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Seminar I Clarifying Roe v Wade: A Contrastive Analysis of Metadiscourse Markers in the Jurisprudence of the U.S. Supreme Court

Seminars / Lectures / Workshops

Jamie
  • Date

    25 Apr 2022

  • Organiser

    Department of English and Communication

  • Time

    17:00 - 18:00

  • Venue

    Zoom  

Speaker

Dr Jamie Mckeown

Summary

Via the genre of written legal opinion, common law courts can grant, restrict, or deny fundamental rights. Whilst the exercise of judicial power is not a capricious affair, the ability to bind entire populations, executive bodies, and legislatures underlines the high-stakes nature of this genre of communication. Currently, this is acutely evident in the abortion jurisprudence of the United States of America. In light of recent legal developments, I investigate the use of metadiscourse in the post-Roe v Wade jurisprudence of the U.S. Supreme Court, i.e., 1973-present. Specifically, in this talk, I will focus on the use of metadiscursive clarifying devices. Using several sub-corpora, I will investigate the use of the devices in different sub-genres of written legal opinion as well as two legal issues subject to pending litigation, i.e., viability and state interests. My analysis reveals highly significant findings that reflect the nature of the sub-genres examined. More qualitatively oriented analysis reveals the prescient nature of clarifying devices. I will conclude the talk with a discussion of the implications for reflexive metadiscourse, legal discourse, and legal practice.

Keynote Speaker

Dr Jamie Mckeown

Dr Jamie Mckeown

Department of English and Communication, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Jamie McKeown is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of English and Communication at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He holds a degree in Law from the University of Cambridge and a Ph.D. from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The main focus of his research interests and publications are legal discourse, reflexivity, and socio-interactional linguistics. He is currently teaching a doctoral-level course on professional and organisational communication.

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