Representation of the discourse of the social status of women in the newspaper of the Republic of Tunis based on the critical approach of Fairclough: a case study of misbehavior against women

Khazali, Atefeh; Khazali, Ensiyeh; Rostampour Maleki, Roghayeh; Akbarizadeh, Fatemeh

doi:10.22059/jwica.2026.383050.2086

Representation of the discourse of the social status of women in the newspaper of the Republic of Tunis based on the critical approach of Fairclough: a case study of misbehavior against women

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Atefeh Khazali ¹

Ensiyeh Khazali ²

Roghayeh Rostampour Maleki ³

Fatemeh Akbarizadeh ⁴

¹ PhD student of Arabic language and literature Department of Arabic Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran

² Professor Department of Arabic Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran

³ Professor, Department of Arabic Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran

⁴ Assistant Professor, Department of Arabic Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran.

10.22059/jwica.2026.383050.2086

Abstract

Women's social issues are significant and debated topics in all societies. One of the most important of these issues is violence and abuse against women, which is not a phenomenon of today or yesterday. This social phenomenon is largely rooted in the traditions and culture of nations, the power dynamics of men in that society, and the extent of patriarchal attitudes in each community. This research aims to unveil the implicit ideology guiding Tunisian society regarding the issue of abuse against women, considering the impact of media on values.
Since discourse analysis is one of the linguistic methods for revealing hidden ideas in texts and accessing the essence and depth of those texts, this study explores the ideological approaches in the Tunisian newspaper Al-Jomhouria within this context, relying on Fairclough's theory. The headlines and news content in these newspapers are examined using a descriptive-analytical method. The results indicate that Al-Jomhouria employs various linguistic methods and techniques to represent the issue of abuse against women: documenting news based on statistics from credible national sources in Tunisia, ensuring the certainty of news through interviews with the Minister of Women and Family, reliance on rhetorical elements, use of intertextuality, coherence, and coordination among others.

Keywords

Al-Jomhouria newspaper

Critical discourse analysis

Norman Fairclough

Tunisia

women's social issues

Subjects