Journal of

Journal
10.1177/0196859905281888
Popp / Mass
of Communication
Media Linguistic
Inquiry
Marketplace
Communication Inquiry
Volume 30 Number 1
January 2006 5-20
© 2006 Sage Publications
Mass Media and the 10.1177/0196859905281888
http://jci.sagepub.com
Linguistic Marketplace hosted at
http://online.sagepub.com

Media, Language, and Distinction

Richard K. Popp
Temple University

This article applies theories of the political economy of language to examine how linguis-
tic acts in media are used to create distinction by tapping into ideas about the functions of
language in society. From this standpoint, language ideology serves as a mode of lever-
age for media institutions. A discourse analysis investigates press coverage of two texts
that have used language in conspicuous ways. Nickelodeon’s Dora the Explorer purport-
edly introduces children to bilingualism. This bilingualism serves as capital, converted
into notions of educational merit and cosmopolitanism, that distinguishes Dora from
other children’s programs. Mel Gibson’s use of ancient languages in The Passion of the
Christ acts as capital for notions of historical authenticity and mysticism that helped
counter the film’s critics.

Keywords: political economy of language; cultural capital; cosmopolitanism; histori-

cal authenticity; Dora the Explorer; The Passion of the Christ

L anguage serves as a symbolic representation and means of maintaining social

power (Bourdieu, 1982/1991). Mass media are one of the key sites in which this
phenomenon is manifested and further perpetuated (Spitulnik, 1999). The ways of
speaking featured in media texts act as symbols that tie into prevalent ideas about what
language can and should do in society—or language ideologies (Woolard &
Schieffelin, 1994). Within the context of language ideologies, different ways of speak-
ing assume prestige and distinction in relation to one another. In this sense, media
institutions can utilize language in texts to tap into audiences’ implicit ideas about the
social functions of language. The ways of speaking featured become a means of posi-
tioning texts over their competitors and quieting criticism. This study analyzes public
discourse surrounding two recent texts widely noted for their atypical uses of lan-

Author’s Note: I would like to thank Paul B. Garrett, Nancy Morris, and the journal reviewers for their
invaluable comments. An earlier version of the article was presented February 12, 2005, at the AEJMC Mid-
winter Conference at Kennesaw State University. Correspondence concerning this article should be
addressed to Richard K. Popp, Mass Media & Communication Doctoral Program, School of Communica-
tion and Theater, 344 Annenberg Hall, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, 19122; e-mail: rickpopp@
temple.edu.

5
6 Journal of Communication Inquiry

guage: Nickelodeon’s Dora the Explorer (Dora) and Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the
Christ (the Passion). It is posited that Dora’s use of Spanish and English bilingualism
lends the series a sense of educational merit and cosmopolitanism. These perceived
attributes are key to the animated series’ monumental success in attracting audiences
and growing a billion-dollar merchandising enterprise. Similarly, the Passion’s use of
Aramaic and vulgar Latin lends the film a sense of historical authenticity and mysti-
cism. This sense of authenticity was central to defusing controversy and legitimizing
what many considered an anti-Semitic, ultraviolent film.

The Linguistic Marketplace

Bourdieu (1982/1991) posited that linguistic acts take place in a market setting. In
this linguistic marketplace, ways of speaking assume value based on market condi-
tions. This valuation process indexes different ways of speaking with their
prototypical speaker’s place in the social structure. The more desirable and rare a lin-
guistic practice is in its marketplace, the greater the value assigned to it. This accrued
capital yields profits of distinction. Bourdieu maintained that different ways of speak-
ing are ultimately “measured against the legitimate practices, i.e. the practices of those
who are dominant” (p. 53). Legitimate speech takes on the highest value. The propen-
sity to exercise legitimate speech is connected to the education system, which is in turn
connected to a nation’s political-economic agenda. In this model, valued ways of
speaking can be converted into desirable career opportunities that lead to higher social
rank. Bourdieu asserted that whereas legitimate linguistic practices are moving tar-
gets, the framework of this marketplace model is stabilized by elite institutions.
Bourdieu’s political-economy of language has been criticized for positing a mar-
ketplace that is far more integrated in theory than in reality (Irvine, 1989). Critics
assert that in universally valorizing legitimate linguistic practice, it overlooks the
importance of vernacular speech transactions. “It is as important to produce the cor-
rect vernacular forms in the private, local arenas of the working-class neighborhoods
or peasant communities as it is to produce the official form in formal domains”
(Woolard, 1985, p. 744). In both criticisms, fault lies not with Bourdieu’s market
model but with its rigidity and monolithic quality.

Representations of Language in Mass Media

Language as Frame in Mass Media

Media language choice is an institutionalized means of framing reality. The most
visible work on this topic has been the Glasgow University Media Group’s (GUMG’s)
investigation of how events and social conditions are transformed into broadcast news
talk (Bell, 1991; Harris, 1988). The GUMG examined the semantics of sourcing and
ideological statements inherent in news lexicon. These practices demonstrate the
agency media institutions enjoy in shaping inferences about content through language
 Popp / Mass Media Linguistic Marketplace 7

choice (GUMG, 1976; Scannell, 1991). Goffman (1981) noted that the conventions of
radio talk reveal broadcasters’attempts to establish a false sense of spontaneity. Media
institutions suggest frames, which may actually be incongruent with the realities of a
broadcast, in which discourse should be understood (Ytreberg, 2002).

