Indian drum in the house’
A critical discourse analysis of an apology for Canadian residential schools and the public’s response
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12898706 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Willow J Anderson (University of New Mexico, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 74 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 571-585 |
| Publication date | 2012-09-24 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Communication Gazette (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1748-0485 • E-ISSN: 1748-0493 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/1748048512454824 |
| OpenAlex | W2317037941 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 15 |
This article investigates the production and consumption of Canadian Prime Minister Harper’s 2008 apology to the victims of residential schools. The apology used contextual elements and linguistic devices to construct a particular reality of both the government’s role in residential schools and the nature of Canadian diversity. By comparing themes from Harper’s speech to responses on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s website, the article seeks to understand whether Canadians reaffirm or contest the prime minister’s message. The analysis reveals that although the majority felt the apology was appropriate and important, many contested the discourse that suggested that the attitudes that led to the schools have ‘no place’ in modern-day Canada. Instead the intercultural audience offered competing discourses of genocide and colonialism suggesting that Canada’s identity as it relates to its Aboriginal peoples is still a site of struggle
Aesthetics · Colonialism · Construct (python library · Consumption (sociology · CONTEST · Corporation · Diversity (politics · Government (linguistics · Identity (music · Linguistics · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Prime minister · Social science · Sociology · Canadian Identity and History · Gender Studies · Interpreting and Communication in Healthcare · Law · Military, Security, and Education Studies
Discourse Analysis as Theory and Method
The Politics of Official Apologies
Communication for Public Decision-Making in a Negative Historical Context
Excusing the inexcusable’
The pragmatics of political apologies
Historical representations of aboriginal people in the Canadian news media
Interpretive themes in relational communication
The Power of Apology and the Process of Historical Reconciliation
Critical discourse analysis
| Citations per year | 0.42 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2014 - 2025 (12) |
| Highly cited | No |