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English as a Lingua Franca in Migrants' Trauma Narratives pp 153–195Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Trauma-Narrative Analysis at the Level of Sociopragmatic Schemata

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Abstract

This chapter enquires into the role of Western experts’ and non-Western migrants’ respective sociopragmatic schemata which, by coming into contact in the course of unequal encounters within different specialized contexts, can induce, on the one hand, experts to misinterpret migrants’ trauma narratives, and, on the other, migrants to find experts’ specialized discourses inaccessible and unacceptable, thus causing communication failure despite the fact that both groups use English as a ‘lingua franca’. Case-study data show that each sociopragmatic schema refers to each participant’s linguacultural conditions of discourse production and interpretation, which engage indexically with the respective participant’s socio-cultural and psychological reality that may not be experientially accessible to the other participants in the interaction. Miscommunication is evident from the case-study analysis dealing with the participants’ conflicting sociopragmatic schemata regarding the ‘maternity’ construct in trauma-induced medical contexts; factual versus counterfactual religious constructs in ‘first-assistance’ encounters of the Catholic clergy with trauma-affected African migrants; and Utopian versus Dystopian schemata that determine the framing and the (mis)interpreting of migrants’ trauma narratives in the context of Responsible Tourism. The chapter concludes with the illustration of a cultural project in Responsible Tourism involving both tourists and migrants in ethnopoetic embodiments of ancient and modern sea voyage trauma narratives so as to discover the common archetypal roots as sea voyagers.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Retrieved from: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/synod/documents/rc_synod_doc_20120619_instrumentum-xiii_en.html.

  2. 2.

    Retrieved from: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_20010106_novo-millennio-ineunte_en.html.

  3. 3.

    This request for ‘acculturation’ to the NE message actually provoked the reactions of a number of bishops representing non-Western dioceses across the five continents at the Synod (retrieved from: http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/sinodo/documents/bollettino_25_xiii-ordinaria-2012/02_inglese/b05_02.html), who warned against such an ‘acculturation’ process covertly required by the NE message. Thus, for instance, Cardinal Pengo, from Africa, argued, “globalization introduces rapidly undigested foreign values, making it hard for Christians on the continent to be truly Africans. Their Christian faith is thus rendered also very much alien.”—and Archbishop Reter, from Latin America, pointed out, “the pastoral of the Church cannot ignore the historical context in which its members live. It lives in very concrete social, cultural contexts.”—which was also supported by Cardinal Gracias from Asia, “The effects of globalization are seen overall affecting our value systems. Traditional Asian values, much cherished traditions, and cultures are being impacted and eroded”.

  4. 4.

    Retrieved from: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/migration/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20110921_world-migrants-day_en.html.

  5. 5.

    The Mediterranean island of Malta offers experiences of Responsible Tourism. One of its websites, for instance, advertises holidays for volunteers ready to educate African refugees landing on its coasts on “European customs” by practicing at the same time the English language (retrieved from: http://www.gooverseas.com/blog/volunteering-in-malta-beyond-tourism-websites). Another peculiar case of Responsible Tourism is in Rwanda, where an agency for Refugee-Camp Tourism proposes “life-enriching activities” that offer tourists “unique insights into the harsh lives of refugees” (retrieved from: http://newdawnassociates.com/new/signature-tours/akagera-humure-refugee-community-visit/). This schema has also been adopted by African migrants living in Italy, who employ it to promote journeys back to their native countries to elude legal control—as in the case of family trips to Africa that migrants define as ‘holidays’, but that indeed are aimed at forcing their young daughters to undergo female genital mutilation (Sperti 2014, 2017).

  6. 6.

    A peculiar case of migrants promoting their host place regards Lampedusa island, where the Town Council adopted as its official anthem a reggae song by a popular band, the Sud Sound System, performed together with a group of African migrants, on the subject of the migrants’ ‘epic’ sea voyage. In the lyrics, migrants address a ‘sweet Muse’ praying her for a safe journey. Yet, the ‘sweet Muse’ is a feature of the Ancient-Greek literature, and also the Caribbean reggae music does not belong to the African migrants’ culture—which would alienate migrants even more from their experience of the host island (this is the refrain: “Row, row, to Lampedusa we go, / Go, go, for a better life we row, yeah, / O dolce Musa, portami a Lampedusa [O sweet Muse, bring me to Lampedusa] / O dolce Musa, bring me to Lampedusa, yeah.” (The video can be watched at the following link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1K8Cl-6vbgBEcRr3DznKsJiD7jnzOFyQD).

  7. 7.

    The research project in Responsible Tourism, aimed at the integration of migrants and tourists through the use of ELF, was directed by the author of this book and co-funded by the University of Salento and the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Puglia.

  8. 8.

    The migrant’s NPE trauma narrative was rendered into ELF ethnopoetic verses by the author of this book.

  9. 9.

    http://www.apocalyptic-theories.com/literature/seafarer/mesea1a.htm.

  10. 10.

    http://www.online-literature.com/homer/odyssey/12/.

  11. 11.

    The ethnopoetic translations from classical Greek and Latin literature into ELF were carried out by Lucia Errico (in Guido et al. 2017b: 104–107).

  12. 12.

    The two videos matching images, ethnopoetic captions, and musical score were created by Pietro Luigi Iaia (in Guido et al. 2017b: 109–119) and can be watched at the following links:

    video 1: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8fqW19SmcjebmZqYmVFaDVNWDQ/view?usp=drive_web&pref=2&pli=1;

    video 2: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8fqW19SmcjeOGxjYjlxMnRzOHc.

  13. 13.

    This slogan introduces a cultural reference to Tom Stoppard’s play The Coast of Utopia.

  14. 14.

    This slogan, too, introduces a cultural reference to John Osborne’s play Look Back in Anger.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Salento, Lecce, Italy

    Maria Grazia Guido

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Guido, M.G. (2018). Trauma-Narrative Analysis at the Level of Sociopragmatic Schemata. In: English as a Lingua Franca in Migrants' Trauma Narratives. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58300-0_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58300-0_8

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