The study explores Twitter campaigning hashtag #StopEnslavingSaudiWomen to examine the discursive strategies used in constructing stances towards the guardianship system in Saudi Arabia, and in creating in-group and out-group representations of self and other. It also investigates the role of the discursive strategies and of language choice in the process of stance-taking, and in revealing indexes and meanings and ideologies these stances carry. It draws on critical discourse analysis (CDA), Computer Mediated Discourse Analysis models (CMDA), and theories related to stance, language choice, discursive strategies, and self and other representation. The findings show that different groups deployed several discursive strategies in the three linguistic codes found in the data (English, Arabic, mixed). The results show that the linguistic code (E, A, m) plays a significant role in the process of stance-taking and in the alignment or dis-alignment with different groups. The construction of the in group and the out-group is a discursive strategy through which a positive representation of the in-group and a negative representation of the out-group was achieved. Representation of self and other in the current study is achieved through language and other resources available on Twitter. The findings, when placed within the wider sociocultural context, reflect social and religious ideologies regarding women in Saudi Arabia that have long been legitimised under the umbrella of religion, and social norms.

Authors:
Bdreah Alswais, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia

About the Presenter(s)
Bdreah Mubarak is currently an Assistant Professor at Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia. She is interested in (critical) discourse analysis, language choice and media discourse.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Friday Schedule

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