The Language of Death:

“Words are about the world but they also form the world as they represent it” (Wetherell, 2001. p. 16)

“Meaning emerges from complex social and historical processes” (Wetherell, 2001. p. 17).

“Power is not simply exersized, it is also fought over in discourse” (Chouliaraki and Fairclough, 1999. p. 62).

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Timor Leste

The setting; 1975.Indonesia invades and occupies Timor, killing thousands.

.

Five Australian journalists, sent to Timor to cover the story, were shot

by Indonesian soldiers, their corpses dressed in uniforms, guns propped

beside them, photographs taken, and a mock funeral staged and filmed.

This photograph is courtesy of the Balibo Film publicity dept. All other photographs used in this presentation were taken by the author

in Timor Leste.

They became known as

The ‘Balibo Five’

(labeling requiring assumption of prior knowledge for

understanding - Lee, 2007).

It took years for the truth to emerge.

The film’s title is the name of the tiny coastal town where the men died.

The Language of Death. they deliberately killed the journalists attributable

their murderous nature otherization

shoot the journalists to death explicit

were killed accidentally in crossfire dissimulation

executed with a bullet to the head connotation

bullet was fired into his head passive voice

summarily executed emotive

the deaths of the Balibo Five presupposition

their murderous intent accusatory

To be meaningful, language needs to have context;

connection with previous discourse and history

organised with possible future discourses in mind

adherence to genre and medium rules.

acknowledgement of socio-knowledge

Knowledge of cultural connotations.

(Wetherell, 2001)

Intertextuality connects elements of discourse to create “constructions of the real that reflect the interests of the speech community” (Chilton and Shaefer, 1997, p. 221).

Meaning is relational – it exists because speech communities cooperate in

having a shared understanding of the meaning of words (Wetherell, 2001).

2. Shirley Shackleton spent years demanding the truth about her husband’s

death – her open letter to the

United Nations Prosecuter General.

1. Graeme Dobell’s article ‘Some perspectives on Balibo’ published in The Interpreter, Lowy Institute of International

Policy.

Exerts from two texts to illustrate -

A story is woven using:

Representational understandings – Fretilin rebel forces/Indonesian militia/ larger issues of East Timor

Common collocations – killed in crossfire/ heat of the battle/ full light of day/monumental blunder/

Chunked reused phrases – the Balibo Five/the murdered Australians/executed with a bullet in the top the head/growing weight of evidence

Accepted truths – blaming the Indonesian army/the clear findings/the cover-up culture of Indonesia/professional testimony

Acceptable attitudes – that is worth remembering/it is worth action against Indonesia

Shirley’s linguistic power struggle: Hedging and diminutives - I refer you to the

fact/Fretilin had wisely withdrawn/as is often stated/certain historical accuracies

Indirect speech – one would expect that/have been shown to be deeply flawed/

Acknowledges power differentials – Dear Sir/my reason for writing is to point out

Face saving – this letter is not to persuade you/my reason for writing is

Coercive – Indonesia itself needs this matter to come to court/the evidence before you

Euphemisms –giant jig-saw puzzle/vital clues/mythical history/skirmishes

Seeks common ground – we were all lied to/the world cared so little for justice/her own government officials

Enables and allows for future discourse – you will no doubt hear of/of course there could be many valid reasons

Painting pictures to persuade:

Kicking and yelling – masculinised from kicking and screaming

Forgotten freelancer – altruistic, intrepid, martyr

Cover-up culture – Western/Indonesian. Open/closed

The fig-leaf of doubt could still be waved –

humour depicting view of ‘the other’ as flimsy, archaic, mythical

and easily exposed and embarrassed, reference back to cover-up culture.

Cursed the Ind. troops as any Australian would

-creating an ‘us’ group, positive stereotyping,

‘Shock and horror’, ‘murder and mayhem’ are linguistically powerless, but…..

Vilified and defamed (endured extremes)

My mother-in-law committed suicide (unbearable despair)

Marched to the wharf (military, asymmetrical power)

Executed with a bullet to the head (brutal,, merciless)

Embittered by the deaths (emotionally scarred)

evoke strong emotion.

Meaning is a joint production between the writer and the reader (Wetherell, 2001)

Headline -“Australia, Indonesia and East Timor” (names the players)

Opening sentence - “Why are we still arguing about the six dead journalists?” (defines the subject, sets the topic)

“Discourse is

a social action”

(Wetherell, M. 2001)

“Discourse builds worlds” (Wetherell, 2001)

Discourse is constructive; it creates as it expresses.

It is indexical; meanings depend on context

It is collaborative; meaning is a joint production.

Discourse creates meaning around everythingin life - including how we talk about death.

Timorese mourning houses in honour of the dead.