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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The Power of Language in the Discourse on Women's Rights: Some Examples from Tanzania
Author:Wanitzek, UlrikeISNI
Year:2002
Periodical:Africa Today
Volume:49
Issue:1
Period:Spring
Pages:3-19
Language:English
Geographic term:Tanzania
Subjects:gender relations
legal terminology
women
law
sociolinguistics
Women's Issues
Law, Human Rights and Violence
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
Law, Legal Issues, and Human Rights
mass media
Cultural Roles
External link:http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/africa_today/v049/49.1wanitzek.pdf
Abstract:As a medium of communication, language expresses hidden notions of power, although at a superficial level the ideas and meanings contained in ordinary words are often assumed to be universally accepted by those who speak the language. The notion of legal language as a medium of social power contributes to an understanding of the ways in which gender struggles are conducted within the context of litigation and has important implications for women's access to justice. Cases from Tanzania demonstrate how the language structure in the courtroom can exert a power of its own and how legal language reflects and reinforces male dominance over women and, more generally, gender bias. Language and language use ought therefore to be part of the ongoing research of living-law scholars on customary law. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [ASC Leiden abstract]
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