Mr Berlusconi’s abbronzato gaffe: using frame analysis to teach the political implications of language in the Italian press. Elena Minelli Isabella Stefanutti University of Bath
Jan 05, 2016
Mr Berlusconi’s abbronzato gaffe: using frame analysis to teach the political implications of language in the Italian press.
Elena Minelli
Isabella Stefanutti
University of Bath
Outline
The gaffe and its political context. Schema and Frame analysis. Evidence of framing techniques from
two different texts. Results from in class reading activity. Conclusion.
The gaffe and its political context.
President Obama’s election. Mr Berlusconi’s state visit to Russia. USA-Russia relations. The abbronzato gaffe
Reasons behind the selection of this event and these articles.
This event had international resonance
Italian political parties expressed strong opinions either pro and against Berlusconi
Berlusconi is well known to the students of Italian
It is interesting to see how the students use their schemata of Berlusconi to interpret the texts
Framing/Frame Analysis• Sociocognitive process
• SCHEMATA (Gestalt Psychology)• Process information• Organise information• Make sense of reality
Frame analysis
“To frame is to select some aspects of a perceived reality and make more salient in communicating text, in such a way as to promote a particular problem definition, causal interpretation, moral evaluation, and/or treatment recommendation for the item described” (R.M.Etman, 1991, p. 51)
Sources ↔ journalists ↔audience
Text analysis:
Framing Devices (Pan & Kosicki, 1993, “Framing analysis: An
approach to news discourse”, in Political Communication, 10, 55-75)
1. Syntactical Structures
2. Script Structures
3. Thematic Structures
4. Rhetorical Structures
1.Syntactical Structures:
How the news story is structured like an inverted pyramid = information presented in inverted order of importance.
The headline is the lead in the news story, the most powerful framing device
Objectivity: empirical validity, authority, official sources, facts
1.Script Structures:
How the sequence of events and the actors are presented
The 5 WH:
Who, What, When, Where, Why
Capture attention: drama, action, actors, human emotions – climax, anticlimax..
3. Thematic Structures
How hypotheses are tested and supported rationally (hypothesis-testing attributes)
Support the hypothesis: observation of actions or events, explicit propositions, background information
Thematic structure: summarised in the headline, lead and conclusions
Emotional themes can be used and thematic structures can be combined
3. Rhetorical Structures
How rhetorical structures are used in the text:
metaphors, exemplars, catchphrases, depictions, visual images….
Frame analysis:Political discourse
George Lakoff: Moral Politics: how Liberal and Conservative thinks (1966)
Cognitive metaphor of Governance = Family
Conservatives = “strict father model” (government=dominant father)
Liberals = “nurturant parent model” (government=both mother and father)
George Lakoff: Moral Politics: how Liberal and Conservative thinks (1966)
Cognitive metaphor of Governance = Family
Conservatives = “strict father model” (government=dominant father)
Liberals = “nurturant parent model” (government=both mother and father)
For more reading…
George Lakoff “Metaphor and War: The Metaphor System Used to Justify War in the Gulf” (1991, available online)
Cost-benefit analysis metaphor of war: The political “gains” are to be weighed
against acceptable “costs.” When the costs of war exceed the political gains, the war should cease.
Main themes IL GIORNALE
Over reaction of the opposition
Berlusconi’s vital role as a mediator between USA and Russia
• L’Unità
• Berlusconi’s inappropriate language
• His antidemocratic politics – (Lakoff’s patriarcal model)
Family – Mediaset• The responsibility the
government has in Education
Evidence from the class
The class. Classroom activities. Readers of Il Giornale and readers of
L’unità.
ConclusionsFrame analysis in language teaching is relevant
to: Understand how ideologies and key points
are conveyed in different texts
Reflect on how linguistic and textual structures are used in the texts
Conclusions
Reflect on how the students interpret the different texts using their schemata
Introduce cultural and socio/political elements in language classes
THANK YOU