Henry D. Chizimba, Final Year, Education Humanities, Chancellor College
ABSTRACT
That HIV/AIDS has
caused untold ethical, eco-political, socio-cultural, and epidemiological havoc
is well documented here in Malawi and abroad. Pessimism, and more specifically,
stigma and discrimination have been described as hampering efforts to end
HIV/AIDS. Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)—a tool that analyzes how
people understand and are understood through use of language (Tiainen,
2009)—and through Framing Theory especially
through specific analysis of personal pronouns, lexical choices, and
demonstratives, the study found that the 2011 World AIDS Day commemoration
adverts in The Nation and The Daily Times Malawi newspapers contained pessimism about HIV/AIDS containment
and stigma and discrimination against People Living with HIV/ADS (PLHIV). In
total, 33 adverts were found, 19 with messages and 14 without messages. 10
adverts of the 19 messaged-adverts were analysed (because some messages were
similar and only one was considered to represent the others). Of the 10
adverts, 2 contained neither pessimism nor stigma and discrimination (20%), 3
adverts contained pessimism (30%), and 5 adverts contained stigma and
discrimination (50%). The study therefore reveals the hidden meaning of the
adverts—pessimism, stigma and discrimination—thus helping readers unmask the
real meaning behind the adverts.
KEYWORDS: CDA, 2011 World AIDS Day,
Pessimism, Stigma and Discrimination
___________________________________________________________________
01. INTRODUCTION
Still unclear about
its origin, AIDS—Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome—is the final stage of
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). HIV attacks and destroys the body’s defence
against infections leaving an individual vulnerable to opportunistic diseases
that eventually cause death (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2012). Findings from research confirm the fact that
HIV/AIDS epidemic has had, and if unchecked, will continue to have many and
far-reaching consequences on all spheres of life.
In Malawi, the first hospital case of HIV/AIDS was registered in 1985,
though some (e.g. Lwanda, 2004) believe AIDS might have arrived in Malawi
around 1977. Ever since, Malawi, just like other countries faced with the
HIV/AIDS pandemic, has had to grapple with havoc wrecked by it; rise in number
of orphans; missing adult population; increased mortality; and reduced
population growth among other problems.
02. AIM OF THE STUDY
The study aimed at
investigating pessimism, stigma and discrimination in World AIDS Day
commemoration adverts of 2011 in The
Daily Times and The Nation Malawi
newspapers
03. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
To achieve the main objective, the study first;
--Identified personal pronouns, demonstratives, and
lexical choices in both dailies
--Assessed how these linguistic items had been used by both dailies
--Examined how the above linguistic items created and sustained
pessimism, stigma and discrimination in both dailies
04. LITERATURE REVIEW
Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)—an
interdisciplinary approach to the study of how language enacts and resists
socio-political domination (van Dijk, 1995)—sees power relations as exercised
and negotiated through language. Van Dijk (1985) believes that some of CDA’s
tenets are from Frankfurt School before the Second World War and that CDA
borrows its analytical resources from sociology, psychology, sociolinguistics,
and the social sciences. He points out that CDA operates on the belief that
discourse contains hidden messages about relationships in society (Van Dijk,
1986). To this end, scholars (e.g. Mineshima, 2009) have confirmed from their
studies that indeed discourse contains hidden messages that either re-enforce
the existing social circumstances or resist them.
Any text or talk,
whether being it about education, constitution, or HIV/AIDS contain hidden
messages because no discourse is “value-free” (van Dijk, 1995). HIV/AIDS
discourse has received unprecedented intellectual, political, economic, and
epidemiological attention because, among other reasons, of its disastrous
impact to humanity. Worldwide HIV/ AIDS has seen an estimated 33.2 million people
living with it, approximately 2.5 million newly infected with it, and 2.1
million people dying of it (UN report, 2007). Findings from HIV/AIDS studies
show that HIV/AIDS has negatively affected the military (Ostergard &
Matthew, 2004), undermined democratic governance (Taylor, 2004), disrupted
society (Folayan, 2004), reduced life expectancy and increased mortality (Poku
and Whiteside, 2004). Honestly, HIV/AIDS epidemic is an issue that needs
serious and concerted effort to contain otherwise humanity is at risk of being
irreversibly disturbed for good.
