LINGUIST List 15.377
Fri Jan 30 2004
Books: Discourse Analysis/Sociolinguistics: Cotterill
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C.O'Connor, Language and Power in Court: Cotterill
Message 1: Language and Power in Court: Cotterill
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2004 09:01:18 -0500 (EST)
From: C.O'Connor <C.O'Connorpalgrave.com>
Subject: Language and Power in Court: Cotterill
Title: Language and Power in Court
Subtitle: A Linguistic Analysis of the O.J. Simpson Trial
Publication Year: 2003
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
http://www.palgrave.com
Book URL: http://www.palgrave.com/products/Catalogue.aspx?is=0-333-96901-4
Author: Janet Cotterill, Lecturer in Language and Communication, at
the Centre for Language and Communica
Hardback: ISBN: 0333969014, Pages: 256, Price: �45/$69.95
Abstract:
'Language and Power in Court is a riveting treatment of the many ways
that linguistics applies to a criminal case. Most forensic linguistics
books and articles deal with bits and pieces of trials. Not
Cotterill. She analyzes mountains of data from the beginning jury
selection process to the post-acquittal aftermath of this nine month
trial--a holistic approach if there ever was one. Impressively she
draws on research from a number of disciplines besides linguistics,
including psychology, sociology, criminology and law. She calls on
discourse analysis to describe how both the prosecution and the
defense told the different stories they wanted the jury to hear. She
Calls on the CobuildDirect corpus to provide a powerful analysis of
connotations used by both sides in the case. As might be expected
there is also an abundance of attention to the questions and answers
that frame a jury trial. She shows how lawyers use their own metaphors
and reframe the opposition's metaphors to their own advantage. The
underpinning message of the book, however, is language power--what it
is, how it is managed, and what it accomplishes. Since a host of
fields are now trying to determine just how power works, the verbal
duels of the "trial of a century" provide a memorable battlefield for
Cotterill's analysis.' Professor Roger Shuy, Distinguished Research
Professor Emeritus, Georgetown University
'Cotterill's skills as a linguist...combine with this rich source of
data to produce an original piece of work that goes well beyond
current scholarship in analyzing the various power relationships in
the trial process through close examination of the language used.' -
Lawrence M. Solan, Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School
Sociolinguists and lawyers will find insight and relevance in this
account of the language of the courtroom, as exemplified in the
criminal trial of O.J. Simpson. The trial is examined as the site of
linguistic power and persuasion, focusing on the role of language in
(re)presenting and (re)constructing the crime. In addition to the
trial transcripts, the book draws on Simpson's post-arrest interview,
media reports and post-trial interviews with jurors. The result is a
unique multi-dimensional insight into the 'Trial of the Century' from
a linguistic and discursive perspective.
Contents
Acknowledgements
List of Figures and Tables
Introduction - A Crime Chronology: The Murders of Nicole Brown Simpson
and Ron Goldman
Trial by Jury: Legal Frameworks and Linguistics Consequences
Macro-, Micro- and Multiple Narratives: Storytelling in Court
Framing Courtroom Narratives Through Strategic Lexicalisation: The
Opening Statements
Interaction in the Criminal Trial: Participants and Processes, Roles
and Relationships
Direct and Cross-Examination: Questions and Answers in Court
Mind the Gap: Negotiating Power, Knowledge and Status in Expert
Witness Testimony
'If it doesn't fit, you must acquit': Reframing the Story through
Metaphorical Choice in the Closing Arguments
Judging the Jury: The Deliberation, The Verdict and The Aftermath
Notes
Lingfield(s): Discourse Analysis
Sociolinguistics
Written In: English (Language Code: ENG)
See this book announcement on our website:
http://linguistlist.org/get-book.html?BookID=8778.