Badarneh2020

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Badarneh2020
BibType ARTICLE
Key Badarneh2020
Author(s) Muhammad A Badarneh
Title Discourses of defense: Self and other positioning in public responses to accusations of corruption in Jordan
Editor(s)
Tag(s) Discursive Psychology, accusatory discourse, apologia, banal nationalism, corruption, counter-attack, cultural moral order, identity, image repair discourse, positioning theory
Publisher
Year 2020
Language English
City
Month
Journal Discourse Studies
Volume 22
Number 4
Pages 399–417
URL Link
DOI 10.1177/1461445620914670
ISBN
Organization
Institution
School
Type
Edition
Series
Howpublished
Book title
Chapter

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Abstract

Public accusations of corruption leveled against public figures and institutions in Jordan have recently become a prominent feature of public discourse in the country. Informed by positioning theory as an analytical framework, this study focuses on public responses to such accusations through a discourse analysis of two major apologetic statements, or apologiae, issued in Jordan in 2018 and 2019: one by a controversial former royal court chief and minister of planning in response to public accusations of corruption and appropriation of public funds, and the other by the Office of Queen Rania of Jordan in response to accusations of wardrobe extravagance and overspending. The analysis shows that these two apologiae employed discourses that not only positioned the accused as blameless, but also as victims of defamation. Reference to one's history, such as public service to the nation and one's accomplishments, was exploited. In contrast, the accusers were explicitly or implicitly positioned as unjust, biased, vindictive, or motivated by hidden agenda. A variety of discursive strategies were deployed, particularly invoking cultural moral orders, resorting to banal nationalism, expressing pride in one's public service and allegiance to the monarchy, and invoking a constellation of religious, professional and national identities. In the case of the royal apologia, it was implicitly positioned in western discourses, such as invoking feminine ‘corporeal modernity', to respond to the wardrobe overspending accusations.

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