Recently, stigma and
discrimination in HIV/AIDS text and talk has become a major concern. The United
Nations General Assembly, for example, in its high-level meeting on AIDS in
June, 2011 adopted bold targets for 2015 that included the desire to end stigma
and discrimination (The Nation, Dec 1, 2011). This is the case because ending
stigma and discrimination is seen as a powerful step towards arresting the AIDS
pandemic. Stigma refers “negative thoughts or prejudices about people from
particular groups or with certain characteristics (Southern Africa AIDs Action,
2002, p. 2). On its part, discrimination, according to Dorsen and Lierberman
(2008) refers to
treating others differently based solely on their membership in a socially
distinct group or category, such as race, ethnicity, sex, religion, age, or
disability. In this study, discrimination means treating people with HIV/AIDS
differently solely based on the fact that they are HIV positive.
So far, there seems to be no research done on HIV/AIDS using CDA. This
study therefore is an attempt to unravel the hidden meanings in HIV/AIDS
messages using CDA. To this end, the study investigated pessimism, stigma and
discrimination in the 2011 World AIDS Day commemoration messages in The Nation
and The Daily Times Malawi newspapers.
05. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Several scholars, for
example (Kimu, 2009; Chizimba, 2012) have conducted studies on news reports
using Framing as a theory of media effects. According
to Scheufele (1999), framing refers to the media’s use of schemas that
listeners or readers use to interpret and discuss public events. Scheufele
points out that the theory borrows its tools from psychology where it is held
that people’s information processing and interpretation is largely influenced
by pre-existing meaning structures. Though Framing theory is said to be vaguely
conceptualized (Brosius & Eps, 1995 as cited by Scheufele, 1999), it
nevertheless provides the tools to understand how meanings are encoded and
decoded by writers and readers to construe the natural world. This study uses
Framing theory in its investigation of pessimism, stigma and discrimination in
the 2011 World AIDS Day commemoration adverts in The Daily Times and The
Nation Malawi newspapers.
06. LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The study
considers adverts only that were carried by the two dailies on 1st
December, 2011 World AIDS Day for analysis and not news articles. This becomes
a limitation in that the news articles left out could possibly contain
pessimism, stigma and discrimination just like the adverts analysed, and,
expectedly, the articles left out could have thus added to the richness of the
findings of the study.
07. RATIONALE
That HIV/AIDS epidemic is an epidemiological and eco-political issue is
common knowledge. Given this, it should
be little wonder that different corporations, government institutions and
Ministries in Malawi joined the President, late Bingu wa Mutharika, and other
local and international corporations and organizations in commemorating 2011’s
World AIDS Day which falls on 1st December every year. However, most
CDA studies in Malawi have been on constitution (e.g. Chizimba, 2012; Kimu,
2009), and media adverts on gender (e.g. Chikatentha, 2012) and none so far on
media adverts on HIV/AIDS. This study investigated HIV/AIDS stigma and
discrimination on 2011 World AIDS Day commemoration adverts. It is hoped that
the study will reveal ideologies hidden in the commemoration adverts thus adding
knowledge to people’s understanding of misrepresentation of reality in adverts.
08. METHODOLOGY
The study
is a content analysis of purposively-sampled adverts. The study used this
sampling technique because its purpose (Bryman, 1992) was to analyse adverts
that dealt with HIV/AIDS only on 1st December, 2011. This day was
chosen because it is, according to United Nation, a World AIDS Day and,
expectedly, it is the day HIV/AIDS messages are most prominent in the media.
