‘Maar hier gaat alles gewoon verder.’ Het journalistieke ethos van Lieve Joris in De poorten van Damascus

In her book De poorten van Damascus (Damascus’ gates) (1993), Lieve Jorisreports on her longtime stay in the early nineties with an old friend inDamascus. As a literary journalist, Joris diverges from the conventionalreporting style that follows strict rules in order to ensure an objectivity effect,and chooses a narrative form that allows for more personal interactionbetween journalist and source. Since this narrative form is widely used infiction, Joris runs the risk of losing her ethos as a journalist. I will examine inwhat ways Joris negotiates this ethos, and how she manages to bring the risksof her personal and empathic style of journalism to the fore. This analysisdraws from the rhetorical perspective introduced by Ruth Amossy, andparticularly its focus on ethos both in media and literary discourse.

Publication year:2015