Cruelty and Other Dimensions of Exceptionality in Discourses about Violent Acts

Abstract

This study analyzes concepts related to violence in discourses in circulation. It is based on an analysis of discourses about the homicide of a pregnant young woman committed by the staff member of a police department in a poor neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The textual marks that allow accessing the meanings exposed and supported around the concept of violence are analyzed. Special attention is given to the factors that appear as indications of a violent act of greater degree. Revealing that which is considered excessive, with exception, can help in the understand of that which is normally considered as violence.

Keywords

• violencia
• crueldad
• discurso
• excepción
• policía
• violência
• crueldade
• discurso
• exceção
• polícia
• violence
• cruelty
• discourse
• exception
• police