Again, this day was chosen because of its theme phrased as “Getting to
Zero”—Zero new infections, Zero AIDS-related deaths, and Zero stigma and
discrimination. 33 adverts were found, 16 (9 containing messages) from The Daily Times, and 17 (10 containing
messages) from The Nation. Of the 19
messaged-adverts, 5 adverts were found to be formulaic, so only one was
considered to represent the other; 4 appeared in both dailies with exactly the
same message and were considered once. Overall, 10 adverts were considered for
Critical Discourse Analysis for their language richness and content.
09. FINDINGS AND INTERPRETATION
Findings
from the study show that the 2011 World AIDS Day commemoration adverts were
full of pessimism, stigma and discrimination against people infected and/or
affected by HIV/AIDS. The study critically analysed 10 messaged-adverts in The Nation and The Daily Times. These 10 adverts were from the UN
Secretary-General, UNAIDS, MASM, Lilongwe Water Board, Nation Publications
Limited (NPL), Illovo Sugar, Sunbird, EveryChild, African Union (AU), and ESCOM
(ESCOM’s message is a formulaic one shared by National AIDS Commission (NAC),
Blantyre Water Board, Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA), and Mapeto (DWSM) Ltd).
Out of these 10 adverts, it was found that adverts from NPL and Illovo Sugar
contained neither pessimism nor stigma and discrimination (20%); ESCOM and all
institutions sharing its message, UN Secretary-General, and UNAIDS contained
pessimism (30%); and MASM, Lilongwe Water Board, Sunbird, EveryChild, African
Union contained stigma and discrimination (50%).
9.1 PESSIMISM
It is
established in the study that 30 percent of the adverts on 1st
December, 2011 World AIDS Day were pessimistic about the containment of
HIV/AIDS in so far as efforts made and to be made are concerned. Pessimism is
when one expects only the worst to happen. For Microsoft Student 2009 (2008) pessimism is an “entrenched negative state
of mind, or a permanent expectation of the worst under all circumstances....”
Microsoft Student clarifies that pessimism is the end-product of the feelings
of a person as induced by the actions of another as another’s actions
contribute to “the difference between the world as it is and the world as it
could be.” This section discusses pessimism in the 2011 World AIDS Day
commemoration adverts.
9.1.1 Lexical Choices
Simply put, lexical choices refer to the words the author uses. In
perhaps CDA terms, by lexical choices it is meant the author’s ability to
select words from amongst alternatives. What follows is a discussion of lexical
choices as they are used to enact pessimism in the 2011 World AIDS Day Commemoration
adverts.
Excerpts 1, 2, and 3 contain the modal auxiliary “can” which shows
possibility (Lillian, 2008) of realizing a vision (Excerpt 1), of achieving
targets (Excerpt 2), and of accelerating ahead (Excerpt 3). Admittedly, the
modal “can” denotes ability to realize, to achieve, and accelerate in these
Excerpts. However, expressing possibility of defeating the HIV/AIDS epidemic is
also expressing impossibility of defeating it, and thus, paradoxically,
conceding failure to what Poku and
Whiteside (2004) call an HIV/AIDS “crisis” hence sending waves of pessimism to
the readers. This is the case because the message the modality “can” sends is
that these organizations know they have the ability to arrest HIV/AIDS and also
doubt the potency of that ability.
Excerpt 1
The progress we have made so far is proof
that we can realize our vision of Zero new infections, zero
discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths (UN Secretary-General)
Excerpt 2
With strong political will, reasonable
financial resources, and a firm human rights based approach, we can
achieve all of these targets (UN Secretary-General)
Excerpt 3
The road before us is clear and we can
accelerate ahead with smart investments, capitalizing on scientific advancements
and evidence and respecting human rights (UNAIDS)
In Excerpt 4 below, the lexical items ‘take control’ take the statement
that the groups of people mentioned in this Excerpt do not “take control of
their health” as unquestionably and obviously true. Given the fact that no
evidence is given to confirm this in the advert, one would not be wrong to
conclude that UN Secretary-General expressed, though covertly, the frustration
they have with HIV/AIDS containment. Also, in a way, such presupposition seems
to push the responsibility of curbing HIV/AIDS from the UN to the individual.
