Fairclough, N. (1999). Discourse in late modernity: Rethinking critical discourse analysis. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Cody, M. J., & McLaughlin, M. L. (1988). Accounts on trial: Oral arguments in traffic court. In C. Antaki (Ed.), Analysing everyday explanation: A casebook of methods (pp. 113–126). London: Sage Publications.
Cojer, H. (1996). Denial of rights and self-determination: the case of the Kurds of Iraq [Master thesis, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada]. Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/handle/10012/32/mq21541.pdf
Croker, R. A. (2009). An introduction to qualitative research. In J. Heigham, & R. A. Croker (Eds.), Qualitative research in applied linguistics (pp. 3-24). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
De Beaugrande, R. & Dressler, W. (1981). Introduction to text linguistics. London: Longman.
Denzin, N.K. & Lincoln, Y.S. (2000). Hand book of qualitative research (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: CA: Sage.
Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics. New York: Oxford University.
Fairclough, N. (1992). Intertextuality in critical discourse analysis. Linguistics and Education, 4(3-4), 269-293. https://doi.org/10.1016/0898-5898(92)90004-G
Flowerdew, J. (2008). Critical discourse analysis and strategies of resistance. In V. K. Bahtia, J. Flowedew & R.H. Jones (Eds.), Advances in Discourse Studies (pp. 195-211). USA& Canada: Routledge.
Fouad, F. (2019). Strategies of denial in Amr Moussa and Abul Futouh presidential debate. CDELT Occasional Papers in the Development of English Education, 66(2), 573-593. https://dx.doi.org/10.21608/opde.2019.126887
Foucault, M. (1972). Power/knowledge. Brighton, UK: Harvester.
Fritz, S. R. (2019). Critical discourse analysis of construction and denial strategies on racism: Donald Trump’s Presidential campaign tweets [Master thesis, University of Santiago, Chile]. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.18236.18566
Gramsci, A. (1971). Selections from the prison notebooks. London: Lawrence & Wishart.
Halliday, M. A. K. & Hasan, R. (1976). Cohesion in English. London: Longman.
Henry, F. & Tator, C. (2002). Discourses of domination: Racial bias in the Canadian English-language press. Maldives: University of Toronto Press.
Herring, S. (2004). Computer-mediated discourse analysis: an approach to researching online communities. in A. Barab, R. Kling, & J. H. Gray, (Eds.). Designing for Virtual Communities in the Service of Learning (pp. 338-376). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Hojani, M. H. (2013). صفخات من تاريخ الكرد وكردستان (2nd ed.). Kurdistan region of Iraq, Duhok: General Directorate of Media, Printing and Publishing.
Kim, D., 2010. A basic guide to Kurdish grammar: a self-study reference and practice book. Hawler: Iraqi Kurdistan. Retrieved April 12, 2022, from http://www.clik2rock.org.
MacDonald, G. Ch. (1991). The Kurds. Journal of Political Science, 19 (1), 121-139. Retrieved May 16, 2022, from https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/jops/vol19/iss1/9/
Magri, P. (2016). Introduction. In S. M. Torelli (Ed.), Kurdistan: An Invisible Nation (pp. 12- 17). Italy: ISPI.
Malki, I. (2021). A discursive examination of white Americans’ attitudes about white-black interracial marriages in USA. European Journal of Social Sciences, 3(3), 82-89. https://doi.org/10.26417/831kva96x
Manyuan, D. (2017). The Kurdish Issue in the Middle East Context. Retrieved April 11, 2022, from https://www.ciis.org.cn/english/ESEARCHPROJECTS/Articles/202007/t20200715_3588.html
Muhammed, A. P. (2020). The Kurdish question: an overview. In D. Ramano, M. Gurses, &M.M. Gunter (Eds.), The Kurds in the Middle East: Enduring Problems and New Dynamics (pp. 167-178). United States: Lexington Books.
