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Discourse and Conflict pp 291–322Cite as

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Positioning the Voices of Conflict: Language Manipulation in the Diálogos de Paz

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Abstract

In 2012, the Colombian government and the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) initiated peace dialogues to bring an end to a 70-year-old conflict. An examination of their initial media statements demonstrates how political entities attempt to position themselves in relation to each other and their presumptive audience. A critical discourse analysis using the Multilayered Model of Context reveals how language is manipulated to construct, ratify, and/or reinforce specific ideologies, especially during times of conflict. References made to Colombian sociocultural norms and the historical context are employed to gain influence over public opinion and play a role in making discourse socially acceptable and replicable in the public sphere.

Although the talks initiated between the government of Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC were not originally referred to as “diálogos de paz” (‘peace dialogues’), subsequent references made to the process use this label (cf. Rodríguez Pinzón 2014; Semana 2015).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The ongoing conflict has been linked to events that occurred shortly after Colombia became an independent republic, particularly the Thousand Days (Civil) War that took place from 1899 until 1902, and unrest, which steadily increased between peasants and landowners in the 1930s until El Bogotazo in 1948 (Williford 2005). Given that the history is incredibly involved and thus beyond the scope of this chapter, then, the assassination of Gaitán will be used to demarcate the beginning of the current conflict.

  2. 2.

    While the reference to the numbers presented in Bailey (1967) is quite dated, subsequent information reporting on the casualties incurred maintains the number originally presented by Bailey.

  3. 3.

    The cessation of hostilities pertained to those being perpetrated by FARC and the Colombian government against FARC. Since other armed groups, most notably the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), were not party to the peace dialogues, a complete halt to guerilla activities in different parts of the country could not be achieved. Furthermore, the Colombian military did not completely stop its incursions into FARC enclaves in its efforts to eradicate guerilla activities and reassert its control throughout the country.

  4. 4.

    The transcriptions accompanying excerpts of text are coded according to the order of positioning first (respectively, first, second, and third order: [1st O], [2nd O], [3rd O]), followed by the grammatical form of the verb (respectively, first person singular or plural, etc.: [1st PS], …). It is therefore clear in excerpt (1) how pragmatic use and grammatical form are manifested in Spanish where ustedes, clearly referring to the audience as ‘you’ coincides with the third-person grammatical form presenten (cf. Butt and Benjamin 1988; Gómez Torrego 1996). Additionally, codings may include additional information, such as whether the positioning is direct or indirect (respectively, [-dir], [-ind]) and whether the referent is inclusive or exclusive (respectively, [-incl], [-excl]).

  5. 5.

    Transcripts of the respective media statements were downloaded from http://www.pazfarc-ep.org/comunicadosfarccuba/item/1705-bienvenida-la-comision-de-paz-del-congreso-colombiano.html for the November 28, 2013 made by FARC and http://correoconfidencial.com/archivos/31445 for the November 29, 2013 made by the Colombian government.

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  1. Universidad EAFIT, Medellín, Colombia

    Lawrence N. Berlin

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  1. Department of Languages and General Studies, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria

    Innocent Chiluwa

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Berlin, L.N. (2021). Positioning the Voices of Conflict: Language Manipulation in the Diálogos de Paz. In: Chiluwa, I. (eds) Discourse and Conflict. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76485-2_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76485-2_11

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