How can one analyze short, structured texts? Content analysis provides a systematic, replicable technique where validation normally takes the form of triangulation. Such mutual convergence lends credibility to the findings by incorporating multiple sources of data, methods, investigators, or theories. However, this paper examines the strengths and weaknesses of triangulation by comparing data collection methods for long, unstructured texts with short, structured texts. Considering the limitations of traditional triangulation, a multifaceted strategy has been tailored to meet the needs of specific, micro-linguistic analysis of a particular genre of text: international treaty preambles. In addition, a number of different perspectives to discern the following key elements and the dynamics of text have been examined: (1) purpose or overall agenda, (2) agent and his/her social-cultural standpoint, (3) the intended audience, (4) the socio-political context, and (5) most relevant to this paper, the language itself: syntax, semantics, style, rhetoric, and structure. The combination of these elements requires a multifaceted strategy that conventional triangulation often ignores in content analysis. This paper proposes a multi-layered approach with three different software programs. Although it has been argued in this paper that mutual validation of results is the ultimate goal, the capacity for methods to complement each other in the drive towards 'comprehensiveness' should not be assumed; nor should corroboration between methods be automatically considered unproblematic, and therefore precluding the need for further investigation.
ARTICLE 2: Visualizing Co-occurrence Structures in Political Language: Content Analysis, Multidimensional Scaling, and Unrooted Cluster Trees by Dr. Lawrence Alfred Powell.
This paper demonstrates the integrated use of combinations of (1) word-use frequency counts, (2) analysis of co-occurrences, (3) nonmetric multidimensional scaling, and (4) hierarchical cluster analysis trees in visualizing and revealing underlying thematic patterns that exist within public political language. As exemplary political 'texts', four of George Bush's post-9/11 public addresses to the U.S. Congress are examined. The President's September 20, 2001 special address to Congress, and the subsequent three State of the Union addresses were combined into a composite "post-9/11 addresses" text file. Frequently-occurring thematic keywords (and synonyms) were then identified, using the CONCORDANCE program. The resultant co-occurrence matrix of keywords was then analyzed using the HAMLET program, several matrix conversion programs written by the author, MINISSA (MDSx version), and TREEVIEW. The derived two- and three-dimensional scaling plots of word co-occurrence patterns and the plots of the unrooted cluster trees reveal a consistent, bifurcated "us vs. them", "civilized forces of good" vs. "barbaric forces of evil" overall rhetorical structure in these post-9/11 political addresses to Congress. The paper concludes that this integrated approach to exploration and visualization of word co-occurrences is a useful heuristic for isolating generalized patterns within public political documents and speeches, though epistemologically it would be more appropriate when used in the context of an 'interpretive' or 'verstehen' framework which treats speeches as social reality constructions, rather than within a stricter confirmatory, logical positivist framework.
ARTICLE 3: Difficulties Encountered in the Translation of Legal Texts: The Case of Turkey by Dr. Ayfer Altay, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. In this article, the problems encountered in translating legal texts from English into Turkish and vice versa, are categorized under 6 main headings. However, as it is impossible to fully appreciate the nature of legal language without having some familiarity with its history, first the historical events which have left their mark on the languages of English and Turkish laws have been examined. For this aim, bases of the English legal language, bases of the Turkish legal system, nature of the Turkish legal language and general features of both Turkish and English legal languages have been studied. The problems encountered in translating legal texts are examined under the following categories: 1)problems arising due to the differences in legal systems, 2)problems arising due to the differences in the language systems, semantic arrangements, and word orders of Turkish and English languages, 3)problems arising due to the lack of an established terminology in Turkey in the field of law, 4)problems due to the use of unusual sentence structures in the English legal language, 5)problems due to the old language used in the Turkish legal system, 6)problems arising due to the use of common terms with uncommon meanings.
