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An Exploration of Discourses of Peace and Conflict During Negotiations for Zimbabwe’s Government of National Unity in the Diaspora Media

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Media, Diaspora and Conflict

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Abstract

Chari examines discursive constructions of negotiations for a Government of National Unity in the Zimbabwean diaspora media. Empirical data were drawn from a corpus of purposively sampled archival news stories published in Zimbabwean diaspora media outlets. The selected stories were published between 1 July and 12 September 2008. Chari contends that three discourses dominated the Zimbabwean media’s construction of the negotiations; namely, cynicism, no compromise and retributive justice discourse. These discourses mirror the Zimbabwean diaspora media’s constructed identity as products of forced migration, hence their reporting was oriented towards the escalation of conflict rather than conflict cessation. This positions the Zimbabwean diaspora media as conflict entrepreneurs rather than peace-builders. The study opens new pathways for understanding the role of the diaspora media in homeland conflicts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Venda, Thohoyandou, Venda, South Africa

    Tendai Chari

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  1. Tendai Chari
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Correspondence to Tendai Chari .

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  1. School of Journalism, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, United Kingdom

    Ola Ogunyemi

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Chari, T. (2017). An Exploration of Discourses of Peace and Conflict During Negotiations for Zimbabwe’s Government of National Unity in the Diaspora Media. In: Ogunyemi, O. (eds) Media, Diaspora and Conflict. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56642-9_5

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