Muhammed, M. M., & Flaifel, M. S. (2015). A critical discourse analysis of the 2012 American presidential election debates. Journal of the College of Languages (JCL), (32), 1-26. Retrieved September 5, 2021, from https://jcolang.uobaghdad.edu.iq/index.php/JCL/article/view/143
O’Leary, A. C. (2002). The Kurds of Iraq: recent history, future prospects. Middle East Review of International Affairs, 6 (4), 17-29. Retrieved May 16, 2022, from https://ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu/olj/meria/meria02_olc01.html
Öpengin, E., 2015. The changing status of Kurdish in Iraq and Turkey: Comparative assessment. The Singapore Middle East Papers, 8 (3), 1-27. Retrieved April 15, 2022, from https://fis.uni-bamberg.de/handle/uniba/41414
Özhan, T., & Ete, H. (2009). A new agenda for the Kurdish question. Insight Turkey, 11(1), 97-114. Retrieved April 18, 2022, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/26330904
Paltridge, B. (2012). Discourse analysis: An introduction (2nd ed.). London: Bloomsbury academic.
Rahimi, A., & Sahragard, R. (2007). Critical Discourse Analysis. Tehran: Jungle Publications.
Richards, J.C. Platt, J.T. & Weber, H. (1985). Longman dictionary of applied linguistics. Essex: Longman.
Roy, S. (2011). The Kurdish issue. Retrieved June 4, 2022, from https://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2011/04/22/the-kurdish-issue/
Salter, P. S., Adams, G., & Perez, M. J. (2018). Racism in the structure of everyday worlds: a cultural-psychological perspective. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(3), 150–155. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721417724239
Shlykov, P. (2019). Peace process, international organizations and the “Kurdish Question”. In A. Kulnazarova, & V. Popovski, The Palgrave Handbook of Global Approaches to Peace (pp. 519-538). Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
Sauntson, H. (2020). Conflicting discourses of ‘democracy’ and ‘equality’: a discourse analysis of the language of pro- and anti-LGBTQ+ inclusion in the relationships and sex education guidance for schools in England. Trabalhos em Linguística Aplicada, 59 (3), 1995-2016. https://doi.org/10.1590/010318138753811120201118
Stansfield, G. (2006). The Kurdish question in Iraq, 1914-1974. Retrieved June 4, 2022, from https://www.gale.com/binaries/content/assets/au-resources-in-product/iraqessay_stansfield.pdf
Stubbs, M. (1983). Discourse analysis: The sociolinguistic analysis of natural language. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Tannen, D. (1983). Oral and literate strategies in spoken and written discourse. In R.W. Bailey, & R.M. Fosheim, (Eds.), Literacy for Life: The Demand for Reading and Writing (pp. 79-95). New York: The Modern Language Association.
Tehrani, N. J. & Yeganeh, A. S. (1999). A dictionary of discourse analysis. Tehran: Tahnama Publications.
Temel, D. (2021). Kurdish question in middle east. Retrieved June 4, 2022, from https://www.academia.edu/45111749/KURDISH_QUESTION_IN_MIDDLE_EAST
Torelli, M. S. (2016). Kurdistan: An invisible nation. Italy: ISPI.
Urrutia, P., & Villellas, A. (2012). Reopening the Kurdish question: states, communities and proxies in a time of turmoil (NOREF Report). Oslo, Norway: NOREF.
Van Dijk, A. T. (1990). The future of the field: Discourse analysis in the 1990s. Text - Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Discourse, 10(1-2), 133-156. https://doi.org/10.1515/text.1.1990.10.1-2.133
Van Dijk, A. T. (1991). Denying racism: Elite Discourse and Racism. Paper presented at Conferences in Coventry and Duisburg, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Retrieved October 23, 2022, from https://discourses.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Teun-A.-van-Dijk-1993-Denying-racism-Elite-discourse-and-racism.pdf
Van Dijk, A. T. (1992). Discourse and the denial of racism. Discourse and Society, 3(1), 87-118. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0957926592003001005
Van Dijk, A.T. (1995). Discourse analysis as ideology analysis. In Ch. Schaffner, & A. L. Wenden (Eds.). Language and Peace(pp.17-33). Dartmouth: Aldershot.
Van Dijk, A. T. (1998). Ideology: A multidisciplinary approach. United Kingdom: SAGE Publications.
