Heteroglossia and terrorist threatening communications

What is it about?

Unlike one-to-one threats, terrorist threat texts constitute a form of violence and a language crime that is committed in a complex context of public intimidation, and are communicated publicly and designed strategically to force desired sociopolitical changes. This paper contributes to law enforcement and threat assessors’ fuller understanding of the discursive nature of threat texts in terrorism context. By shedding light on how terrorists engage with the voices of state officials from the countries threatened, this paper examines how language is used dialogically to communicate threats and to construct both the purpose of threatened actions and the victims.

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Photo by Edurne Tx on Unsplash

Photo by Edurne Tx on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The study adds to the critical discourse analysis tools used for forensic purposes. This paper suggests a categorisation of threats based on the purposes of threat as constructed in discourse. The analysis reveals a dialectic, refutative nature of argumentation, and a discourse pregnant with heteroglossic utterances that contract (i) to close off and disalign with state officials’ contradictory voices, and (ii) to produce tension. The study provides clues to terrorists’ motivations and what constitutes the heart of political violence.

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