In this way, the UN (as an organization with Aids component in its programmes) is
pessimistic about HIV/AIDS containment suggesting that perhaps the way to
defeating HIV/AIDS pandemic is by pushing the responsibility to the people thus
showing pessimism.
Similarly, Excerpt 5 contains the noun ‘dream’ which portrays pessimism
on the part of these organizations since the word ‘dream’ has the connotations
of ‘nightmare’, ‘hallucinations’, ‘delusion’ etcetera. Expectedly, Mapeto
(DWSM) Ltd sends the message of that it is only by sheer luck that HIV/AIDS is
to be defeated.
Excerpt 4
Among populations at risk, the tide is
shifting. Access to HIV prevention services are helping young people, sex
workers and their clients, people who inject drugs, men who have sex with men,
and transgender people to take control of their health for greater
well-being (UN Secretary-General)
Excerpt 5
May we all help in the dream of
Getting to zero
(ESCOM, NAC, Bt Water Board, MRA, Mapeto (DWSM) Ltd)
9.2 STIGMA AND DISCRIMINATION
Stigma and discrimination, as elsewhere herein defined, is the
projection of demeaning judgment about another because of one’s status and
treating such a one unfairly due to the same. It is found in the study that 50
percent of the adverts on this day created and re-enforced stigma and
discrimination as the below discussion shows;
9.2.1 Personal Pronouns
Microsoft Encarta
(2009) defines personal pronoun
as words that stand in for the name of a person speaking, spoken to, spoken
about. Microsoft Encarta points out that personal pronouns differ in forms
according to their person, number, and case. They thus can be first person
singular (I, me) or plural (we, us); second person singular/plural (you, your);
and third person singular (he, it) and plural (they, them).
In Excerpt 6 below, MASM uses the general second person singular/plural
‘you’ according to Bramley (2001) classification. Bramley (2001, p. 147) cites
Laberge and Sankoff (1980, p. 272) who assert that ‘you’, when used in general
sense, refers to either “everyone” or “someone or group in particular”. In this
Excerpt, MASM uses ‘you’ to refer to a group of people and not everyone; people
living with HIV/AIDS in particular (and the ‘you’ is in bold for emphasis). In
this way MASM singles out this group of people living with HIV/AIDS thereby
passing the message that the people belonging to this group are different from
others (them). Since ‘you’ in this sense “connotes a higher degree of intimacy
and solidarity” (Hoainhat, 2008), it also means MASM informs people with
HIV/ADS that they deserve special care because of their status. In this way,
MASM looks down upon people living with HIV/ADS by depicting them as different
from them and needing special attention thus enacting stigma and
discrimination.
Excerpt 6
There for you. always (highlighting original)(MASM)
9.2.2 Demonstratives
Demonstratives (e.g. this, these, that, those) are words whose full meaning is contextual and are used to refer to
particular items other than the speaker(s). For scholars, demonstratives are
used to point out the people, things, situations, or experiences a speaker
refers to and distinguishes those entities from others. Demonstratives are said
to be spatial—used in the physical surroundings of the speaker and/or
listener), and discoursal—used to refer to what is currently being said or was
said earlier other than the relative location of the speaker.
A CDA of Excerpts 7,
8, 9, and 10 below, confirm that the institutions acknowledged in these
Excerpts used demonstrative ‘those’—a plural demonstrative—both spatially and
discoursally. In these Excerpts, ‘those’ refers to, spatially, a group of
people more distant to the speaking institution, and discoursally, this group
of people distant to the speaking institutions is that of People Living with
HIV/AIDS (PLHIV). Elsewhere, scholars have clarified that demonstratives ‘this’
and ‘these’ refer to entities close to the speaker whereas ‘that’ and ‘those’
refer to entities more distant to the speaker.
