Whose Satan? U.S. mainstream media depictions of The Satanic Temple. (January 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Escamilla, Ramón
• Is Part Of: Discourse & society. Volume 34:Number 1(2023)
• Page Start: 54
• Page End: 76
• Publication Date: 2023-01
• Subjects: Cognitive linguistics -- Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) -- frames -- metaphor -- news values -- quotation -- reclamation -- Satanism -- The Satanic Temple -- U.S. media; Discourse analysis -- Periodicals; Communication -- Periodicals; 302.2
• DOI: 10.1177/09579265221145094
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0957-9265

Abstract

Based on a corpus of 40 U.S. news articles and transcribed news videos, I bring together techniques from Critical Discourse Analysis with concepts from cognitive linguistics in analyzing mainstream portrayals of The Satanic Temple (TST), a newer, non-supernaturalist religion. I probe quotation, lexis, and metaphor, and interrogate patterns through the lenses of framing, radial category structure, and Lakoff's Idealized Cognitive Models. I draw form-based parallels between mainstream U.S media portrayals of TST and accounts from the CDA literature of othering portrayals of other marginalized groups, in the U.S. and elsewhere. I submit that many accounts of TST are sensationalist, and propose reclamation as a useful lens for understanding the contemporary Satanist identity. I suggest that research on news values, particularly Bednarek and Caple's concept of Negativity, is a useful avenue for further research.