Elena Minelli Isabella Stefanutti University of Bath

1. Mr Berlusconi’s abbronzato gaffe:using frame analysis to teach the political implications of language in the Italian press. Elena Minelli Isabella Stefanutti University of Bath

2. Outline • The gaffe and its political context. • Schema and Frame analysis. • Evidence of framing techniques from two different texts. • Results from in class reading activity. • Conclusion.

3. The gaffe and its political context. • President Obama’s election. • Mr Berlusconi’s state visit to Russia. • USA-Russia relations. • The abbronzato gaffe

4. Reasons behind the selection of this event and these articles. • This event had international resonance • Italian political parties expressed strong opinions either pro and against Berlusconi • Berlusconi is well known to the students of Italian • It is interesting to see how the students use their schemata of Berlusconi to interpret the texts

5. Framing/Frame Analysis • Sociocognitive process • SCHEMATA (Gestalt Psychology) • Process information • Organise information • Make sense of reality

6. Frame analysis “To frame is to select some aspects of a perceived reality and make more salient in communicating text, in such a way as to promote a particular problem definition, causal interpretation, moral evaluation, and/or treatment recommendation for the item described” (R.M.Etman, 1991, p. 51) Sources ↔ journalists ↔audience

7. Text analysis: Framing Devices (Pan & Kosicki, 1993, “Framing analysis: An approach to news discourse”, in Political Communication, 10, 55-75) Syntactical Structures Script Structures Thematic Structures Rhetorical Structures

8. Syntactical Structures: How the news story is structured like an inverted pyramid = information presented in inverted order of importance. The headline is the lead in the news story, the most powerful framing device Objectivity: empirical validity, authority, official sources, facts

9. Script Structures: How the sequence of events and the actors are presented The 5 WH: Who, What, When, Where, Why Capture attention: drama, action, actors, human emotions – climax, anticlimax..

10. 3. Thematic Structures How hypotheses are tested and supported rationally (hypothesis-testing attributes) Support the hypothesis: observation of actions or events, explicit propositions, background information Thematic structure: summarised in the headline, lead and conclusions Emotional themes can be used and thematic structures can be combined

11. Rhetorical Structures How rhetorical structures are used in the text: metaphors, exemplars, catchphrases, depictions, visual images….

12. Frame analysis: Political discourse George Lakoff: Moral Politics: how Liberal and Conservative thinks (1966) Cognitive metaphor of Governance = Family Conservatives = “strict father model” (government=dominant father) Liberals = “nurturant parent model” (government=both mother and father)

13. For more reading… George Lakoff “Metaphor and War: The Metaphor System Used to Justify War in the Gulf” (1991, available online) Cost-benefit analysis metaphor of war: The political “gains” are to be weighed against acceptable “costs.” When the costs of war exceed the political gains, the war should cease.

16. Main themes IL GIORNALE Over reaction of the opposition Berlusconi’s vital role as a mediator between USA and Russia L’Unità Berlusconi’s inappropriate language His antidemocratic politics – (Lakoff’spatriarcal model) Family – Mediaset The responsibility the government has in Education

17. Evidence from the class • The class. • Classroom activities. • Readers of Il Giornale and readers of L’unità.

18. Conclusions Frame analysis in language teaching is relevant to: Understand how ideologies and key points are conveyed in different texts Reflect on how linguistic and textual structures are used in the texts

19. Conclusions Reflect on how the students interpret the different texts using their schemata Introduce cultural and socio/political elements in language classes

20. THANK YOU