Navigating the tensions between transnational feminism and diplomacy. A corpus-based analysis of the United Nations’ discourse on violence against women in English and French.

Abstract

This paper investigates the United Nations' discourse on violence against women. It relies on a corpus-based analysis to explore how linguistic and translational choices contribute to discursive smoothing —a phenomenon which can be defined as the removal of controversial, conflicting, or extreme elements from discourse to achieve a consensual tone. Using the frameworks of Critical Discourse Analysis and Discourse-Historical Analysis and relying on textometry to explore two computerised diachronic corpora, the research compares a corpus of United-Nations press releases and reports with a corpus of press releases published by anglophone and French transnational feminist NGOs. The analysis reveals how the UN resorts to discursive smoothing to alter and even erase some controversial elements from feminist discourse. More specifically, the terms "femicide" and the translation of the term "gender" are examined in English and French texts. The study concludes that such smoothing processes serve diplomatic consensus, which is particularly important for the UN at a time when its legitimacy is threatened, but at the cost of diluting some crucial aspects of feminist discourse.