Mass Media and Language Ideology

Mass media’s institutionalized role in showcasing linguistic systems allow them to
greatly influence language ideologies. The introduction of mass printing was instru-
mental in fostering the concept of a national language. As vernacular texts enjoyed
greater circulation, language became a shared characteristic by which readers could
imagine an unknowable, but common, audience (Anderson, 1991). Advertising copy
has at alternating times reinforced and undermined “plain speech” ideologies central
to bourgeois democracy (Lears, 1994). The uninflected tone of early radio talk cast
regional and ethnic accents as inadequately “American” (Hilmes, 1997).
Mass media are a highly visible forum in which language is historically grounded
and the insinuations set in motion by ideologies play out. Hill (1998) found that the
humor of “mock Spanish” in mass media relies upon a chain of implicit, racist infer-
ences. It demonstrates a double standard in which Hispanics are ridiculed for not dem-
onstrating second language mastery while English speakers are free to abuse Spanish.
Comedienne Margaret Cho’s “mock Asian” reproduces racist ideologies, but her eth-
nicity and critical stance expose their pejorative nature (Chun, 2004). Woolard (1988,
1998) found that a Spanish comedian’s codeswitching sought to symbolically conjure
up a climate of “peaceful coexistence” (1988, p. 71). Attempts to promote language
purity and local dialects in media are often connected to the endangerment of tradi-
tional cultures (Coupland, 2001; Garrett, in press; Haney, 2003). In contrast, imported
Mandarin pop texts allows Shanghai youth to imagine a cosmopolitan Chinese iden-
tity (Yang, 2002). Media texts act as a resource from which individuals can draw
speech patterns—and the cultural capital with which they are linked. Choice of dialect
posed a dilemma for British singers who wanted to emulate American pop voices but
also demonstrate solidarity with their working-class roots (Trudgill, 1983).

Connotative Value of Language

As Spitulnik (1999) noted, “The cultural, social, psychological, and political func-
tions of media all depend on the semiotic operations of language” (p. 149). Rather than
perfectly mirroring language use in social reality, ways of speaking serve as one part
of a system of symbols that converge to create meaning (Haarmann, 1989). Their
greatest significance is not their exemplification of linguistic systems themselves but
the statements they make about how those systems are perceived. In his examination
of foreign languages in Japanese advertisements, Haarmann (1989) found that non-
Japanese languages are used as symbols of prestige. English represented cosmopolitan-
ism, French was associated with elegance, and so on. Advertisements in New Zealand
tended to use American and British accents to counter a lack of distinction associated
8 Journal of Communication Inquiry

with domestic dialects (Garrett & Bell, 1998). U.S. accents in Scottish broadcasting
were a means of eliciting notions of American popular culture (Morris, 1999). Some
media texts take the symbolic use of language so far as to exclusively use foreign lan-
guages (Garrett & Bell, 1998; Haarmann, 1989). These types of extreme cases illus-
trate the semiotic quality of media language. It becomes a “matter of fashionable style
rather than a reference to communicational needs” (Haarmann, 1989, p. 54). As such,
the denotative functions of language are completely overrun by its connotative
functions.

Mass Media as a Linguistic Marketplace

Mass media outlets and texts play a pivotal role in the political economy of lan-
guage. “They give value and exposure to certain language codes, linguistic varieties,
and discourse styles” (Spitulnik, 1999, p. 149). In the linguistic marketplace, the con-
notations associated with ways of speaking are paramount to price formation
(Bourdieu, 1982/1991). Media serves as a vehicle for the transmission and inculca-
tion, or “process of continuous creation” (Bourdieu, 1982/1991, p. 58), of those con-
notations. But it also serves as a site in which those connotations yield capital.
Media linguistic marketplace transactions can take place on a number of levels. For
one, a linguistic transaction takes place between the audience and the text. A viewer
may impute some characteristic to a character or media personality based on that per-
son’s way of speaking. For instance, they might choose to believe or disbelieve a sus-
pect’s alibi in a mystery program partly based on that person’s way of talking. Scottish
radio listeners might attach less class antagonism to an American accent than a British
one, but working-class British rock fans may identify more with a Cockney than an
American accent (Morris, 1999; Trudgill, 1983). At a second level, linguistic transac-
tions occur within the content of a text. So for example, characters might be seen to be
getting ahead, or held back, in their endeavors partly based on their demonstration of
linguistic acumen. Although this is rarely depicted explicitly, a film like My Fair Lady
provides a good example of this dynamic. The radio program Amos ’n’Andy used ste-
reotyped African American dialects as the foremost characteristic of their
“unassimilability” (Hilmes, 1997, p. 91) into modern life.
Linguistic exchanges also take place at a third level that extends beyond the indi-
vidual text. At this level, linguistic interaction takes place between texts categorized in
a common group. This transaction involves the exchange of connotations associated
with speech acts in a text. Desirable connotations yield profits of distinction that privi-
lege one text above another. These profits of distinction manifest themselves in material
form as popular and economic success. For example, a children’s program that fea-
tures linguistic acts perceived to be educational might use that prestige as a profit of
distinction in relation to other children’s programs. This transaction indexes an out-
side social structure. As Bourdieu (1982/1991) stated, “The structure of the space of
expressive styles reproduces in its own terms the structure of the differences which
objectively separate conditions of existence” (p. 57). To have any salience with audi-
 Popp / Mass Media Linguistic Marketplace 9

ences, the attributes associated with ways of speaking must index the wider social
world in which they can be used as social and cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1979/1984).
Linguistic marketplace values arise out of scarce, desirable deviations from the
norm (Bourdieu, 1982/1991). This price formation mechanism presupposes at least
two ways of speaking—a norm and a deviation from that norm. The expected practice,
or “widespread usage” (Bourdieu, 1982/1991, p. 60) is always present and is conspic-
uous in cases where absent. This phenomenon may be most apparent when foreign
languages are unexpectedly featured in a media text. In these cases, foreign language
use represents a marked deviation from the norm. This marked usage projects an
imagined and constructed framework, indexing the larger social world, onto the
speech act. Basso (1979) explained that as “language alternations convey messages
about what is ‘present’ in social situations, it is equally important to remember that
they may convey messages about what is ‘absent’ from them as well” (p. 11). In this
case, what is “present” is the interaction between a text and similar texts. What is
“absent” is the larger social world. So, it is in this way that the educational value asso-
ciated with a children’s program can be projected onto an “absent,” but imagined,
social situation. For instance, a parent might imagine his or her child putting accrued
educational value toward some tangible benefit.

