Writing the war on terrorism

Language, politics and counter-terrorism

Bibliographic Data

ID19944957
AuthorsRichard Jackson (0000-0002-7814-5088), Emmanuel Pierre Guittet, Richard F W Jackson (0000-0002-6130-808X, corresponding author), Peter Lawler
Year2018
Publication date2018-07-30
Open AccessNo
TypeBOOK
VenueWriting the War on Terrorism (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherManchester University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.7765/9781526130921
OpenAlexW4230460427
Open LibraryOL35557309M
ISBN9781526130921
LanguageEN
Citations received9

This book is about the public language of the 'war on terrorism' and the way in which language has been deployed to justify and normalise a global campaign of counter-terrorism. It explains how the war on terrorism has been reproduced and amplified by key social actors and how it has become the dominant political narrative in America today, enjoying widespread bipartisan and popular support. The book also explains why the language of politics is so important and the main methodological approach for analysing the language of counter-terrorism, namely, critical discourse analysis. Then, it provides the comparison drawn between the September 11, 2001 attacks and World War II and the attack on Pearl Harbor. One of the most noticeable aspects of the language surrounding the attacks of September 11, 2001 is its constant reference to tragedy, grievance and the exceptional suffering of the American people. The book focuses on the way in which language was deployed to construct the main identities of the protagonists. It demonstrates how terrorism is rhetorically constructed as posing a catastrophic threat to the American 'way of life', to freedom, liberty and democracy and even to civilisation itself. The book analyses how the administration's counter-terrorism campaign has been rhetorically constructed as an essentially 'good' and 'just war', similar to America's role in World War II. Finally, the book concludes that responsible citizens have a moral duty to oppose and resist the official language of counter-terrorism

Art · Democracy · Literature · Media studies · Narrative · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · Terrorism · Tragedy (event) · Law · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence

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