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‘It's All about Context’: Antisemitism in the Discursive Space Post 7 October
Author(s): Matras, Yaron
Editor(s): Freedman, Rosa; Hirsh, David
Date: 2024
Topics: Main Topic: Antisemitism, October 7 2023 attacks + aftermath, Antisemitism: Discourse, Language, Linguistics
Abstract: The chapter applies the linguistic notion of illocution – the goal that an author or speaker seeks to achieve through a sentence or utterance – to social media posts following the Hamas massacre of 7 October 2023. In context, statements that purport to be descriptive take on a different function – one that positions the author's stance. As such they not only escape factual scrutiny; they become emotive, rallying calls. That makes them inherently divisive in a zero-sum debate as they take for granted attitudes that are judgemental and prejudicial. I argue that this is one of the mechanisms through which antisemitism is acquiring legitimacy in certain spaces of public discourse. I demonstrate the importance of context for a forensic-linguistic analysis of antisemitic discourse.