Discourse Analysis

The following analysis examines public discourse surrounding two cases in which
foreign language use in media texts have presented conspicuous deviations from the
expected linguistic practice. An exhaustive Nexis search of magazine and newspaper
articles about Dora and the Passion was conducted. The search yielded several hun-
dred articles that were later narrowed down to approximately 90 that explicitly
addressed the texts’ atypical uses of language. These pieces broached topics such as
why producers made unusual language choices, the value language contributed to the
text, and audience reaction to those choices. Articles were analyzed with special atten-
tion paid toward the key terms, themes, and narratives that patterned this discourse
(R. Williams, 1961). Articles ranged from 2000, the year Dora premiered, through the
present. Much of the explicit discourse about Dora’s bilingualism took place in the
program’s early years as it established itself as a force in children’s television. The
bulk of discourse about Aramaic and Latin in the Passion occurred in late 2003 and
early 2004 leading up to and upon the film’s release. Discourse is treated as the articu-
lation of elements of an ideology—in this case language ideology—rooted in a partic-
ular cultural milieu (Hall, 1990). Identifying common terms, themes, and narratives, it
is possible to see how ideological elements “cut across different texts” (Johnson,
1986/1987, p. 62) combining to form a “larger discursive field.” Surveying this larger
field allows one to identify the particular, privatized interpretations that emerge as the
appropriate way of contextualizing elements (Hall, 1980; Johnson, 1986/1987). In the
case of language featured in Dora and the Passion, magazines and newspapers
become sites of public discourse on the private value of language acts. The way that
10 Journal of Communication Inquiry

discussion is contextualized activates elements within “chains of meaning” (Hall,

1990, p. 9) that contribute to and constitute ideologies. Certain elements and uses of
language emerge in press coverage as valued in terms of the linguistic marketplace
predominant in a historical moment. Press coverage repeatedly highlighted specific
values of language use in regard to Dora and the Passion. Similar to the example
above, Dora’s use of Spanish is converted into perceived notions of cosmopolitanism
and educational merit. The highly publicized use of ancient languages in the Passion
was converted into notions of historical authenticity and mysticism.

Dora the Explorer

Dora has been an unprecedented success for Nickelodeon Networks and its parent
company Viacom. The animated television program focuses on the adventures of a 7-
year-old, bilingual Latina girl. Each episode sees Dora overcome some set of obstacles
to achieve her goal. For example, one episode saw her help a lost frog return home to
Puerto Rico. During these adventures, Dora often directly addresses the viewer, ask-
ing for an answer, or advice on how to proceed. These direct addresses are followed by
long pauses, in which viewers can offer up answers and suggestions (Berkowitz,
2000). Throughout each episode, Dora encourages parasocial interaction in other
forms as well, including singing and dancing along with the characters (Berkowitz,
2000; Horton & Wohl, 1956).
Dora premiered on Nick Jr., Nickelodeon’s programming block aimed at preschool
children (ages 2-5), on July 17, 2000, as part of a larger initiative that saw the network
launch three programs featuring Latino lead characters (Albiniak, 2004; Nickelodeon,
2000). An accompanying multimedia effort encouraged children and parents to learn
more about Dora at the official Web site (Nickelodeon, 2000). When the program
debuted in the summer of 2000, it was the network’s highest-rated Nick Jr. premier
(Navarro, 2001). By early 2004, Dora broadcasts on Nickelodeon networks and CBS
Saturday morning cartoons were averaging more than 21 million viewers per month.
Economically, Dora has been a boon for Nickelodeon and Viacom. In just more than 3
and a half years, Dora licensed merchandise sales exceeded more than $1 billion
(Frey, 2004).
Dora seems to be the product of two converging market trends media companies
have been eager to capitalize on—programming aimed at the growing Latino Ameri-
can market and the preschool market. Latinos are the fastest-growing ethnic group in
the United States. During the 1990s, the Hispanic population increased by 60%.
Advertisers have been clamoring to reach this rapidly growing demographic that
could soon represent $1 trillion in annual spending power (Albiniak, 2004). But the
language barriers presented by English-language programming and monolingual and
bilingual Spanish speakers have made Latinos notoriously difficult to reach. In the
past, much of this market has opted to watch Spanish-language programs on networks
like Univision and Telemundo. But as the Latino market has exploded, English-
language programmers have sought to attract these viewers with bilingual programs
 Popp / Mass Media Linguistic Marketplace 11

that spotlight Latino culture but linguistically lean toward English (Navarro, 2001).
Spanish-language networks Univision and Telemundo have also picked up on this
trend and have plans to launch bilingual sister networks. In addition, Nickelodeon,
Univision, and Telemundo all run bilingual advertisements (Fass, 2001).
The program that eventually became Dora was originally conceived as an interac-
tive program for preschoolers about a bunny (Mason, 2003). Nickelodeon made the
decision to change the lead character to a young Latina girl in an effort to both fill a
void in Hispanic television characters and reach an untapped market (Frey, 2004).
Children make up an extraordinarily large percentage of the U.S. Latino population.
Thirty-five percent of Latinos are younger than the age of 18, compared to 26% of the
national population as a whole. But Dora’s success has not come by way of Latino
support exclusively. Latino children only account for an estimated 5% to 15% of
Dora’s viewership. The program’s phenomenal success has been most attributable to
its cross-cultural popularity. Following in the footsteps of Public Broadcasting’s mul-
tiethnic Sesame Street, Dora has provided additional evidence that the greatest accep-
tance of television diversity might be found among children (Navarro, 2001). Nickel-
odeon president Herb Scannell theorized that “there is a colorblindness [sic] in
children. Children are accepting of a lot of things without necessarily categorizing”
(Frey, 2004). This embrace of multiculturalism has not been prevalent in adult pro-
gramming, which tends to fracture ethnic groups into easy-to-reach demographics
(Navarro, 2001; Turow, 1997). But Dora’s most important demographic is not
categorized along ethnic lines—but age.
Historically, children’s television networks like Nickelodeon and the Disney Chan-
nel did not actively pursue the 2- to 5-year-old market. Regulatory constraints and a
lack of consumer agency led the commercial networks to yield that market to PBS. For
years, PBS programs like Sesame Street held a virtual monopoly on preschool view-
ers. Instrumental to this success was PBS’s ability to leverage a veneer of educational
value into parental permission for toddlers to watch the network’s programs (Beatty,
2002). But in the 1990s, commercial networks began to awake to the economic value
of pursuing the 2- to 5-year-old market. Preschoolers watch more television than any
other children’s demographic. But perhaps most important, preschool-branded mer-
chandise grew into an incredibly lucrative market, valued by Disney at more than $21
billion annually. Nickelodeon and Disney anticipated that entering this field would
require the same type of perceived educational value underlying PBS’s programming.
Nickelodeon consulted with education experts in creating programs like Blue’s Clues
and Dora buttressed by academically hatched learning theories (Beatty, 2002).
Dora was designed around Harvard Professor Howard Gardner’s multiple intelli-
gence theory. Gardner’s theory holds that multiple types of intelligence beyond read-
ing, writing, and arithmetic, such as linguistic, musical, and bodily-kinesthetic skills,
should be recognized and fostered in children (Gardner, 1993). Nickelodeon has not
been alone in adopting multiple intelligence theory. Disney planned on launching a
preschool network that claimed the theory as its pedagogical foundation. Gardner
does not endorse Dora or any other program. He has stated that “one has to retain a
healthy skepticism” about the likelihood of a television program actually teaching
12 Journal of Communication Inquiry

