Leiden University Student Repository

Zandonella, Eva (2017)

Freedom of Expression: Religiously Offensive Speech in France and the Case of Charlie Hebdo

Master thesis | International Relations (MA)

This thesis seeks to explore the topic of religiously offensive cartoons, taking the attack on Charlie Hebdo in January 2015 as a starting point. After applying the legal framework and different legal philosophical justifications for free speech to the Charlie Hebdo cartoons, the analysis will take a closer look at a similar controversy in Denmark. As in the Danish cartoon controversy, analysing the broader socio-political context can provide a deeper understanding of the root causes of the protests following the attack. Drawing on critical discourse analysis this thesis investigates the question to what extend the public discourse on free speech in France after the attack on Charlie Hebdo and the role of French Muslims in this debate reflect power relations within the French society. Such power relations indeed manifest themselves in this discourse as it was the official side who started the discourse and had the power to chose wording, meaning of concepts, the topoi and to define...Show moreThis thesis seeks to explore the topic of religiously offensive cartoons, taking the attack on Charlie Hebdo in January 2015 as a starting point. After applying the legal framework and different legal philosophical justifications for free speech to the Charlie Hebdo cartoons, the analysis will take a closer look at a similar controversy in Denmark. As in the Danish cartoon controversy, analysing the broader socio-political context can provide a deeper understanding of the root causes of the protests following the attack. Drawing on critical discourse analysis this thesis investigates the question to what extend the public discourse on free speech in France after the attack on Charlie Hebdo and the role of French Muslims in this debate reflect power relations within the French society. Such power relations indeed manifest themselves in this discourse as it was the official side who started the discourse and had the power to chose wording, meaning of concepts, the topoi and to define ingroups and outgroups. Societal inequalities can also be noticed through participation and representation of French Muslisms and their interaction to the other groups present in the discourse.Show less

Freedom of Speech

religiously offensive speech

France

Charlie Hebdo

Author

Zandonella, Eva

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

European Union Studies

Supervisors

Oster, Jan

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en