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Framing and Reframing Strategies in Feminist Speech

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Language and Cognitive Science / 2018,4(1): 63−78 / 2018-08-26 743 761

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• Authors: Lin      Li      and      Ruoxi      Guo     
• Information:

  School of International Studies, University of International Business and Economics, Beijing, China

• Keywords: critical cognitive analysis; Emma Watson; gender equality; gender roles; HeForShe; metaphor analysis; person deixis
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• Abstract: Awareness of gender equality has been rising constantly in social arenas as people come to recognize the different but equally crucial gender roles of men and women, and researchers have paid increasing attention to speeches on feminism in recent years. This paper intends to examine and identify the framing and reframing strategies in Emma Watson’s “HeForShe” Speech at the United Nations on September 20, 2014. The analytical framework is built up by integrating metaphor analysis, person deixis use, and frame repetition, each of which deal with different aspects of the discourse and on the whole provide a comprehensive analysis of it. Critical cognitive analysis of the speech reveals that Watson tactfully uses metaphor and special person deixis to frame her views on gender equality to control the audience‘s emotions on moral and psychological grounds, and she reframes the audience’s traditional attitude toward feminism that men do not share responsibilities and benefits in feminism. Watson also repeats these frames and reframes them to strengthen the significance of men’s role in feminism. The critical cognitive analysis of feminist speech discloses the views that speakers hold on particular issues, providing valuable reference for understanding or evaluating the speeches’ contents, and revealing the ideology inherent in feminist thinking.
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• DOI: https://doi.org/10.35534/LCS201804003
• Cite: Lin Li, Ruoxi Guo．Framing and Reframing Strategies in Feminist Speech［J］．Language and Cognitive Science，2018，4（1）：63−78．