intelligences (Beatty, 2002). Nickelodeon touts that each episode of Dora features
seven intelligence lessons, one of which is bilingualism (Mason, 2003). It is this bilin-
gualism that has received the most attention and “distinguishes Dora the Explorer
from other children’s programs” (Oppegaard, 2003).
Upon the program’s launch, Nickelodeon issued a press release to introduce Dora.
The network touted that Dora is “proudly bilingual and uses her knowledge of English
and Spanish to communicate with her friends, overcome obstacles, and reach her
goal” (Nickelodeon, 2000). In addition, Nickelodeon announced that the program
“introduces Spanish language [and] increases viewer awareness of Latino culture”
(Nickelodeon, 2000). Bilingualism has been the program’s defining trait in popular
discourse. Dora is almost universally described in terms like the “bilingual Latina girl”
(Goodman, 2001; Oppegaard, 2003) or “bilingual heroine” (Frydman, 2005). Nickel-
odeon executive Cyma Zarghami explained that the network strives for authenticity by
“trying to tell stories from the backdrop of being Hispanic” (Albiniak, 2004). To this
end, Dora employs a coterie of at least 10 Latino culture and Spanish language consul-
tants for each episode (Mason, 2003; Rogers, 2003). One Dora consultant, historian
Carlos Cortes, claims that Dora’s practice of repeating questions in both English and
Spanish replicates the way learners immersed in a foreign atmosphere acquire new
languages (Rogers, 2003).
Parents have seized upon the perceived bilingual education aspects of Dora as par-
amount to the program’s appeal. Aside from the language lessons offered in each epi-
sode, nearly 75% of the program’s branded merchandise features both Spanish and
English phrases (Frey, 2004). Nickelodeon supplements the program and merchan-
dise with a Web site that offers “Dora’s Spanish Word of the Day” (Nickelodeon, n.d.)
printable coloring-book cards. The network’s traveling Dora exhibit is called “Le
Casa de Dora” and features bilingual problem-solving activities (“Free Time,” 2005).
Many parents who seek out bilingual education opportunities for their children, by
way of Spanish-speaking nannies or preschool foreign language programs, see Dora
as furthering this objective (Frey, 2004). Some parents have seen it pay early dividends
as their children have been singled out to join bilingual programs (Conti, 2004). In this
sense, bilingualism becomes a means of providing distinction early on in a child’s edu-
cational career. It serves as a form of capital that can yield opportunities that may not
otherwise make themselves available. Ironically, this was the case for the Toros,
whose decision to keep a bilingual home “paid off” (Alvarado, 2000) for daughter
Sasha when she landed a voiceover role on a new animated program—Dora the
Explorer. Dora’s educational value lies as a gateway to activities and instruction that
can nourish a child’s budding linguistic aptitude. But in that case, its value is most eas-
ily realized by well-off parents who can afford to see that program through to its next
step. To those who cannot, Dora’s bilingualism may offer an unrealizable phantom of
educational opportunity.
 Popp / Mass Media Linguistic Marketplace 13

The Passion of the Christ

In February 2004, Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ opened in the United
States and went on to gross more than $370 million in domestic box office revenue
(D’Alessandro, 2005). The film, which depicts the last 12 hours of Jesus’ life and cru-
cifixion, opened amidst a storm of controversy. The controversy revolved around
charges of anti-Semitic overtures in Gibson’s narrativization of the events. Critics
asserted that Gibson was resuscitating a depiction of the crucifixion that blamed Jews
for Christ’s death (Goodstein, 2003). Many critics contended that Gibson relied on the
discredited speculations of a 19th-century mystic and a debunked interpretation of
New Testament gospels that ignored academic scholarship. Gibson countered that his
“scriptwriter” was the New Testament and his account was derived directly from the
gospels (Boyer, 2003). Gibson’s stated objective in the project was to provide a realis-
tic account of Christ’s crucifixion, a quality he felt was lacking from previous films
about the topic. Key to this realism was transporting the viewer back in time to Pales-
tine circa 30 CE. Said Gibson, “I wanted to bring [the viewer] there and I wanted to be
true to the gospels. That has never been done” (Boyer, 2003). Part of that realism
involved depicting the crucifixion in an incredibly graphic manner, which also
became an issue of contention. Some have asserted that the film’s over-the-top gore
ultimately fetishizes the crucifixion’s violence (Morgenstern, 2004; Rickey, 2004).
But another instrumental, and very well-publicized, element of the historical accuracy
Gibson strove for was his use of Aramaic and Latin dialogue—the reputed languages
of ancient Palestine. This decision to film in what Gibson and many others surround-
ing the project called “dead” languages was a linchpin in claims that the Passion repre-
sented the most authentic depiction of Christ’s crucifixion to date (Rooney, 2002). As
Gibson described his choice of languages in an early interview, “This is what was
spoken at the time” (Arroyo, 2003).
The script for the Passion was written in English by screenwriter Benedict Fitzger-
ald and then translated into Aramaic and vulgar Latin by Jesuit classics scholar Rev.
William Fulco (Boyer, 2003; “Perspectives,” 2004). The project was not the first time
Gibson expressed interest in filming in antiquated languages. He reportedly wanted to
film his 1995 Scottish history piece, Braveheart, entirely in Celtic, Middle English,
and Norman French but was convinced to use modern English (T. McCarthy, 2004).
Gibson’s long-stated plan for the Passion was to release the film without subtitles.
Screenwriter Fitzgerald wrote the script under orders from Gibson that there would
not be subtitles. Both Gibson and Fitzgerald agreed that this would require that dia-
logue be kept to a minimum (“Perspectives,” 2004). One of the goals of the project was
to tell the story almost completely through visuals. Gibson’s feeling was that the use of
modern English would create a disconnect with the Biblical setting and break the
viewer’s historical imagination. In a hypothetical discussion of a film about Viking
raids, Gibson described his feelings as follows:

