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From conflict to conciliation: Disarming metaphors

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Jo Berry: the daughter of a Conservative minister who was killed in the bombing. ... A series of reconciliation meetings between Jo Berry and Pat Magee. ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: From conflict to conciliation: Disarming metaphors


1
From conflict to conciliation Disarming metaphors
  • Lynne Cameron
  • The Open University, UK

2
(No Transcript)
3
Language and conflict
  • Language used in the service of opposing groups
  • In processes of de-humanising the Other
  • e.g. framing the Other metaphorically as
  • mass a flood
  • animal rats
  • object the axis of evil

4
Post-conflict conciliation
  • Increasing understanding between groups and
    individuals separated by conflict.
  • Needs to work on both social and individual
    levels.
  • Processes include
  • the re-negotiation of identities
  • the re-humanization of self and Other
  • the development of empathy between former enemies
  • through dialogue

5
The study
Conversations between
Pat Magee a former IRA member who planted a
bomb that injured and killed members of the
Conservative party in 1984.
Jo Berry the daughter of a Conservative minister
who was killed in the bombing.
6
The Grand Hotel, Brighton, 1984
Pat Magee Jo Berry, 2000
7
Data
A series of reconciliation meetings between Jo
Berry and Pat Magee.
  • 2nd meeting 50 minutes late 2000
  • 4th meeting 110 minutes early 2001
  • Radio interview 20 minutes Easter 2003
  • Face-to-face interview with Jo Berry 2005

8
Dialogue as complex dynamic system
  • Interacting levels of social organisation
  • individual social groupings
  • Interacting timescales
  • conversation relationship
  • Properties
  • Co-adaptation
  • Self-organisation
  • Emergent stabilities

9
Co-adaptation in complex systems
  • interactions between elements gradually adapt
  • the behaviour of the system changes
  • the behaviour of the system stabilises to a state
    or attractor that suits all elements
  • some perturbation is needed to shift the system
    to a new state

10
State space of a system the landscape of
possibilities
from Spivey 2007, p.18
11
Metaphors as emergent markers of social group
affiliation
  • The Movement
  • The Struggle
  • Home Rule
  • porridge, screws

12
Metaphors as emergent attractors in dialogue
  • CONCILIATION as BUILDING A BRIDGE
  • that is why it is so important to build this
    bridge with you
  • cf Juliet is the sun ..

13
Metaphor dynamics at the micro-level
  • After its first use in talk, a metaphor Vehicle
    can be
  • developed with same Topic
  • repetition
  • relexicalisation
  • explication
  • contrast
  • redeployed with different Topic
  • dropped

14
building bridges
  • Pat ... (1.0) in the er --
  • the journey,
  • ...(1.0) coming ... to a bridge,/
  • ... you know.
  • Jo hmh
  • Pat ... with two ends,
  • Pat all those bridges are there to be built

15
From bridges to barriers
  • Pat there's an inverse,
  • to that er,
  • ...(1.0) you know,
  • er,
  • ...(2.0) figure of speech
  • you know,
  • bridges.
  • ... bridges can be built.
  • ... and that is if you,
  • .. actively --
  • er,
  • .. create,
  • er,
  • .. distances.
  • ... barriers.
  • ... or what are they?
  • they are exclusions

16
The removal of barriers allows connection
  • Jo ltX where Xgt victims of all sides have been
    meeting,
  • .. and --
  • er,
  • ... (1.0) that is just about,
  • ... er,
  • .. br- breaking down barriers,
  • sharing stories,
  • and --
  • Pat hmh
  • Jo ... and through .. experiencing each other's
    stories,
  • Pat hmh
  • Jo ... there's a real feeling of, ...
    closeness and humanity of everyone,

17
  • ...(1.0) and er,
  • .. a thing I believe absolutely fundamentally,
  • is that er,
  • ...(1.0) if you exclude anybody's voice,
  • ...(1.0) you know,
  • ... you're se- --
  • you're sowing the seed for later violence.
  • Jo ...(1.0) hmh
  • Pat .. and er --
  • Jo I would agree.
  • Pat ...(1.0) the way to counter that,
  • ...(1.0) is to build bridges.
  • Jo .. hmh
  • Pat ...(1.0) the way to ensure it doesn't
    happen,

