Offence

The sequel to Brothers at War finds best friends Jacob and Eli on opposite sides of the battlefield as the War of 1812 erupts. Jacob and Eli may be blood brothers, but they are on opposite sides in the battle of Queenston Heights during the War of 1812. While Jacob joins John Norton's Mohawk band fighting with the British-Canadian side, Eli fights with the Americans. The Canadians win the day, but the victory comes at a great cost: the death of General Brock. Eli is captured and jailed. Because he swore the oath of allegiance to the Crown before he left Canada, his return with the invaders makes him a traitor. He is charged with high treason -- a hanging offence. Can Jacob save his friend from the gallows?

Presents a comprehensive analysis of research on content-related media harm and offense. This book brings together findings on both established and newer interactive media. In today's media and communications environment, pressing questions arise regarding the media's potential for harm, especially in relation to children. This fully revised edition offers a unique and comprehensive analysis of the latest research on content-related media harm and offense. For the first time, a balanced, critical account brings together findings on both established and newer, interactive media.Arguing against asking simple questions about media effects, the case is made for contextualizing media content and use within a multi-factor, risk-based framework in order to guide future research and policy formation.

This book explores different forms of mediated offence in the context of Trump's America, Brexit Britain, and the rise of far-right movements across the globe. In this political landscape, the so-called ‘right to offend’ is often seen as a legitimate weapon against a ‘political correctness gone mad’ that stifles ‘free speech’. Against the backdrop of these current developments, this book aims to generate a productive dialogue among scholars working in a variety of intellectual disciplines, geographical locations and methodological traditions. The contributors share a concern about the complex and ambiguous nature of offence as well as about the different ways in which this so-called ‘negative affect’ comes to matter in our everyday and socio-political lives. Through a series of instructive case studies of recent media provocations, the authors illustrate how being offended is more than an individual feeling and is, instead, closely tied to political structures and power relations.

This book explores communication on Facebook, developing the new theoretical concept of context design as a way of understanding the dynamics of online interaction. Against a backdrop of fake news and other controversies surrounding online political debate, the authors focus on inadvertent acts of offence on Facebook; that is, when users of the site unwittingly offend or are offended by the airing of political or religious views, or of opinions deemed racist or sexist. Drawing on a survey of Facebook users, they explain why instances of offence occur and what users report doing in response. They argue that Facebook users contribute to the construction of a particular social space, one that is characterised by online conviviality and a belief that Facebook is not the place for serious debate. These views in turn shape the kind of political debate that can take place on the site. This thought-provoking book will appeal to scholars and students of applied linguistics, and anyone interested in the role of social media in contemporary political and social life.

Whether spurred by religious images or academic history books, hardly a day goes by in South Asia without an incident or court case occurring as a result of hurt religious feelings. The sharp rise in blasphemy accusations over the past few decades calls for an investigation into why offence politics has become so pronounced, and why it is observable across religious and political differences. Outrage offers an interdisciplinary study of this growing trend. Bringing together researchers in Anthropology, Religious Studies, Languages, South Asia Studies and History, all with rich experience in the variegated ways in which religion and politics intersect in this region, the volume presents a fine-grained analysis that navigates and unpacks the religious sensitivities and political concerns under discussion. Each chapter focuses on a recent case or context of alleged blasphemy or desecration in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, collectively exploring common denominators across national and religious differences. Among the common features are the rapid introduction of social media and smartphones, the possible political gains of initiating blasphemy accusations, and the growing self-assertion of marginal communities. These features are turning South Asia into a veritable flash point for offence controversies in the world today, and will be of interest to researchers exploring the intersection of religion and politics in South Asia and beyond.