These guys hop off the boats and they’re all hairy and they’re scary and they’ve got axes,
and some of them are berserkers and they’re doing flips and twirls and they just wanna
14 Journal of Communication Inquiry

rape and kill, you know? But if they start coming out with “I want to die with a sword in
my hand” and “Oh, fair maiden,” that would be like—you know, you don’t believe them.
If they come out with a low, guttural German, they are frightening. They are terrifying.
They’re like demons from the sea. So that’s what the language thing did for me. It took
something away from you—you had to depend upon the image. (Boyer, 2003)

So, a main function of spoken language is to not communicate in a denotative sense.

One of the main reasons Gibson yielded to studio pressure to even subtitle the film was
to quell some of the charges of anti-Semitism. The thinking was that subtitles would
demonstrate to critics that through the film’s dialogue, some Jews were represented as
sympathetic (Boyer, 2003). Some rebutted by claiming the film’s images utterly domi-
nated its dialogue. A few subtitles of sympathetic lines could do very little in the face
of a steady stream of vilifying stereotypes (Kennedy, 2004; Safire, 2004). The film’s
most inflammatory line, Caiaphas’ warning “his blood be on us and on our children,”
remained in the spoken dialogue but went untranslated in the subtitles (Kennedy,
2004). Rendered noncommunicative, talk in the Passion becomes completely sym-
bolic. In this sense, it resembles the use of foreign languages in Japanese and New Zea-
land advertisements (Garrett & Bell, 1998; Haarmann, 1989). Whereas the foreign
languages in those ads were meant to connote some type of prestige, Aramaic and
Latin in the Passion were meant to connote authenticity and historical accuracy. They
represented an attempt to authentically “re-create” the world in which the crucifixion
took place.
The film’s symbolic use of language did not go unnoticed in popular discourse.
Aramaic and Latin were widely cited as evidence of Gibson’s commitment to histori-
cal authenticity. Many accounts implied that the film’s linguistic choices were a coura-
geous stand. Gibson’s use of ancient languages without subtitles was “a point of
honor” in his pursuit of “historical reality” (Arroyo, 2003). Gibson might be sacrific-
ing box office success, and even his career, in favor of authenticity (Guyon, 2003;
Jensen, 2004). As theologian Paula Fredriksen (2003) observed, press accounts raved
that “so complete is [Gibson’s] commitment to historical authenticity that he has
eschewed subtitles, and will tell his story entirely in its original ancient languages,
Aramaic and Latin.” The project was heralded as a meticulous re-creation of the era
(Jensen & Weiner, 2003). Gibson had used ancient languages “for extra realism”
(Corliss, 2003). Reviews noted that the languages were used “to convince us that [Gib-
son’s] film is an authentic depiction of antiquity” (Andersen, 2004). The film’s lack of
stars and antique languages were “strokes of genius” that gave it a “remarkable feeling
of authenticity” (“The Power,” 2004). Even critics of the Passion bought into the
authentic quality of its language use. One noted that the film’s contribution to the
“blue-eyed Jesus” myth tarnished the carefully crafted historical realism most evident
in its language (Vegh, 2004). Another questioned why Gibson stuck with Aramaic
when the Passion’s slow-motion, expressionistic sound design, invented scenes, and
dialogue made it “anything but a realistic rendering” (Harrison, 2004). Scholars who
questioned nearly every aspect of the film’s accuracy still accepted Aramaic as a
gesture toward historical realism (Zimmerman, 2004).
 Popp / Mass Media Linguistic Marketplace 15

While reported to be “dead” in much of the discussion that surrounded the Passion,
Aramaic is still spoken by approximately 500,000 speakers worldwide (Keyser,
2004). Aramaic’s limited base is in modern-day Syria, but it is also spoken in commu-
nities in Iran, Iraq, Turkey, India, and even Chicago (Keyser, 2004; Newton, 2004;
D. Williams, 2004). Three remote villages in Syria—Jab’edine, Bakh’aa, and
Maaloula—are reportedly the last communities in which Aramaic serves as the lan-
guage of everyday social interaction (Ghattas, 2004). The extreme, mountainous iso-
lation of these villages kept them shielded for almost 14 centuries from the onset of
Arabic in surrounding areas (Keyser, 2004). But speakers of Aramaic in these villages
fear that the language is dying out. Most residents are now bilingual and rely on Arabic
for work outside their villages (D. Williams, 2004).
To many devotees of the film, Aramaic has taken on a sacred quality (Ghattas,
2004; Newton, 2004; Saldana, 2004; D. Williams, 2004). Gibson himself noted that
“there is power and mystery in these dead languages” (Arroyo, 2003). Anderson
(1991) posited that in the religious-based transcontinental communities, the language
associated with a religious text “offered privileged access to ontological truth, pre-
cisely because it was an inseparable part of that truth” (p. 36). Advocates of Aramaic
education claim that it provides its speakers with a completely different mind-set in
approaching biblical texts. Speaking and reading them in ancient tongues is thought to
offer worshipers an opportunity to assume an orientation closer to that of the earliest
Christians (Saldana, 2004). Tourists have begun descending upon Maaloula to hear
Aramaic in use and request residents to recite prayers and sing hymns (D. Williams,
2004). Licensed merchandisers have sold Aramaic-inscribed goods like lapel pins and
coffee mugs (Hornaday, 2004). Ministers have been applauded for their ability “to
understand Mel Gibson’s the Passion of the Christ without subtitles” (Strickland,
2004). The implicit inference surrounding Aramaic in the wake of the Passion is that
through the language’s association with religiosity, it becomes infused with
heightened spiritual powers and valorized as a means of spiritual distinction.
But some scholars have disputed the authenticity of both Aramaic and Latin in the
Passion. Residents of Maaloula who screened the film reported that they had difficulty
understanding the Aramaic dialogue that was not already familiar to them through
New Testament texts (D. Williams, 2004). Screenwriter Fitzgerald noted that it is
uncertain whether the Aramaic of 1st-century CE Palestine is even remotely similar to
the Aramaic that has survived in Syria (“Perspectives,” 2004). The biggest linguistic
debate has focused on the film’s use of vulgar Latin in Roman interactions with resi-
dents of Jerusalem. Many scholars contend that as Greek was the lingua franca of the
Roman Empire, it would have been the language of official interactions in Palestine
(Goodstein, 2003; Scham, 2004). But although these contentions might be valid, they
overlook the way historical authenticity is perceived in media texts. No depiction of
history, no matter how meticulously researched and constructed, can overcome “the
immensity of the past itself, the distinction between past events and accounts of those
events, and the inevitability of bias” (Lowenthal, 1985, p. 214). Toplin (2002) posited
that accuracy in historical films is often looked upon by experts as the conglomeration
of facts and details. But unless historical inaccuracies are so blatant to viewers that it
16 Journal of Communication Inquiry

