A letter to the Irish Times criticising a criticiser of political correctness: An example of free speech taking a crack at freedom of speech by criticising freedom to define sexuality.

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/pc-or-not-pc-1.3182691

(Follow the link above or skip down to the letter if you've come here from my facebook link)

A short letter I wrote last year to the Irish Times taking a crack at an article by #LarissaNolan in which she criticised 'political correctness' and loud hailed the impending disintegration of free speech! I forgot to post it last year... anyway here it is! Perceptions of the purpose and relevance of political correctness are apparently dividing people more and more, and therefore becoming more pertinent.

Political correctness in modes of expression is essentially tied to language and discourse. The understanding of the extent to which language and discourse enact power has been evidenced in writings as old as 450 years: 'the pen is mightier than the sword' and all that kinda craic, but just older again. It's certainly not a new notion. But still the idea persists that 'freedom of speech' is absolute, and that it means that it ought to be inconsequential to say anything, to anyone, or any group, anytime. 

The Road to hell… and all that: how intentionality and social and discursive loci of the words you speak can act as a window onto your values.

Understandings of the concepts of "language" and "discourse" are slaves to what might be called “common sense” – the notion that through adherence to a logic of social norms we might better navigate surrounding social orders. 

“Words are just words”, “sticks and stones…”, “actions speak louder than words”, are generally considered strong guiding principles in relation to people's attitude towards, and understanding of the purpose of language.

Household chores and children versus the rest of the universe: news values and views towards women in The Korea Herald and The Korea Times, a CDA perspective.

Published in The Journal of Media and Performing Arts.

Household chores and Children versus the rest of the universe: news values and views towards women in The Korea Herald and The Korea Times, a CDA perspective.

ISSN 1975-8928.

Abstract:

This paper comparatively analyses the discursive construction of women’s societal roles in two online Korean English language newspapers. It addresses the question; how are women represented in English language ‘broadsheet’ online news journals of record in South Korea; and how do those representations of women maintain the social conditions which sustain gender inequalities?  Linguistic data was gathered from The Korea Herald and the Times of Korea over a two day period based upon headlines that had a direct reference to ‘women’.  A Critical Discourse Analysis approach (CDA) was used drawing on various theories of discourse analysis, pragmatics, and cognition.  The findings pointed to an ideological predisposition towards representing women in traditional roles in line with a socio-cognitive legacy of Confucian values. There was also a notable confusion in the language which reflects the discord between these Confucian values and modern globalised values.

Keywords: cognition, Confucianism, feminism, Critical Discourse Analysis, linguistics, media, values, ideology