Projecting (un)certainty : a text-world analysis of three statements from the Meredith Kercher murder case

HO, Yufang, LUGEA, Jane, MCINTYRE, Dan, WANG, Jing and XU, Zhijie (2018). Projecting (un)certainty : a text-world analysis of three statements from the Meredith Kercher murder case. English Text Construction, 11 (2), 285-316.

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Official URL: https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1...
Link to published version:: https://doi.org/10.1075/etc.00012.ho

Abstract

This article uses Text World Theory (Werth 1999; Gavins 2007) in conjunction with VUE (Visual Understanding Environment) concept mapping software to analyze three statements from the trial of Amanda Knox, who was charged (along with her boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito) with the murder of Meredith Kercher in 2007. We compare the cognitive patterns (i.e. text-worlds) as reflected in Knox’s statements and use the insights gained to guide an examination of their individual linguistic features and associated potential legal implications. In the first two dictated statements, Knox is projected as an actor responsible for the reported actions/events that implicate her in the crime, whereas in the third statement (handwritten in English), she is projected as a senser, presenting more prominent epistemic uncertainty and indicating bewilderment. Further micro-level linguistic comparison indicates signs of textual alteration in the first two statements, i.e. crucial text was altered and thus resulted in a change of meaning and legal significance.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: ** From Crossref via Jisc Publications Router **Journal IDs: pissn 1874-8767; eissn 1874-8775
Uncontrolled Keywords: Linguistics and Language, Literature and Literary Theory, Language and Linguistics
Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1075/etc.00012.ho
Page Range: 285-316
SWORD Depositor: Margaret Boot
Depositing User: Margaret Boot
Date Deposited: 16 Nov 2018 11:39
Last Modified: 18 Mar 2021 08:18
URI: https://shura.shu.ac.uk/id/eprint/23131

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