ARTICLE 4: The Role of Communication in Peace and Relief Mission Negotiations by Victoria Edwards, senior social and economic analyst at the Privy Council Office in Ottawa, Canada. This paper considers the importance of verbal, non-verbal and cultural communication in field negotiations between military members, aid organizations and civilians in the context of contemporary peace and relief missions. To the extent that without communication there can be no negotiation, communication is obviously integral to the success of the mission, particularly in the latter context. What are the challenges involved in using locally-engaged language assistants in dangerous, ever changing mission conditions? How do these layers of communication inform the selection of locally- engaged staff and pose challenges in the areas of confidentiality, bias and safety?
ARTICLE 5: An Analysis of the Resurgence of Anti-Semitism in France by Sylvie Bacquet, American Graduate School of International Relations and Diplomacy. In many parts of the world, we witness an increase of anti-Semitic expression and violence, fuelled by the international context. In France, the country with the largest Jewish community in Europe, the resurgence of anti-Semitism has been particularly acute and reached its peak in October 2000 with the beginning of the Second Intifada. This paper proposes to study this phenomenon throughout: A description of the nature and the dimension of the resurgence of anti-Semitism; an examination of the national, regional and international response to anti-Semitism; and an assessment of its efficiency. This study shows that while the resurgence of anti-Semitism in France is tightly linked to the international context, the situation is also a reflection of some deep-rooted problems within French Society. It concludes that while the legal machinery has been successful in establishing a moral rejection of anti-Semitism, in the case of France, social change is also required.
ARTICLE 6: Differences in Participants' Estimates and Identification of Their Own and Their Partners' Sarcastic Utterances by Dr. Patricia Rockwell, Department of Communication, University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Sarcasm is an infrequent but important communicative behavior. It is of interest to diplomats because when used, it can be easily misunderstood and may lead to conflict. This study attempted to determine precisely how communicators recognize sarcasm in conversation. Participants (n = 136) were asked to estimate and identify their own and their partner's sarcastic utterances following a videotaped conversation. Participants estimated that they and their partners produced more sarcasm than they were able to identify. Participants estimated that they produced more sarcasm than their partners and identified more of their own sarcasm than of their partners. Participants correctly identified fewer than half of the specific sarcastic utterances identified by their partners.
ARTICLE 7: The Problem of Terminological Equivalence in International Maritime Law: the case of 'hypothèque' and 'mortgage' in the document Final Act and International Convention on Maritime Liens and Mortgages by Gemma Capellas-Espuny. Among the problems posed by legal translation, that of terminological equivalence is one of keen current interest. It is a well-known fact that legal translation as such poses many problems due to the differences in legal systems from one country to another. In contrast to what happens with Mathematics or Chemistry, where there is an objective extra-linguistic reference, legal realities are conceived as the result of legal discourse which creates its own reality from different or shared historic traditions, in one or several languages, and which cannot coincide in the concepts of analysis or can only coincide partially when they focus on a common international legal phenomenon. Legal translation implies both a comparative study of the different legal systems and an awareness of the problems created by the absence of equivalents. Each legal system is situated within a complex social and political framework which responds to the history, uses and habits of a particular group. This complex framework is seldom identical from one country to another, even though the origins of the respective legal systems may have points in common. The diversity of legal systems makes research in the field of legal terminology more difficult because a particular concept in a legal system may have no counterpart in other systems. Sometimes, a particular concept may exist in two different systems and refer to different realities, which raises the problem of documentation and legal lexicography. Legal translation implies both a comparative study of the different legal systems and an awareness of the problems created by the absence of equivalents.
ARTICLE 8: On the Self-Defeating Language of Martyrs and Homicide Bombers by Dr. Avery Plaw, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science at Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec.
This article examines the strategic vocabularies that sprung up in the War on Terror around the phenomenon of suicide bombing. It argues that both the Jihadists' langugage of 'martyrdom operations' and the White House's language of 'homicide bombering' reveal not only something of that sides' ideological strategy against the other, but also of its sense of the vulnerability of its own ideological position.