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A Constructed Peace: Narratives of Suture in the News Media

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2014

Jody Lyneé Madeira
Jody Lyneé Madeira
Affiliation:
1607 Collin Drive, Allen, TX 75002 U.S.A.,[email protected]
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Abstract

In the aftermath of violent crime, survivors are confronted by questions of comprehension, healing, normalcy, accountability, and restoration. These same issues are communicated to audiences via mass media coverage of the crime and ensuing legal proceedings that focus upon survivors while they are in the public eye—and while those suspected of the crime are in the defendant's chair. Such stories bring a human face to the innocents most affected by the outcome of the proceedings, relaying their involvement in and response to legal developments from arrest to execution. This paper examines these chronicles through the lens of narrative theory, practices integral to human communication and memory. It discusses how the mass media makes use of narrative practices in covering crises, events that in effect demand narration. This paper then focuses upon the suturing potential of narrative, its ability to knit together understandings of crises into beginnings, endings, and points in between. This discussion is illustrated by a content analysis of stories covering Dennis and Judy Shepard, whose son Matthew was brutally slain in 1998, from the time of the murder to the prosecution of the killers and beyond.

Résumé

Après tout crime violent, des questions de compréhension, de guérison, de normalité, d'imputabilité et de rétablissement se posent aux survivants. Les mêmes enjeux sont communiqués aux auditoires par la couverture que font les médias du crime et des procédures judiciaires tant qu'ils demeurent dans l'oeil du public et que les suspects sont sur le banc des accusés. De telles histoires donnent un visage humain aux premiers concernés par l'issue du procès et relatent leur implication et réaction au déroulement judiciaire, du moment de l'arrestation jusqu'à l'exécution. Cet article examine de telles chroniques dans la perspective de la théorie du récit, intégrant la communication et la mémoire humaine. Il analyse comment les médias de masse utilisent les pratiques narratives pour couvrir des crises, des événements qui exigent d'être mis en récit. Il se concentre ensuite sur le potentiel du récit de suturer, de nouer les différentes compréhensions de crises en débuts, fins et points intermédiaires. Une analyse de contenu de la couverture de presse de Dennis et Judy Shepard, du moment de l'assassinat brutal de leur fils Matthew, en 1998, à la condamnation des meurtriers et au-delà, illustre ce débat.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Law and Society / La Revue Canadienne Droit et Société , Volume 19 , Issue 2 , August 2004 , pp. 93 - 125
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Law and Society Association 2004

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