Books by Jef Verschueren
In the context of migration policies in Belgium in the 1990's, this book analyses the discourse o... more In the context of migration policies in Belgium in the 1990's, this book analyses the discourse of the 'tolerant' majority, as found in news reporting, policy statements, social-scientific research reports, anti-racism campaigns and training programs. The analysis reveals what the authors call a 'homogeneistic' ideology, fundamental non-acceptance of diversity.
Papers by Jef Verschueren
John Benjamins Publishing Company eBooks, Aug 15, 2000
Language in Society, Dec 1, 1991
Newspaper reports, political policy papers, and investigations by social scientists concerning is... more Newspaper reports, political policy papers, and investigations by social scientists concerning issues related to the presence of a community of migrant workers in Belgium are subjected to a systematic, pragmatic analysis. The analysis reveals an eminently coherent world of beliefs and attitudes with respect to (1) perceptions of the "other/ 5 (2) the self-perception of majority members, (3) formulations of "the problem," and (4) proposed solutions. This world of beliefs and attitudes is shown to be centered around stable -even if vague -notions of culture, nation and state, democracy and human rights, and around related recipes for "integration" that reveal a collective psyche profoundly troubled by the very idea of diversity in society (linguistic or otherwise). Homogeneity appears to be a strict norm for average members of Belgian society, irrespective of the specific political positions they take. (Minority politics, language and ideology, pragmatics, political rhetoric, news reporting, ethnicity) This article is an attempt to provide a pragmatic analysis of a coherent conceptual framework that determines thought and action related to the maintenance of a certain type of group relations. A few introductory remarks are needed to clarify both the topic and the approach. Group relations, of course, depend crucially on the definition of group identities. There are no objective (i.e., "constant" or "natural") criteria to identify groups, because any parameter for differentiation (such as race, language, religion, ethnicity) may assume overriding importance in one context, while being completely ignored in a different one. 2 Group identities exist mainly in the mind. Therefore, this introduction cannot start out with an elaborate definition of the groups whose interrelationships are our object of investigation; such a definition will be part of the conceptual framework to
This paper summerizes an analysis of discourse on the presence of the immigrants in Flandres-Belg... more This paper summerizes an analysis of discourse on the presence of the immigrants in Flandres-Belgium, and elaborates on some theoretical and methodological aspects of this analysis. It starts from the observation that subjective social-theoretical phenomena such as ideologies, mentalities, etc. appear to be particularly difficult to locate and describe empirically. A pragmatic-linguistic approach is offered focusing on the actual processes of hegemonic control in communication. This approach is applied to a large corpus of texts on the « immigrant problem » in Belgium, issued by four communicators : policy-makers, media, scientists and educators. Each one of these communicators claim specific forms of authority, and together they form the majority's voice on the issue of immigrants. This can be empirically demonstrated on the basis of implicit coherence at the level of implicit meaning and intertextuality between the various types of discourse. Despite important differences on t...
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 1369183x 1994 9976421, Jun 30, 2010
Hablar Y Dejar Hablar Madrid Universidad Autonoma De Madrid D L 1994 1994 Isbn 84 7477 471 3 Pags 27 45, 1994
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Books by Jef Verschueren
Papers by Jef Verschueren