Corpus linguistics and critical discourse analysis : the depiction of men and women in selected isiZulu newspapers

Abstract

The challenge of fostering an equitable society continues to persist, as the disproportionate depictions of women and men are still an issue in the South African communities. Consequently, gender issues have been a significant area of research in language studies and various other disciplines both in South Africa and internationally. This study investigates how women are depicted compared to their male counterparts in the two major isiZulu newspapers, Ilanga (The Sun) and Isolezwe (The Eye of the Nation). It aims to investigate the social implications of the ways in which women and men are depicted, by reflecting on unequal power relations and/or social inequalities, and stereotyping of women and men, employing the methodological approach that combines Corpus Linguistics (CL) and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The following search terms were selected for analysis: owesifazane ‘woman,’ abesifazane ‘women,’ owesilisa ‘man,’ abesilisa ‘men,’ indoda ‘man/married man,’ amadoda ‘men/married men,’ umfazi ‘woman/married woman,’ abafazi ‘women/married women,’ intokazi ‘young woman,’ izintokazi ‘young women,’ insizwa ‘young man’ and izinsizwa ‘young men.’ The Ilanga corpus consists of 970 files with articles ranging from 2014 to 2017, resulting in a corpus of over 4 million words, while the Isolezwe corpus consists of 489 files with articles ranging from 2015 to 2017, resulting in a corpus of over 7 million words.

The findings indicate that both newspapers consistently privilege certain ideological perspectives (women as victims and men as perpetrators) whilst undermining others (women and men empowerment). Most of the depictions centre around women as victims of crime and violence and on men as perpetrators of those crimes and violence, reinforcing traditional gender stereotypes of depicting women as weak, helpless victims and men as aggressive, violent criminals. Based on these findings, it is recommended that newspapers dedicate sections or series to narratives of empowerment for both genders – male and female, highlighting achievements that transcend traditional stereotypes, such as professional success, community leadership roles, and overcoming challenges. Corpus linguistics tools should be regularly utilized to monitor changes over time. This monitoring should focus on tracking shifts in the frequency and context of gender-related terms.