Hamna Khan VD Slides
Hamna Khan VD Slides
BY
SOJOURNER TRUTH, ANALYZED UNDER
THE PRETENSE OF RACIST AND SEXIST
‘OTHERIZATION’ (1851 AND 2020)
BY:
HAMNA KHAN
(FA-17/BS ENG./026)
SEMESTER VI
LAHORE GARRISON UNIVERSITY
CONTENT
Introduction
Research Methodology
Textual, Discursive and Social Analysis of the Speech
Analysis of the Speech in regards to Anti-Racism #hashtags of
Today
Discussion
Conclusion
References
INTRODUCTION
The analysis of the linguistic patterns in the speech helps us find out how the ‘purpose’ of the
speaker controls the language of the speech and how it helps in gaining the desired impact.
The discourse analysis of Truth’s speech at the Women’s Convention in Akron, Ohio throws light
on the following:
1. The black and white racist binary in America
2. The seepage of this racism into the feministic movements of the Second wave in America
3. The formulation of a connection between Sojourner’s times and the present day America by
finding the same anti-racism cries in the trending hashtags of today.
Research Question:
What are the linguistic techniques by which Sojourner carries the combine essence of racism and
feminism in her speech and how is her cause still relevant in today’s world?
Purpose:
Understanding Sojourner’s speech in terms of black women’s exemption from the common white
women’s feministic movement in America and relate it to the ongoing riots in America by the way
of social-media anti-racism hashtags.
METHODOLOGY
− Qualitative method of research
Sources used for Analysis:
1) Primary source: The original text of Sojourner
Truth’s speech and trending twitter e: #hashtags from
the internet.
2) Secondary source: Fairclough’s 3D model as the
basic framework for analysis.
The speech was read multiple times and data was extracted and
analyzed textually, interpretatively and socio-politically.
FAIRCLOUGH 3D MODEL
3. Social practice: Studies the text with the hierarchical social structures
and social identities in mind.
FAIRCLOUGH 3D MODEL
RESULT AND ANALYSIS
TEXT ANALYSIS
Following elements were identified and taken into account while analyzing the text:
1. Lexical Items
2. Rhetorical Devices
3. Metaphors
RESULT AND ANALYSIS
LEXICAL ITEMS: a single word, a part of a word, or a chain of words that forms the basic
elements of a language's structure and meaning.
Examples from the text: Truth in her speech uses the contrasting words of man and woman,
white and negro rather than us multiple times.
The word children has also been used twice.
She also repeats the word God thrice and Christ four times
The word rights in association to women and to Negroes has also been repeated twice.
The word look has also been repeated twice.
RESULT AND ANALYSIS
Rhetorical devices
The title of Sojourner’s speech, ‘Ain’t I a Woman?’ itself has been taken from her
speech’s major rhetoric.
“Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best
place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and
planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I
could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the
lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all
sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard
me! And ain't I a woman?”
RESULT AND ANALYSIS
2. “Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as
men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did
your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.”
3. “That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted
over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into
carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place!”
RESULT AND ANALYSIS
Metaphors
Example:
“If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn't you be mean not
to let me have my little half measure full?”
RESULT AND ANALYSIS
DISCURSIVE PRACTICE
Intertextuality
Formality
RESULT AND ANALYSIS
Intertextuality:
The major examples of Intertextuality in Truth’s speech are the references in it from
the Bible.
1. “Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as
men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where
did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do
with Him.”
2. “If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside
down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it
right side up again!”
RESULT AND ANALYSIS
Shared Knowledge
The beginning of Sojourner’s speech itself is based on the shared knowledge of the
riots of the North and the South America that are sexist and racial in nature
respectively.
1. “Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of
kilter. I think that 'twixt the negroes of the South and the women at the North, all
talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all this
here talking about?”
2. “Then they talk about this thing in the head; what's this they call it? [member of
audience whispers, "intellect"] That's it, honey. What's that got to do with
women's rights or negroes' rights?”
RESULT AND ANALYSIS
SOCIAL PRACTICE
This 3rd Dimension involving seeing the discourse from a social lens requires the
identification of the following from the discourse:
1. Formality
2. Pronouns
RESULT AND ANALYSIS
Formality:
Pronouns:
The pronouns used by Sojourner Truth in her speech are mostly individual in nature
rather than collective.
She uses the pronoun ‘I’ the most which is also the major pronoun in her rhetoric,
The use of ‘I’ or ‘me’ throughout the speech rather than ‘us’, ‘we’ or ‘our’ is also
symbolic of the lack of collectivity or unity that exists in America.
ANALYSIS OF THE SPEECH IN REGARDS
TO ANTI-RACISM HASHTAGS OF TODAY
The one thing all these hashtags of 2020 have in common with Sojourner’s speech
from 1851 in the ‘purpose’ i.e. the acceptance and equality for the marginalized.
1. The justice for black (#JusticeforGeorgeFloyd)
2. Their right to voice their rights (#letmeprotest)
3. The exercise of their self regardless of their race or in a broader sense regardless
of even ones gender (#letmebreathe)
4. The exertion of the fact that the marginalized do not have the space to even
breathe freely or exert their individuality (#Icantbreathe)
5. The start of a racism free future (#EndRacism)
6. The worth of a black life (#blacklivesmatter)
DISCUSSION