This paper works within the framework of forensic linguistics and analyzes the typical courtroom dialogue of rape trials in the Anglo American juridical tradition. The study claims that a somewhat fixed protocol seems to exist for rape trial proceedings, a kind of a priori semantic script which directs interpretation of the events and thereby heavily conditions judgment and sentencing. Through a mapping of functional categories with discourse strategies, the analysis displays the opposing scripts which emerge from the cross-examination of the courtroom: on the one hand the script of female complicity narrated by the male defender, and on the other hand, the script of male coercion and violence narrated by the female victim. It claims that this institutionalized repertoire of Complicity vs. Coercion is biased in favour of male offenders, offensive to female victims, reproductive of patriarchal ideology and ultimately detrimental to the administration of justice.

Ponterotto, D.m. (2007). The Repertoire of complicity vs. coercion: the discursive trap of the rape trial protocol. In J. Cotterill (a cura di), The Language of Sexual Crime (pp. 104-125). Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire and New York : Palgrave Macmillan.

The Repertoire of complicity vs. coercion: the discursive trap of the rape trial protocol

PONTEROTTO, DIANE MARIA
2007-01-01

Abstract

This paper works within the framework of forensic linguistics and analyzes the typical courtroom dialogue of rape trials in the Anglo American juridical tradition. The study claims that a somewhat fixed protocol seems to exist for rape trial proceedings, a kind of a priori semantic script which directs interpretation of the events and thereby heavily conditions judgment and sentencing. Through a mapping of functional categories with discourse strategies, the analysis displays the opposing scripts which emerge from the cross-examination of the courtroom: on the one hand the script of female complicity narrated by the male defender, and on the other hand, the script of male coercion and violence narrated by the female victim. It claims that this institutionalized repertoire of Complicity vs. Coercion is biased in favour of male offenders, offensive to female victims, reproductive of patriarchal ideology and ultimately detrimental to the administration of justice.
2007
Settore L-LIN/12 - LINGUA E TRADUZIONE - LINGUA INGLESE
English
Rilevanza internazionale
Capitolo o saggio
forensic linguistics, discourse analysis, gender
Ponterotto, D.m. (2007). The Repertoire of complicity vs. coercion: the discursive trap of the rape trial protocol. In J. Cotterill (a cura di), The Language of Sexual Crime (pp. 104-125). Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire and New York : Palgrave Macmillan.
Ponterotto, Dm
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2108/35960
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