Van Dijk, A. T. (2001). Multidisciplinary CDA: A plea for diversity. In R. Wodak &M. Meyer (Eds.), Methods of critical Discourse Analysis (pp. 95-120). London: sage.
Van Dijk, A. T. (2008). Discourse and power. UK: Macmillan Education.
Wodak, R. (1997). Critical discourse analysis and the study of doctor-patient interaction. In B-L. Gunnarsson, P. Linell, & B. Nordberg (Eds.), The Construction of Professional Discourse (pp. 173-200). London: Longman.
Wodak, R. (2001). The discourse- historical approach. In R. Wodak,, & M. Meyer, Methods of Critical Discourse Studies (pp.63-94. London: Sage Publications.
Wodak, R. (2002). Aspects of critical discourse analysis. Zeitschrift für Angewandte Linguistik, 36, 5-31.
Wodak, R. & Meyer, M. (2009). critical discourse analysis: history, agenda, theory, and methodology 1. In R. Wodak, & M. Meyer, Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis (pp. 1-33). London: Sage Publications.
Yildiz, K. (2004). The Kurds in Iraq: The past, present and future. London: Pluto.
Zanotti, J., & Thomas, C. (2019). The Kurds in Iraq, Turkey, Syria, and Iran. Retrieved May 16, 2022, from https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/IF10350.html
Al-Haims, M. M. (2013). دولة تحت التشكيل حوار النفي واثبات الوجود (كردستان العراق انموذجا). Journal of Education College/Wasit University, 1 (14), 222-237 https://doi.org/10.31185/eduj.Vol1.Iss14.384
Anderson, G. (1998). Fundamentals of educational research. London: Falmer Press.
Arkin, R. M. (1981). Self-Presentation Style. In J. T. Tedeschi (Ed.), Impression Management Theory and Social Psychological Research (pp. 311-333). New York: Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-685180-9.50020-8
Baker, P. & Ellege, S. (2011). Key terms in Discourse analysis. London: Continuum International Publishing Group.
Bedir-khan, K. E. (1960). The Kurdish question. Retrieved May 6, 2022, from https://www.academia.edu/25464075/THE_KURDISH_QUESTION
Blackmore, D. (2002). Relevance and linguistic meaning: The semantics and pragmatics of discourse markers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Brown, G. & Yule, G. (1983). Discourse analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Chouliaraki, L., & Fairclough, N. (1999). Discourse in late modernity: Rethinking critical discourse analysis. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Cody, M. J., & McLaughlin, M. L. (1988). Accounts on trial: Oral arguments in traffic court. In C. Antaki (Ed.), Analysing everyday explanation: A casebook of methods (pp. 113–126). London: Sage Publications.
Cojer, H. (1996). Denial of rights and self-determination: the case of the Kurds of Iraq [Master thesis, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada]. Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/handle/10012/32/mq21541.pdf
Croker, R. A. (2009). An introduction to qualitative research. In J. Heigham, & R. A. Croker (Eds.), Qualitative research in applied linguistics (pp. 3-24). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
De Beaugrande, R. & Dressler, W. (1981). Introduction to text linguistics. London: Longman.
Denzin, N.K. & Lincoln, Y.S. (2000). Hand book of qualitative research (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: CA: Sage.
Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics. New York: Oxford University.
Fairclough, N. (1992). Intertextuality in critical discourse analysis. Linguistics and Education, 4(3-4), 269-293. https://doi.org/10.1016/0898-5898(92)90004-G
Flowerdew, J. (2008). Critical discourse analysis and strategies of resistance. In V. K. Bahtia, J. Flowedew & R.H. Jones (Eds.), Advances in Discourse Studies (pp. 195-211). USA& Canada: Routledge.
Fouad, F. (2019). Strategies of denial in Amr Moussa and Abul Futouh presidential debate. CDELT Occasional Papers in the Development of English Education, 66(2), 573-593. https://dx.doi.org/10.21608/opde.2019.126887
Foucault, M. (1972). Power/knowledge. Brighton, UK: Harvester.
Fritz, S. R. (2019). Critical discourse analysis of construction and denial strategies on racism: Donald Trump’s Presidential campaign tweets [Master thesis, University of Santiago, Chile]. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.18236.18566
Gramsci, A. (1971). Selections from the prison notebooks. London: Lawrence & Wishart.
