Documentary evidence as hegemonic reconstruction

Le Cheng, Winnie Cheng

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The paper aims to explore documentary evidence in legal discourse from a socio-semiotic perspective and argues there is reconstructive and deconstructive nature in legal narratives and the hegemony in legal narratives can be regarded as conventional. Based on case studies relevant to Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance in Hong Kong, the paper finds that spatial manipulation and voice manipulation were employed as strategies by court to create legal hegemony in narratives. Unraveling such strategies helps to deconstruct legal hegemony. The paper concludes that documentary evidence is characterized by the essential features of a sign, which can be subject to the influence of spatial and temporal manipulations, because such kind of evidence is subject to multiple interpretations.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)165-184
Number of pages20
JournalSemiotica
Volume200
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2014

Keywords

  • Documentary evidence
  • Hegemonic construction
  • Legal narrative
  • Manipulation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Language and Linguistics
  • Linguistics and Language
  • Literature and Literary Theory

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