interferes with their experience, popular assessment of a film’s historical authenticity

hinges upon its adherence to the overall impression of an event, not the details. Para-
doxically, film as a medium may best be suited to representing those historical details
and not the bigger picture of a historical episode. Although this phenomenon does not
excuse historical fallacies, it does provide a more accurate description of public
assessments of representations of the past. Gauging accuracy requires checking the
performance of a dialect against its use by native speakers (Garrett & Bell, 1998). But
in the case of the Passion, those checks are not available for the vast majority of view-
ers. In these cases, the perception of authenticity becomes far more important than
authenticity itself. The gesture becomes sufficient. Left without a mechanism for
gauging the film’s accuracy, audiences become all the more reliant on discourse.
Much public discourse presented the Passion as historically authentic. And more
than anything else associated with the film, it was the use of ancient languages, and the
fanfare that surrounded them, that provided that authenticity. The narrativization of
events was too embroiled in controversy. That controversy led to a sentiment that the
film was essentially “preaching to the choir” (Macdonald, 2004). Evangelicals
inclined to consider the narrative historically accurate would do so, and critics con-
cerned about anti-Semitism would view it as flawed (Briggs, 2004; Kloer, 2004;
Paulson & Burr, 2004). Each stance could be read as shorthand for a particular politi-
cal orientation (Rich, 2004). And the graphic depiction was too polarizing to serve as a
broad issue of consensus on the film’s realism. Some excused its violence as a realistic
depiction of crucifixion’s barbarity (Ebert, 2004; Morgan, 2004). But others cited that
same violence as evidence of Gibson’s allegiance to a baroque, antimodern view of
Christianity (Denby, 2004; Kennedy, 2004; Richard, 2004). What stood out in public
discourse as the key element of Gibson’s ambition to re-create historical reality was
the use of Aramaic and Latin. Whether historically accurate or not, this was the ele-
ment that was seized upon as evidence that Gibson was attempting to re-create the cru-
cifixion’s atmosphere in a way that had not been done by filmmakers in the past. And
in attempting to do so, the use of these languages served as a principle means of distin-
guishing the Passion from the crucifixion films that preceded it. In this way, it was the
film’s measure of distinction. In a similar instance, Kevin Costner’s 1990 film Dances
With Wolves was hailed as the most authentic depiction of Native American life on the
Great Plains in large part due to the careful handling of Lakota (Guthman, 1990; Lew,
1990; C. McCarthy, 1990). In the Passion, Aramaic and Latin were, in a sense,
exchanged for authenticity. That authenticity helped to allow a subtitled, brutally
violent, R-rated film become a blockbuster hit embraced by the most conservative
factions of American culture.

Conclusion

Woolard and Schieffelin (1994) posited that language ideologies “envision and
enact links of language to group and personal identity, to aesthetics, to morality, and to
 Popp / Mass Media Linguistic Marketplace 17

epistemology. Through such linkages, they often underpin fundamental social institu-
tions” (pp. 55-56). It is suggested in this article that one such institution is mass media.
In mass media texts, linguistic acts and practices serve as symbols. In a linguistic mar-
ketplace of media texts that share some commonality, ways of speaking can be con-
verted into modes of distinction. That distinction in turn positions some texts above
others. From an economic standpoint, this privileged position often equates to finan-
cial reward. Both Dora and the Passion have been outstanding successes for Viacom
and News Corp., respectively. The value that distinguishes these texts’ language acts
derives from the distinction media consumers can imagine themselves exacting in
some imagined forum. In the case of Dora, this may mean parents imagining their
children accumulating cultural capital on the way to becoming more cosmopolitan
people. In the case of the Passion, it may mean viewers accumulating spiritual capital
and experiencing a more authentic version of their belief system. Although these two
examples represent very different types of texts and capital, the same marketplace
mechanisms are at work. Their value hinges on their perceived utility in terms of the
prevailing language ideology. But that value also conveniently creates the appearance
that mass media are working in the public’s interest—in this case providing avenues of
uplift through language. This phenomenon shines a light on the power media institu-
tions have in using talk to establish the tone and parameters of an encounter with a text
(Goffman, 1981; Hall, 1990). From a language ideology standpoint, consumers’ ideas
about what a language can be used for become a mode of leverage. By producing texts
that appear to service these linguistic needs, that leverage can be manipulated for
economic gain. But the question remains whether their consumption actually delivers
on those promises.
The extraordinary attention lavished upon language in Dora and the Passion also
reveals the way language is all too easily overlooked in less extraordinary instances.
This lack of attention sharpens language’s aptitude for naturalizing social structures
(Bourdieu, 1982/1991). When language is given attention, the discourse that ensues
speaks volumes about how and why language is valued in a society. Regarding Dora, it
points to the nexus of language mastery and social mobility. Language becomes a
means of advancing into the upper echelons of education, work, and even taste groups.
Bilingualism can open doors and act as a symbol of one’s tolerance and refinement. In
the case of the Passion, it points to language as a source of authority. Language’s arbi-
trary character provides it an aura of immutability. It appears as inherent to reality
rather than a socially constructed code (Saussure, 1915/1959). Aramaic and Latin
become evidence of not just historical representation but re-creation—a reanimation
of 1st-century Jerusalem—rather than a 21st-century production decision. That
veneer of historical authenticity then becomes powerful ammunition in politically
charged clashes over the film’s anti-Semitic overtones and violent imagery. By play-
ing off the judgments and assumptions that become logical conclusions in ideologies,
language provides a means by which media producers can position their products as
socially valuable. Whether that value is actually redeemable is ultimately dependent
on the political, economic, and social factors that ideologies so effectively conceal.
18 Journal of Communication Inquiry