Excerpt 7
For starters, the HIV/AIDS Workplace Policy
is put into action through the Workplace Program. The Program’s overall
objective is to retain high qualitative and quantitative level of human
resources. Activities under the program are modelled within three thematic
areas; (i) prevention of new infections, (ii) treatment of those already
infected, and (iii) care and support of infected personnel and their direct
families (LL Water Board)
Ironically, Lilongwe Water Board in Excerpt 7 above, by using ‘those’ in
this context, distances itself from PLHIV by depicting PLHIV as different from
them. In this way, LL Water Board stigmatizes PLHIV and, by extension,
discriminates against PLHIV. The same institutional distancing from PLHIV is
seen in Excerpt 8 below where Sunbird paints the picture that Sunbird is different
from PLHIV hence need to make that distancing clear from the onset. The Excerpt
reads;
Excerpt 8
In the same vein, Sunbird would like to
congratulate all its employees and families that have already gone for
HIV-testing in the last 12 months and that as Sunbird we will continue to
support and care for those employees infected and affected as stipulated
in our HIV/AIDS Workplace Policy (SUNBIRD, Hotels and Resorts)
Again, EveryChild in Excerpt 9 and AU in Excerpt 10 below use
demonstrative ‘those’ in a manner described elsewhere herein. In Excerpt 9
EveryChild portrays children orphaned by HIV/AIDS as a distinct category
different from that of other children orphaned by other causes other than
HIV/AIDS. Here also, EveryChild differentiates between the children thus
stigmatizing children orphaned by HIV/AIDS thereby enacting discrimination.
Similarly, AU stigmatizes and discriminates PLHIV as Excerpt 10 below shows;
Excerpt 9
EveryChild Malawi also supports children
including those orphaned by HIV/AIDS through Early Childhood Development
and Psychosocial Programmes (EveryChild)
Excerpt 10
We have the responsibility not only to ensure
access to treatment for all people in need but also not to discriminate against
those with the disease (AU)
110. CONCLUSION
Findings
from the study give evidence that the institutions which flighted adverts on 1st
December, 2011, World AIDS Day commemoration in The Nation and The Daily
Times created and maintained pessimism, stigma and discrimination. The CDA
shows that the institutions used personal pronouns, demonstratives, and lexical
choices to produce and reproduce pessimism, stigma and discrimination.
Pessimism on war on HIV/AIDS has also been observed elsewhere. For example, in
a study by Government of Malawi (GoM, 2003, p. 49), it was observed that
respondents were “twice as likely to express pessimism (54%)” on containment of
HIV/AIDS.
Furthermore,
it is ironical that the CDA on 2011 World AIDS Day has found that the adverts
flighted on this day contained stigma and discrimination when the adverts were
meant to address the same stigma and discrimination. It has been established
that the adverts in the two dailies used linguistic resources in such a way
that the speaking institutions distanced themselves from PLHIV thus treating
PLHIV as clearly different from the organizations thereby stigmatizing and
discriminating against PLHIV. This
stigma and discrimination is saddening given the fact that HIV/AIDS-related
stigma and discrimination are “great barriers to preventing further infections
and providing adequate care, support, and treatment.” (Southern Africa AIDS
Action, 2002, p.1). Worse still, this
stigma and discrimination has been enacted by employers who were supposed to
have destigmatized its guidelines on HIV/AIDS both in theory and practice as
stipulated in the International Labour Organization (ILO) and Southern Africa
Development Community (SADC) codes (Southern Africa AIDS Action, 2002).
However,
it is difficult to conclude whether such pessimism, stigma and discrimination
in the adverts is a true reflection of what actually happens on the ground or
simply lack of language expertise. The same applies to National Publications
Limited and Illovo Sugar where such pessimism, stigma and discrimination were
not re-enforced let alone created.
111. RECOMMENDATIONS
Motivated
by the conclusion above, the study strongly recommends that institutions and
corporations should seek the services of language experts when developing
adverts of this or other nature. Additionally, institutions, companies, and
non-governmental organizations should also consider asking people well-versed
in the field for proper terminologies. And lastly, further studies need to be
done to investigate how language is used in HIV/AIDS literature to prevent the
irony of weakly eradicating pessimism, stigma and discrimination, when actually
they are, consciously or otherwise, fiercely promoting them.
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