On May 23rd, 2014, Elliot Rodger killed six and injured fourteen near Isla Vista, United States, in his self-declared Day of Retribution. On March 15th, 2019, Brenton Tarrant opened fire in and...Show moreOn May 23rd, 2014, Elliot Rodger killed six and injured fourteen near Isla Vista, United States, in his self-declared Day of Retribution. On March 15th, 2019, Brenton Tarrant opened fire in and around the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, eventually killing 51. Before their violent acts, both Elliot Rodger and Brenton Tarrant posted manifestos outlining justifications for resorting to violence while incentivising others to do the same. Rodger’s and Tarrant’s manifestos have been highly influential in inspiring other actors to resort to violence and are therefore analysed for the current investigation. However, a lack of analytical attention towards how violent actors with different ideological perspectives utilise gendered narratives in their manifestos necessitates the current investigation to explore how gendered discourses feature in Rodger’s and Tarrant’s manifestos. This thesis takes a gendered approach to violent discourse by applying a Critical Discourse Analysis, which unveils that both Rodger’s and Tarrant’s manifestos contain gendered narratives. However, the results also reveal that the intensities and frequencies of these narratives differ between the two manifestos, as do the ways in which the gendered constructions incite violence. These findings offer valuable insights into how gendered narratives unite ideologically diverse violent actors which can assist future research seeking to better understand the deadly effects of gendered discourse.Show less
This paper aimed to find out whether men and women terrorists of the Provisional IRA were portrayed differently in the media. A critical discourse analysis was conducted on newspaper articles from...Show moreThis paper aimed to find out whether men and women terrorists of the Provisional IRA were portrayed differently in the media. A critical discourse analysis was conducted on newspaper articles from 1969 to 1999, coding and analysing the way these terrorists got framed and portrayed in the media. A gendered difference in media portrayal of PIRA is present based on the analysis of 45 articles. However, this difference is not as large as could be expected based on the media portrayal of female terrorists in general. Throughout PIRA’s existence, from 1969 to 1999, a minimal change over time is visible, with the gender difference in media portrayal declining.Show less