Halliday, M. A. K. & Hasan, R. (1976). Cohesion in English. London: Longman.
Henry, F. & Tator, C. (2002). Discourses of domination: Racial bias in the Canadian English-language press. Maldives: University of Toronto Press.
Herring, S. (2004). Computer-mediated discourse analysis: an approach to researching online communities. in A. Barab, R. Kling, & J. H. Gray, (Eds.). Designing for Virtual Communities in the Service of Learning (pp. 338-376). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Hojani, M. H. (2013). صفخات من تاريخ الكرد وكردستان (2nd ed.). Kurdistan region of Iraq, Duhok: General Directorate of Media, Printing and Publishing.
Kim, D., 2010. A basic guide to Kurdish grammar: a self-study reference and practice book. Hawler: Iraqi Kurdistan. Retrieved April 12, 2022, from http://www.clik2rock.org.
MacDonald, G. Ch. (1991). The Kurds. Journal of Political Science, 19 (1), 121-139. Retrieved May 16, 2022, from https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/jops/vol19/iss1/9/
Magri, P. (2016). Introduction. In S. M. Torelli (Ed.), Kurdistan: An Invisible Nation (pp. 12- 17). Italy: ISPI.
Malki, I. (2021). A discursive examination of white Americans’ attitudes about white-black interracial marriages in USA. European Journal of Social Sciences, 3(3), 82-89. https://doi.org/10.26417/831kva96x
Manyuan, D. (2017). The Kurdish Issue in the Middle East Context. Retrieved April 11, 2022, from https://www.ciis.org.cn/english/ESEARCHPROJECTS/Articles/202007/t20200715_3588.html
Muhammed, A. P. (2020). The Kurdish question: an overview. In D. Ramano, M. Gurses, &M.M. Gunter (Eds.), The Kurds in the Middle East: Enduring Problems and New Dynamics (pp. 167-178). United States: Lexington Books.
Muhammed, M. M., & Flaifel, M. S. (2015). A critical discourse analysis of the 2012 American presidential election debates. Journal of the College of Languages (JCL), (32), 1-26. Retrieved September 5, 2021, from https://jcolang.uobaghdad.edu.iq/index.php/JCL/article/view/143
O’Leary, A. C. (2002). The Kurds of Iraq: recent history, future prospects. Middle East Review of International Affairs, 6 (4), 17-29. Retrieved May 16, 2022, from https://ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu/olj/meria/meria02_olc01.html
Öpengin, E., 2015. The changing status of Kurdish in Iraq and Turkey: Comparative assessment. The Singapore Middle East Papers, 8 (3), 1-27. Retrieved April 15, 2022, from https://fis.uni-bamberg.de/handle/uniba/41414
Özhan, T., & Ete, H. (2009). A new agenda for the Kurdish question. Insight Turkey, 11(1), 97-114. Retrieved April 18, 2022, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/26330904
Paltridge, B. (2012). Discourse analysis: An introduction (2nd ed.). London: Bloomsbury academic.
Rahimi, A., & Sahragard, R. (2007). Critical Discourse Analysis. Tehran: Jungle Publications.
Richards, J.C. Platt, J.T. & Weber, H. (1985). Longman dictionary of applied linguistics. Essex: Longman.
Roy, S. (2011). The Kurdish issue. Retrieved June 4, 2022, from https://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2011/04/22/the-kurdish-issue/
Salter, P. S., Adams, G., & Perez, M. J. (2018). Racism in the structure of everyday worlds: a cultural-psychological perspective. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(3), 150–155. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721417724239
Shlykov, P. (2019). Peace process, international organizations and the “Kurdish Question”. In A. Kulnazarova, & V. Popovski, The Palgrave Handbook of Global Approaches to Peace (pp. 519-538). Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
Sauntson, H. (2020). Conflicting discourses of ‘democracy’ and ‘equality’: a discourse analysis of the language of pro- and anti-LGBTQ+ inclusion in the relationships and sex education guidance for schools in England. Trabalhos em Linguística Aplicada, 59 (3), 1995-2016. https://doi.org/10.1590/010318138753811120201118
Stansfield, G. (2006). The Kurdish question in Iraq, 1914-1974. Retrieved June 4, 2022, from https://www.gale.com/binaries/content/assets/au-resources-in-product/iraqessay_stansfield.pdf
Stubbs, M. (1983). Discourse analysis: The sociolinguistic analysis of natural language. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Tannen, D. (1983). Oral and literate strategies in spoken and written discourse. In R.W. Bailey, & R.M. Fosheim, (Eds.), Literacy for Life: The Demand for Reading and Writing (pp. 79-95). New York: The Modern Language Association.
