Discourse Analysis on The Perceptions of Homosexuality in Botswana: A Case of Kanye and Gaborone
Abstract
Discourse analysis in perceiving homosexuality has a significant role in the general use of language within a particular society. The study aims to find out how Batswana perceived homosexuality by analysing the ways in which discourse was used in Gaborone and Kanye. Twenty (20) participants were sampled from both research sites and the sampling technique used was non-probability also known as convenience sampling. After collecting data, the interview results were coded in order to identify the themes of the study which were later used to present and analyse the results. The analysis employed Fairclough’s dimensional model. Most of the discourse analysed in the current research reveals both the negative and the positive results on the perceptions of homosexuality. Most of the Batswana who participated in this study thought homosexuality was not a good practice because it is against the Setswana culture. However, there were glimpses of some Batswana showing accommodation of the practice as it was viewed as “a new phenomenon”.
References
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37. Nyoni, Z. (2020). Decriminalising Homosexuality: Reshaping the Landscape in Botswana and a Missed Opportunity in Kenya. Harvard Human Rights Journal. Retrieved on 20 February 2023 from http://clok.uclan.ac.uk/33772/
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40. Seckinelgin, H. (2018). Same-sex lives between the language of international LGBT rights, international aid, and anti-homosexuality. Global social policy, 18(3), 284-303.
41. Sivertsen, K. B. (2016). Homosexuality in perspective-A critical discourse analysis of the debate on homosexuality in Uganda (Master's thesis). University of Oslo.
42. Slocum–Bradley, N. (2009). The positioning diamond: a trans-disciplinary framework for discourse analysis. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour. 40 1, 79-107.
43. Stiebert, J. (2002). Homosexuality in Botswana and in the Hebrew Bible: An impression. Verbum et Ecclesia, 23(1), 196-208.
44. Taherdoost, H. (2016). Sampling Methods in Research Methodology; How to Choose a Sampling Technique for Research. International Journal of Academic Research in Management (IJARM), 5(2), 18-27.
45. Trumbach, R. (1977). London's sodomites: Homosexual behavior and Western culture in the 18th century. Journal of Social History, 11(1), 1-33.
46. Weeks, J. (2007). Discourse, desire and sexual deviance: Some problems in a history of homosexuality. In Culture, society and sexuality (pp. 141-165). London: Routledge.
47. Wilkinson, M. (2019). ‘Bisexual oysters’: A diachronic corpus-based critical discourse analysis of bisexual representation in The Times between 1957 and 2017. Discourse & Communication, 13(2), 249-267.
48. Wong, D. (2010). Crossing the Boundaries of East and West: Texts and Their Interpretation through Bourdieu’s Theory and Social Philosophy. International Journal of China Studies, 705 -734.
49. Yarhouse, M. A. (2004). Homosexuality, ethics and identity synthesis. Christian Bioethics, 10(2-3), 239-258.
2. Adjei, S. B. (2013). Discourse Analysis: Examining Language Use in Context. The Qualitative Report, 18 (50), 1-10.
3. Agovino, M., Bevilacqua, M., & Cerciello, M. (2022). Language as a proxy for cultural change. A contrastive analysis for French and Italian lexicon on male homosexuality. Quality & Quantity, 56(1), 149-172.
4. Al-Abbas, L. S., & Haider, A. S. (2021). The representation of homosexuals in Arabic-language news outlets. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 40(3), 309-337.
5. Balter, M. (2015). Homosexuality May Be Caused By Chemical Modifications to DNA,”. Science.
6. Betti, M. J. (2021). Discourse Analysis and Text Linguistics. College of Education for Humanities, University of Thi-Qar
7. Burhanudin, H., Sumarlam., & Rakhmawati, A. (2021). The dimensionality on the mayor of Surakarta`s (2016-2021) Javanese COVID-19 posters. Humaniora, 12(2), 161-171.
8. Chavez, J. V., & Ceneciro, C. C. (2023). Discourse analysis on same-sex relationship through the lens of religious and social belief systems. Environment and Social Psychology, 9(1).
9. Chitando, E., & Mateveke, P. (2017). Africanizing the discourse on homosexuality: challenges and prospects. Critical African Studies, 9(1), 124-140.
10. Cragun, R. T., Williams, E., & Sumerau, J. E. (2015). From sodomy to sympathy: LDS elites’ discursive construction of homosexuality over time. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 54(2), 291-310.
11. Dinokopila, B. R. (2022). The Decriminilisation of Homosexuality in Botswana. Journal of Homosexuality, 1-25.
12. Drescher, J. (2015). Out of DSM: Depathologizing homosexuality. Behavioral Sciences, 5(4), 565-575.
13. Emerson, R. W. (2015). Convenience Sampling, Random Sampling, and Snowball Sampling: How Does Sampling Affect the Validity of Research? Journal of visual impairment & blindness, 109(2), 164-168.
14. Eriksson, R. (2024). Queer Invisibility in Upper Secondary Language Course Textbooks?: A Discourse Analysis of EFL and Swedish as a Second Language Textbooks, and Teachers’ Perceptions on Representation.
15. Esmaili, F. & Amerian, M. (2014). Gender Representation in Iranian High School English Textbooks with a Critical Discourse Analysis Perspective. International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World (IJLLALW), 5(4), 277‐289.
16. Esterhuizen, T. (2019). Decriminalisation of consensual same-sex sexual acts and the Botswana Constitution: Letsweletse Motshidiemang v The Attorney-General (LEGABIBO as amicus curiae). African Human Rights Law Journal, 19(2), 843-861.
