SPEECH: AIN’T I A WOMAN?

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

THREE STAGES OF CDA BY FAIRCLOUGH

1.Textual: Deals with the linguistic characteristics of a spoken or written

text.

2. Discursive Practice: This includes the origin of text and its

interpretation by the audience.

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

According to Fairclough , discursive practice includes:

 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:

Sojourner’s speech was very informal and personal in nature.

Her calling her audience ‘Children’ and the employment of the endearment ‘Honey’
in the third paragraph of her speech are all examples of her trying to connect to her
audience on a deeper, personal and warmer level.
Her vocabulary in the speech i.e. the grammar and the shortening of expressions
employed by her are very vernacular to her social and cultural class.
For Example: ‘Ain’t’, “'twixt” and “cause”.
 RESULT AND ANALYSIS

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

1. Language is the envelope that encompasses within it numerous values; social,

political, personal and cultural of the deliverer.
2. One must understand that words are weapons and can start huge movements of
resistance and revolt and hence it is entirely wrong to say that language is innocent.
3. No speech is individualistic but rather is the product of a collective.
4. The social context is an important aspect for the creation and understanding of
each text.
 CONCLUSION
The deconstruction of the language in her speech by the way of Fairclough’s 3D
model has helped in understanding:
1. the relationship between the textual, social and discursive elements of a speech
and how they come together to make it impactful.
2. the importance of unique techniques in speech like referencing, the use of a
rhetoric etc. in the revelation of the ideological messages contained in it.
Sojourner’s speech is an emblem of feminism and racial equality and is a narration
of the atrocities from the mouth of the victim herself.
This study also besides establishing Sojourner’s identity as a spokesperson for
equality contrasts her concerns with the present day American concerns regarding
marginalization and ‘otherization’ by the way of comparing her speech with the
trending hashtags.
It also portrays speeches and even social media uploads as mediums for sending
forth powerful messages and ideologies as weapons for social change.
 RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Speech analysis being an important tool in making one understand and learn the
importance of language as a tool for change should perhaps be taught in and above
the high school or college level to students. Such a teaching will also help students
to detect genuine and fabricated elements within the speeches of the powerful people
like leaders so that they may not be manipulated.
2. Discourse analysis can work as an important tool in raising awareness within the
masses and can also contribute to the development of the audience’s critical senses.
3. It would also be interesting to analyze speeches by the lead feminists alleged with
elitism and discrimination, during the Second wave movement for the right to
suffrage of women, to further understand Sojourner’s allegations regarding racism
with in the feministic culture of the 19th century.
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