References
Albiniak, P. (2004, March 22). Vaya con demos [Electronic version]. Broadcasting & Cable, p. 34.
Alvarado, M. (2000, September 14). A voice for little Latinos [Electronic version]. The Bergen County
Record, p. L1.
Andersen, S. (2004, February 25). The Passion is gory, gruesome—and nearly great [Electronic version].
The News Tribune, p. E04.
Anderson, B. (1991). Imagined communities (Rev. ed.). London: Verso.
Arroyo, R. (2003, March 7). The greatest story, newly told. The Wall Street Journal, W13.
Basso, K. H. (1979). Portraits of the “whiteman.” Cambridge, UK: University of Cambridge Press.
Beatty, S. (2002, April 14). Networks set sights on toddlers [Electronic version]. The Houston Chronicle, p.
A1.
Bell, A. (1991). The language of news media. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
Berkowitz, L. (2000, August 14). Explore and learn [Electronic version]. The Houston Chronicle, p. 4.
Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A social critique of the judgement of taste (R. Nice, Trans.). Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press. (Original work published 1979)
Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and symbolic power (G. Raymond & M. Adamson, Trans.). Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press. (Original work published 1982)
Boyer, P. J. (2003, September 15). The Jesus war. The New Yorker, p. 58.
Briggs, D. (2004, February 23). Impassioned outcries [Electronic version]. The Plain-Dealer, p. F1.
Chun, E. W. (2004). Ideologies of legitimate mockery: Margaret Cho’s revoicings of mock Asian.
Pragmatics, 14(2/3), 263-289.
Conti, K. (2004, January 31). “Dora” show offers children bilingual skills along with fun [Electronic ver-
sion]. The Boston Globe, p. B8.
Corliss, R. (2003, September 1). The last vexation of Mel [Electronic version]. Time, p. 58.
Coupland, N. (2001). Dialect stylization in radio talk. Language in Society, 30, 345-375.
D’Alessandro, A. (2005, January 10). Domestic top 250 of 2004 [Electronic version]. Variety, p. 14.
Denby, D. (2004, March 1). Nailed [Electronic version]. The New Yorker, p. 84.
Ebert, R. (2004, February 24). Personal Jesus. The Chicago Sun-Times, p. 41.
Fass, A. (2001, January 4). The Nickelodeon cable network agrees to run some commercials that are partly
in Spanish [Electronic version]. The New York Times, p. C6.
Fredriksen, P. (2003, July 28). Mad Mel [Electronic version]. The New Republic, p. 25.
Free time [Electronic version]. (2005, March 17). The Houston Chronicle, Preview, p. 12.
Frey, J. (2004, March 5). Hello, “Dora,” hola [Electronic version]. The Washington Post, p. C01.
Frydman, L. (2005, March 11). Interactive show lets kids help Dora explore [Electronic version]. The Chi-
cago Sun-Times, Weekend, p. 24.
Gardner, H. (1993). Frames of mind (10th anniversary ed.). New York: Basic Books.
Garrett, P., & Bell, A. (1998). Approaches to media discourse. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
Garrett, P. B. (in press). Say it like you see it: Radio broadcasting and the mass mediation of Creole nation-
hood in St. Lucia. Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power.
Ghattas, K. (2004, March 27). The language of Christ awaits resurrection [Electronic version]. The Finan-
cial Times, p. 9.
Glasgow University Media Group (GUMG). (1976). Bad news. London: Routledge, Keegan & Paul.
Goffman, E. (1981). Forms of talk. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Goodman, T. (2001, April 23). Glory days for kids’ TV [Electronic version]. The San Francisco Chronicle,
p. E1.
Goodstein, L. (2003, August 2). Months before debut, movie on death of Jesus causes stir [Electronic ver-
sion]. The New York Times, p. A1.
Guthman, E. (1990, November 10). Indians call Costner a friend [Electronic version]. The San Francisco
Chronicle, p. C3.
Guyon, J. (2003, September 15). Passion in play [Electronic version]. Fortune, p. 46.
Haarmann, H. (1989). Symbolic values of foreign language use. New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
 Popp / Mass Media Linguistic Marketplace 19