18
Metaphor dynamics in the conversations
  • systematic metaphors emerge across discourse
    events
  • UNDERSTANDING THE OTHER REQUIRES CONNECTION
  • building bridges
  • breaking down barriers
  • being open

19
Appropriation
  • taking something that belongs to others and
    making it ones own
  • Wertsch, 1998, p.53

20
The moment of appropriation
  • 1132 Pat ... be confronted,
  • 1133 .. with your pain.
  • 1134 ... that's a consequence that --
  • 1135 er,
  • 1136 ...(3.0) you know,
  • 1137 I suppose I deserve.
  • 1138 ...(2.0) you know,
  • 1139 ...(1.0) and --
  • 1140 er,
  • 1141 ...(2.0) seems very --
  • 1142 how do you put it,
  • 1143 er,
  • 1144 ...(2.0) maybe that's part of healing too,
  • 1145 .. my healing.

21
  • Prior to this moment of appropriation, the word
    does not exist in a neutral and impersonal
    language but rather it exists in peoples
    mouths, in other peoples contexts, serving other
    peoples intentions it is from there that one
    must take the word, and make it ones own.
  • Bakhtin 1981, pp. 293-4.

22
Earlier in the discourse event
  • Jo Berry
  • 591 the heat heals the pain
  • 609 I will speak out,
  • 610 for the healing for the world,
  • 660 I feel that my heart heals,
  • 661 as Ireland heals.

23
Earlier in the discourse event
  • Patrick Magee
  • 695 ... that somebody else can --
  • 701 .. move on in their own,
  • 702 .. you know,
  • 703 .. healing process.

24
The appropriation of metaphor
  • 1132 Pat ... be confronted,
  • 1133 .. with your pain.
  • 1134 ... that's a consequence that --
  • 1135 er,
  • 1136 ...(3.0) you know,
  • 1137 I suppose I deserve.
  • 1138 ...(2.0) you know,
  • 1139 ...(1.0) and --
  • 1140 er,
  • 1141 ...(2.0) seems very --
  • 1142 how do you put it,
  • 1143 er,
  • 1144 ...(2.0) maybe that's part of healing too,
  • 1145 .. my healing.

25
  • appropriation always involves
  • resistance of some sort
  • (Wertsch 1998, p.54)

26
  • 1145 .. my healing.
  • 1146 Jo your healing.
  • 1147 .. yeah.
  • 1148 Pat yeah.
  • 1149 ...(1.0) you know,
  • 1150 er,
  • 1151 ...(2.0) it's --
  • 1152 er,
  • 1153 something I have to go through.
  • 1154 Jo ... hmh
  • 1155 Pat ... if I'm going to sort of --
  • 1156 er,
  • 1157 ...(1.0) really retain my humanity.

27
Other metaphor appropriations
  • pain
  • Jo to deal with the anger and the pain
  • Pat youre in denial about some of the pain of
    your own life
  • struggle
  • Pat the struggle was necessary
  • Jo I am seeing you as someone whos had a lot of
    struggle I am feeling part of that struggle

28
  • carry
  • Pat you have to carry that with you
  • Jo I carry that wound
  • contribution
  • Pat a denial of rightswhat contribution can I
    make?
  • Jo Im doing this for peacemy little
    contribution to the bigger picture

29
Appropriation in reconciliation
  • Appropriation
  • affords alignment through attempted use of the
    Others metaphor
  • if permitted, allows the Other to use ones owned
    metaphor
  • can shift the power of the metaphor

30
  • Appropriation of metaphor is a small act of
    reconciliation that contributes to the longer
    process.
  • Through appropriation and negotiation, metaphors
    that mark and maintain social group affiliation
    can be disarmed.

31
References
  • Cameron, L. (2007) Patterns of metaphor use in
    reconciliation talk. Discourse and Society, 18
    (2), 197-222.
  • Gibbs, R. and L. Cameron (2008) The social
    cognitive dynamics of metaphor performance.
    Journal of Cognitive Systems Research, 9 (1-2),
    64-75.
  • Larsen-Freeman, D. L. Cameron (2008) Complex
    systems and applied linguistics. Oxford
    University Press.
  • l.j.cameron_at_open.ac.uk
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