The path of least resistance: Constructions of space in the discourse of Israeli military refuseniks. (December 2015)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- The path of least resistance: Constructions of space in the discourse of Israeli military refuseniks. (December 2015)
- Main Title:
- The path of least resistance: Constructions of space in the discourse of Israeli military refuseniks
- Authors:
- Livio, Oren
- Abstract:
- Abstract: In this article I examine the ways in which Israeli soldiers who refuse to serve in the Occupied Territories use spatial representations and metaphors in discourse explaining their decision to refuse. Using Lefebvre's (1995) framework regarding spaces of representation as sites of political struggle, I analyze how selective refuseniks construct the Territories as a space of pollution, irrationality, disorder and death, expressing fear that these qualities might contaminate Israeli space, and thus implicitly promoting a separatist logic of exclusion. Refuseniks employ metaphors of movement to portray the transition from 'here' to 'there' as a shift into an alternate universe, and attempt to appropriate hegemonic discursive conceptualizations associated with three culturally loaded spaces: the prison, the Jewish settlements, and Nazi Germany. The ambivalent dialectics of dominant and resistant ideologies in refuseniks' discourse and their cultural implications are discussed. Highlights: I examine spatial constructions in the discourse of Israeli selective refuseniks. Refuseniks create a binary opposition between Israel and the Occupied Territories. The Territories are constructed as polluted, thus rendering Israel pure. The main concern is that the space of the Territories will seep into Israel. Despite resistant content, spatial constructions and metaphors are often hegemonic.
- Is Part Of:
- Discourse, context & media. Volume 10(2015)
- Journal:
- Discourse, context & media
- Issue:
- Volume 10(2015)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 10, Issue 2015 (2015)
- Year:
- 2015
- Volume:
- 10
- Issue:
- 2015
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2015-0010-2015-0000
- Page Start:
- 1
- Page End:
- 9
- Publication Date:
- 2015-12
- Subjects:
- Critical discourse analysis -- Space -- Israel -- Refuseniks -- Palestine -- Conscientious objection
Discourse analysis -- Periodicals
Digital media -- Periodicals
Mass media and language -- Periodicals
Communication -- Periodicals
Communication
Digital media
Discourse analysis
Mass media and language
Periodicals
401.4105 - Journal URLs:
- http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/22116958 ↗
http://www.sciencedirect.com/ ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1016/j.dcm.2015.02.002 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 2211-6958
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 847.xml