“You Were Interested in Him as a Person?”: Rhythms of Domination in the Kennedy Smith Rape Trial

Abstract

In this study I explore the theoretical and linguistic implications of the Kennedy Smith rape trial, using transcriptions of real live testimony as data. I examine theoretically how the logic of inconsistency in trial testimony of the victim and other witnesses activates an interaction among language, law, and culture as an epistemological practice of domination. In microlinguistic detail, I examine the categorization of action, linguistic ideologies, and situated rhythms of legal language through which our sexual identities are constituted to create an apparent inconsistency in the victim's account. Looking at the law-in-action, I hope to show how social actors use language and culture to create meaning in their legal interaction.