17. Fairclough, N. (1989) Language and Power. London: Longman.
18. Fairclough, N. (1992) Discourse and Social Change. Cambridge: Polity Press.
19. Fairclough, N. (1995) Critical Discourse Analysis. London: Longman
20. Farrokhi & Mahmoudi (2012). Rethinking convenience sampling: Defining quality criteria.
21. Gee, J. P. (2004). An introduction to discourse analysis: Theory and method. London: Routledge.
22. Ghani, N. A., & Hussain, M. S. (2021). Application of Fairclough’s model on Joe Biden’s victory speech: Corpus assisted analysis of new US vision versus world voices. Psychology and Education, 58(2), 10168-10181.
23. Grusec, J. E. (1994). Social learning theory and developmental psychology: The legacies of Robert R. Sears and Albert Bandura
24. Gustara, R. A. (2018). A Critical Discourse Analysis: The Representation of ‘Homosexual’, ‘Lesbian’, and ‘Gay’ Collocates Words in Cola and BNC Corpus. Proceeding of The American Studies, 2, 123.
25. Hjelm, T. (2014). Religion, Discourse and Power: A Contribution towards a Critical Sociology of Religion. Critical Sociology, 40 (6), 855-872.
26. Iqbal, A., Danish, M. H., & Tahir, M. R. (2014). Exploitation of women in beauty products of Fair and Lovely: A critical discourse analysis study. International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature, 2(9), 122-131.
27. JØrgensen, M., & Phillips, L. (2002). Discourse Analysis as Theory and Method. London: SAGE Publications.
28. Leedy, P. D. & Ormrod, J. E. (2010). Practical Research: Planning and Design (9th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
29. Lewis, J., & Melendez-Torres, G. J. (2024). Prep-Tok: a queer critical discourse analysis of TikToks regarding HIV-related pre-exposure prophylaxis. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 26(4), 449-465.
30. Ljunggren, A. (2022). THE GOVERNMENTAL DISCOURSE TOWARD HOMOSEXUALS IN SWEDEN. A critical discourse analysis of the changing discourse between the years 1935 and 2007 (Master's thesis).
31. Lotha, G. (2015). Kanye. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved on 11 February 2024 from https://www.britanica.com/place/kanye-Botswana.
32. Martin-Anatias, M. (2020). Code-Switching or BahasaGado-Gado in Discussion of Homosexuality in Indonesian Films, Journal of Homosexuality, 67:11, 1542-1564.
33. Meyer, I. H. (2003). Prejudice, Social Stress, and Mental Health in Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Populations: Conceptual Issues and Research Evidence, Psycho Bull, 129(5), 674-697.
34. Morin, S. F. (1977). Heterosexual bias in psychological research on lesbianism and male homosexuality. American Psychologist, 32(8), 629.
35. Motladiile, O. (2020). Perceptions of homosexuality and religion: A case of Kanye village and Gaborone city. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Zambia.
36. Motswapong, E. P. & Gaie, J.B.R. (2022). Setswana cultural attitudes towards homosexuality. Journal of East-West Thought Retrieved on the 21 May 2024 from https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/downloads/6108vk10f.
37. Nyoni, Z. (2020). Decriminalising Homosexuality: Reshaping the Landscape in Botswana and a Missed Opportunity in Kenya. Harvard Human Rights Journal. Retrieved on 20 February 2023 from http://clok.uclan.ac.uk/33772/
38. Potter, J., & Wetherell, M. (2001). Unfolding discourse analysis. In M. Wetherell, S. Taylor, & S. J. Yates (Eds.), Discourse theory and practice: A reader (pp. 198-209). London: Sage Publications.
39. Sathyanarayana, T. S. & Jacob, K. S. (2014). The reversal on Gay rights in India. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 56, 1-2.
40. Seckinelgin, H. (2018). Same-sex lives between the language of international LGBT rights, international aid, and anti-homosexuality. Global social policy, 18(3), 284-303.
41. Sivertsen, K. B. (2016). Homosexuality in perspective-A critical discourse analysis of the debate on homosexuality in Uganda (Master's thesis). University of Oslo.
42. Slocum–Bradley, N. (2009). The positioning diamond: a trans-disciplinary framework for discourse analysis. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour. 40 1, 79-107.
43. Stiebert, J. (2002). Homosexuality in Botswana and in the Hebrew Bible: An impression. Verbum et Ecclesia, 23(1), 196-208.
44. Taherdoost, H. (2016). Sampling Methods in Research Methodology; How to Choose a Sampling Technique for Research. International Journal of Academic Research in Management (IJARM), 5(2), 18-27.
45. Trumbach, R. (1977). London's sodomites: Homosexual behavior and Western culture in the 18th century. Journal of Social History, 11(1), 1-33.
46. Weeks, J. (2007). Discourse, desire and sexual deviance: Some problems in a history of homosexuality. In Culture, society and sexuality (pp. 141-165). London: Routledge.
47. Wilkinson, M. (2019). ‘Bisexual oysters’: A diachronic corpus-based critical discourse analysis of bisexual representation in The Times between 1957 and 2017. Discourse & Communication, 13(2), 249-267.
48. Wong, D. (2010). Crossing the Boundaries of East and West: Texts and Their Interpretation through Bourdieu’s Theory and Social Philosophy. International Journal of China Studies, 705 -734.
49. Yarhouse, M. A. (2004). Homosexuality, ethics and identity synthesis. Christian Bioethics, 10(2-3), 239-258.
Authors
[1]
“Discourse Analysis on The Perceptions of Homosexuality in Botswana: A Case of Kanye and Gaborone”, Soc. sci. humanities j., vol. 8, no. 11, pp. 5744–5757, Nov. 2024, doi: 10.18535/sshj.v8i11.1433.
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