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Brazilians, French, And Americans Debate 9/11: Cultural Scripts Of Innocence And Culpability, Laura Robinson

Sociology

The research examines Brazilian, French, and American discourse regarding the events of September 11, 2001. The article illuminates culturally specific constructions of guilt and innocence that emerged in online communities of discourse fora. The fora were hosted by flagship national newspapers in each respective country: O Estado de Sao Paulo, Le Monde, and The New York Times. The study reveals two parallel overarching scripts regarding culpability for 9/11 that appear across the three cases. However, analysis also illuminates differences in the culturally situated tropes used to determine moral concern in each forum. Together, these two levels of analysis uncover how …