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In this study of ethnic attitudes in the Netherlands, the cognitive nature of prejudice and its manifestation in discourse are examined. In the Netherlands, in formal and public situations, overt discrimination is exceptional or indirect; however, in more informal situations negative ethnic attitudes are evident. Historical and socio-cultural reasons are discussed. A random sample of 50 Dutch persons were asked what they liked and disliked about living in Amsterdam and what they thought about foreigners. The interviews were casual encounters in public places. The ethnic opinions expressed are systematised and described in terms of ethnic group schemata. A systematic discourse analysis is made of the thematic structures, the local coherence and semantic functions, the stylistic and rhetorical structures, the argumentations and narrative structures, and the controversial strategies of the interviews. It is shown that these various structures can be interpreted as indications about the underlying structures and strategies of opinions and their expression in social situations. (RM)

An analysis of how 252 newspapers from nearly 100 countries covered the assassination, on September 14, 1982, of president-elect Bechir Gemayel of Lebanon was conducted. The purpose was to determine whether news reporting in developed nations is different from news reporting in developing countries. Methodology included quantitative and qualitative analyses. A systematic discourse analysis provided explicit descriptions of thematic structures, conventional superstructures, local meanings and coherence, style, and rhetoric. The number of articles, coverage size, and story content in developed and developing countries were very similar. Less background coverage was provided, however, in newspapers from developing countries. Major differences between first and third world newspapers exist in their different sources of information: the third world press was almost fully dependent on the transnational news agencies, whereas developed countries had many sources. Two major factors explain the homogeneity of the news: (1) an internationally shared system of news discourse and production rules, and (2) the dominant role of the transnational agencies. (Author/RM)

In order to design a cognitive model of ethnic attitudes, an interdisciplinary project has analyzed strategies used in everyday conversation among majority members about minority groups, e.g., immigrant workers from Turkey and Morocco and people from Surinam. Data were collected through undirected interviews among people in an Amsterdam neighborhood where a relatively high percentage of ethnic minorities live. Following background information and a discussion of the general notion of strategy, a detailed discussion points out the complex sequences of social interaction, which involve pragmatic, semantic, stylistic, and rhetorical discourse strategies. Subtle discourse analysis of the transcribed interviews suggests hypotheses about the contents, representation, and strategic uses of ethnic attitudes (and prejudice, in particular). Strategic moves may be defined at several layers of analysis and along several dimensions. Also, it appears that quite a number of moves and move sequences appear to be typical for talk about ethnic minorities. These moves are categorized as dissimulation (e.g., vagueness, presupposition), defense (justification, explanation of attitudes), accusation (blaming, negative experiences with ethnic groups), and positive self-presentation. Future research will involve an analysis between specific kinds of prejudiced beliefs and specific moves and strategies. Transcripts of some interviews are presented in English and Dutch. (KC)