Due process vs. access: a discourse analysis of topoi in the Overvaal High School incident

ABSTRACT

This article undertakes a discourse analysis of blame games surrounding the Overvaal High School controversy. It investigates the modes of reasoning that apportioned or deflected blame from key actors. Blame, in this context, involves culpability for escalating the racialised tensions that become a centrepiece of the debacle. A model of argumentation premised on topoi is applied to opinion pieces published online in reaction to the event. The primary aims of the article are to index dominant patterns in the argumentative structures that shaped these opinion texts, and to examine the way these arguments situate Overvaal in relation to systemic issues of racial equity. This agenda stems from the contention that online news, including opinion pieces, can play a cardinal role in constituting public knowledge of, and reactions to, divisive social events.

KEYWORDS:

• Toulmin
• argumentation
• topoi
• discourse analysis
• overvaal
• racism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Marthinus Stander Conradie

Marthinus Stander Conradie holds a PhD in critical discourse analysis and inferential pragmatics from the University of the Free State (South Africa), where he is currently employed at the Department of English. His research interests emanate from Foucauldian discourse analysis and its application to everyday political argumentation, the construction of race and racism as well as whiteness. His publications include analyses of South African students’ online discussions of personal experiences of racial discrimination and micro-aggressions on university campuses, citizens’ online deliberations via asynchronous news forums, as well as media depictions of Africa in print advertising. Presently, his strongest interests centre on blame attribution and political argumentation in online spaces where racial dynamics are implicitly or explicitly at stake.