Hall, S. (1980). Encoding/decoding*. In S. Hall, D. Hobson, A. Lowe, & P. Willis (Eds.), Culture, media,
language (pp. 128-138). London: Hutchinson.
Hall, S. (1990). Racist ideologies and the media. In M. Alvarado & J. O. Thompson (Eds.), The media reader
(pp. 7-23). London: British Film Institute.
Haney, P. C. (2003). Bilingual humor, verbal hygiene, and the gendered contradictions of cultural citizenship
in early Mexican American comedy. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 13(2), 163-188.
Harris, S. (1988). Sociolinguistic approaches to media language. Critical Studies in Mass Communication,
5(1), 72-82.
Harrison, E. (2004, February 25). The blood of Christ [Electronic version]. The Houston Chronicle, p. 1.
Hill, J. (1998). Language, race, and the White public sphere. American Anthropologist, 100(3), 680-689.
Hilmes, M. (1997). Radio voices. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Hornaday, A. (2004, April 11). On Easter, Christian symbolism [Electronic version]. The Washington Post,
p. N03.
Horton, D., & Wohl, R. R. (1956). Mass communication and social interaction: Observations on intimacy at
a distance. Psychiatry, 19(3), 215-229.
Irvine, J. T. (1989). When talk isn’t cheap: Language and political economy. American Ethnologist, 16, 248-
267.
Jensen, J. (2004, February 20). The agony and the ecstasy [Electronic version]. Entertainment Weekly, p. 18.
Jensen, J., & Weiner, A. H. (2003, September 5). Heaven and Mel [Electronic version]. Entertainment
Weekly, p. 12.
Johnson, R. (1986/1987). What is cultural studies anyway? Social Text, 16(4), 38-80.
Kennedy, L. (2004, March 7). Getting medieval by stressing public suffering [Electronic version]. The
Boston Globe, p. N1.
Keyser, J. (2004, February 24). Linguists hope for Aramaic revival [Electronic version]. The Jerusalem Post,
p. 5.
Kloer, P. (2004, February 25). Power of “Passion” in eye of beholder [Electronic version]. The Atlanta-Journal
Constitution, p. 1E.
Lears, J. (1994). Fables of abundance. New York: Basic Books.
Lew, J. (1990, October 7). Hollywood’s war on Indian’s draws to a close [Electronic version]. The New York
Times, sec. 2, p. 2.
Lowenthal, D. (1985). The past is a foreign country. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press.
Macdonald, M. (2004, February 25). A “Passion” for the faithful [Electronic version]. The Seattle Times, p.
F1.
Mason, D. (2003, July 13). Hola, Dora! [Electronic version]. Knoxville News-Sentinel, p. G1.
McCarthy, C. (1990, December 9). Costner’s rare “Wolves” [Electronic version]. The Washington Post, p.
F2.
McCarthy, T. (2004, March 5). Deep focus: What language did they speak in Sodom? [Electronic version].
Daily Variety, p. 4.
Morgan, P. (2004, February 24). Violence in “Passion” necessary, viewers say [Electronic version]. The
Tampa Tribune, Metro, p. 1.
Morgenstern, J. (2004, February 27). In Mel Gibson’s “Passion,” artful story of Christ’s pain is brought low
by violence. The Wall Street Journal, pp. W1, W4.
Morris, N. (1999). US voices on UK radio. European Journal of Communication, 14(1), 37-59.
Navarro, M. (2001, July 2). Nickelodeon’s bilingual cartoon “Dora” is a hit [Electronic version]. The New
York Times, p. C1.
Newton, J. (2004, July 10). A “passion” for language [Electronic version]. New Orleans Times-Picayune,
Living, p. 6.
Nickelodeon. (2000, July 10). Nick Jr.’s newest character begins her quest from on-line to on-air on July 17
[Electronic version]. PR Newswire.
Nickelodeon. (n.d.). Dora’s Spanish words of the day. Retrieved December 10, 2004, from http://
www.nickjr.com/home/shows/dora/doras_word_of_the_day/index.jhtml
Oppegaard, B. (2003, September 3). Dora explores cultural connections [Electronic version]. The Colum-
bian, p. D1.
20 Journal of Communication Inquiry

Paulson, M., & Burr, T. (2004, February 10). Actor’s film of passion is other’s fury [Electronic version]. The
Boston Globe, p. A1.
Perspectives: The gospel according to Mel [Electronic version]. (2004, April 7). Daily Variety, p. 19.
The power and the Passion [Electronic version]. (2004, February 28). The Economist.
Rich, F. (2004, March 7). Mel Gibson forgives us for his sins [Electronic version]. The New York Times, p.
B1.
Richard, P. (2004, February 29). So much irony in this Passion [Electronic version]. The Washington Post, p.
B1.
Rickey, C. (2004, February 25). Plenty of “Passion,” little heart. The Philadelphia Inquirer, pp. E1, E4.
Rogers, J. (2003, June 16). She’s 7, bilingual, and taking the cartoon world by storm [Electronic version].
The Associated Press Wire.
Rooney, D. (2002, September 23). Mel driven by “Passion” [Electronic version]. Daily Variety, p. 1.
Safire, W. (2004, March 1). Not peace, but by a sword [Electronic version]. The New York Times, p. A21.
Saldana, H. (2004, February 24). A passion for ancient languages [Electronic version]. San Antonio
Express-News, p. 1C.
Saussure, F., de (1959). Course in general linguistics (W. Baskin, Trans.). New York: McGraw-Hill. (Origi-
nal work published 1915)
Scannell, P. (1991). Broadcast talk. London: Sage.
Scham, S. (2004, February 22). Scholars have little faith in film’s accuracy [Electronic version]. The Chi-
cago Sun-Times, p. 10.
Spitulnik, D. (1999). Media. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 9(1-2), 148-151.
Strickland, S. (2004, April 10). New pastor also has been professor [Electronic version]. Florida Times-
Union, p. S-1.
Toplin, R. B. (2002). Reel history. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.
Trudgill, P. (1983). On dialect. Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell.
Turow, J. (1997). Breaking up America. Chicago: University Press.
Vegh, S. G. (2004, March 14). “Passion” loses realism with its blue-eyed Jesus [Electronic version]. The
Virginian-Pilot, p. J1.
Williams, D. (2004, April 11). In Maaloula, experiencing the grammar of Christ [Electronic version]. The
Washington Post, p. D1.
Williams, R. (1961). The long revolution. New York: Columbia University Press.
Woolard, K. A. (1985). Language variation and cultural hegemony: Toward an integration of sociolinguistic
and social theory. American Ethnologist, 12, 738-748.
Woolard, K. A. (1988). Codeswitching and comedy in Catalonia. In M. Heller (Ed.), Codeswitching:
Anthropological and sociolinguistics perspectives (pp. 53-76). Berlin, Germany: Mouton de Gruyter.
Woolard, K. A. (1998). Simultaneity and bivalency as strategies in bilingualism. Journal of Linguistic
Anthropology, 8, 1, 30-59.
Woolard, K. A., & Schieffelin, B. B. (1994). Language ideology. Annual Review of Anthropology, 23, 55-82.
Yang, M. M. (2002). Mass media and transnational subjectivity in Shanghai. In F. D. Ginsberg, L. Abu-
Lughod, & B. Larkin (Eds.), Media worlds (pp. 189-210). Berkeley: University of California Press.
Ytreberg, E. (2002). Erving Goffman as a theorist of the mass media. Critical Studies in Media Communica-
tion, 19(4), 481-497.
Zimmerman, J. (2004, February 18). Two millennia later it doesn’t matter who killed Jesus [Electronic ver-
sion]. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, p. B7.

Richard K. Popp is a doctoral student in the Mass Media & Communication program at the School of Com-
munication and Theater at Temple University. His research interests include cultural theory, popular con-
structions of the past, and media and cultural history.