A New Approach to Oppositions in Discourse

Abstract

This article proposes a flexible typology of syntactic frames (e.g., “X not Y,” “ either X or Y”) which can act independently or cooperatively as triggers for noncanonical oppositions that co-occur in those frames. The provisional categories are based on Jones’s quantitative study of syntactic frames for housing co-occurring canonical (conventional) antonyms (e.g., “war” / “peace”) but are substantially revised to account for a broadening of the definition of opposition. These revisions also take into consideration how syntactic frames overlap and interact in context, making qualitative analyses necessary. Data are taken from U.K. newspaper reports of two major protest marches in London. Here, the use of common syntactic frames that house co-occurring canonical oppositions trigger a range of noncanonical examples, which contribute to a binary representation of people, groups, events, ideas, and processes. The typology proposed in this article can open up new ground for locating and investigating the ideological influence of oppositions in discourse in disciplines such as critical discourse analysis.