Tehrani, N. J. & Yeganeh, A. S. (1999). A dictionary of discourse analysis. Tehran: Tahnama Publications.
Temel, D. (2021). Kurdish question in middle east. Retrieved June 4, 2022, from https://www.academia.edu/45111749/KURDISH_QUESTION_IN_MIDDLE_EAST
Torelli, M. S. (2016). Kurdistan: An invisible nation. Italy: ISPI.
Urrutia, P., & Villellas, A. (2012). Reopening the Kurdish question: states, communities and proxies in a time of turmoil (NOREF Report). Oslo, Norway: NOREF.
Van Dijk, A. T. (1990). The future of the field: Discourse analysis in the 1990s. Text - Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Discourse, 10(1-2), 133-156. https://doi.org/10.1515/text.1.1990.10.1-2.133
Van Dijk, A. T. (1991). Denying racism: Elite Discourse and Racism. Paper presented at Conferences in Coventry and Duisburg, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Retrieved October 23, 2022, from https://discourses.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Teun-A.-van-Dijk-1993-Denying-racism-Elite-discourse-and-racism.pdf
Van Dijk, A. T. (1992). Discourse and the denial of racism. Discourse and Society, 3(1), 87-118. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0957926592003001005
Van Dijk, A.T. (1995). Discourse analysis as ideology analysis. In Ch. Schaffner, & A. L. Wenden (Eds.). Language and Peace(pp.17-33). Dartmouth: Aldershot.
Van Dijk, A. T. (1998). Ideology: A multidisciplinary approach. United Kingdom: SAGE Publications.
Van Dijk, A. T. (2001). Multidisciplinary CDA: A plea for diversity. In R. Wodak &M. Meyer (Eds.), Methods of critical Discourse Analysis (pp. 95-120). London: sage.
Van Dijk, A. T. (2008). Discourse and power. UK: Macmillan Education.
Wodak, R. (1997). Critical discourse analysis and the study of doctor-patient interaction. In B-L. Gunnarsson, P. Linell, & B. Nordberg (Eds.), The Construction of Professional Discourse (pp. 173-200). London: Longman.
Wodak, R. (2001). The discourse- historical approach. In R. Wodak,, & M. Meyer, Methods of Critical Discourse Studies (pp.63-94. London: Sage Publications.
Wodak, R. (2002). Aspects of critical discourse analysis. Zeitschrift für Angewandte Linguistik, 36, 5-31.
Wodak, R. & Meyer, M. (2009). critical discourse analysis: history, agenda, theory, and methodology 1. In R. Wodak, & M. Meyer, Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis (pp. 1-33). London: Sage Publications.
Yildiz, K. (2004). The Kurds in Iraq: The past, present and future. London: Pluto.
Zanotti, J., & Thomas, C. (2019). The Kurds in Iraq, Turkey, Syria, and Iran. Retrieved May 16, 2022, from https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/IF10350.html
Published
2023-12-24
How to Cite
ALI , D. A., & EBRAHIM, H. R. (2023). A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE KURDISH QUESTION WITH FOCUS ON THE DENIAL STRATEGIES. Journal of Duhok University, 26(2), 1367-1392. https://doi.org/10.26682/hjuod.2023.26.2.78
Section
Humanities and Social Sciences
It is the policy of the Journal of Duhok University to own the copyright of the technical contributions. It publishes and facilitates the appropriate re-utilize of the published materials by others. Photocopying is permitted with credit and referring to the source for individuals use.
Copyright © 2017. All Rights Reserved.
