1. Home
  2. Items
  3. Putting Words to Actions: International Discourse, Narrative, and Language During...
PDF

Putting Words to Actions: International Discourse, Narrative, and Language During the Bosnian War, 1992-1995 Item Info

This project is a look at how history was written in public facing documents during the Bosnian War between 1992 and 1995. I identify and analyze three basic discourses used by three agencies who managed the international response to the war: the United Nations Security Council, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. To frame narratives of events of the war and the problems they were facing, the public communications of these agencies used three general discourses that I label humanitarianism, ethnic cleansing, and hyphenated identities. Each discourse was used by all three agencies and highlighted a different set of problems facing the international organizations and signaled the organizations’ priorities for intervention and peace. The discourses variously constructed political parties and armed actors, civilians, prisoners and detainees, women, displaced people and refugees, and UN and humanitarian personnel to create narratives and present the conflict to their publics. These documents were written primarily for journalists, donors, and governments who then communicated the events of the war to a wider audience. Methodologically, this dissertation argues that it is possible to use discourse analysis to track changes in international policies and priorities through a close examination of the language that is used to describe people and events. The ultimate contribution of this project is that it calls attention to which groups are included and excluded in international discourses of war and posits that defining groupness is a key element in how international intervention to armed conflict is conceived.

View on Timeline View on Map Download PDF
Title:
Putting Words to Actions: International Discourse, Narrative, and Language During the Bosnian War, 1992-1995
Creator:
Kennedy, Helen Carter
Date Created:
2024
Degree Awarded:
Doctor of Philosophy
Subjects:
Europe -- History
Geographical Focus:
Bosnia
Supporting Materials:
n/a
Description:
This project is a look at how history was written in public facing documents during the Bosnian War between 1992 and 1995. I identify and analyze three basic discourses used by three agencies who managed the international response to the war: the United Nations Security Council, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. To frame narratives of events of the war and the problems they were facing, the public communications of these agencies used three general discourses that I label humanitarianism, ethnic cleansing, and hyphenated identities. Each discourse was used by all three agencies and highlighted a different set of problems facing the international organizations and signaled the organizations’ priorities for intervention and peace. The discourses variously constructed political parties and armed actors, civilians, prisoners and detainees, women, displaced people and refugees, and UN and humanitarian personnel to create narratives and present the conflict to their publics. These documents were written primarily for journalists, donors, and governments who then communicated the events of the war to a wider audience. Methodologically, this dissertation argues that it is possible to use discourse analysis to track changes in international policies and priorities through a close examination of the language that is used to describe people and events. The ultimate contribution of this project is that it calls attention to which groups are included and excluded in international discourses of war and posits that defining groupness is a key element in how international intervention to armed conflict is conceived.
Source
Preferred Citation:
Kennedy, Helen Carter. Putting Words to Actions: International Discourse, Narrative, and Language During the Bosnian War, 1992-1995. 2024. Carleton University, Doctor of Philosophy.
Reference Link:
https://cuhistory.github.io/grads/items/hist_345.html
Rights
Rights:
Copyright the author, all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.
« Previous Back to Browse Next »