oa ‘Maar hier gaat alles gewoon verder.’

But here everything keeps going on. Lieve Joris’ journalistic ethos in De poorten van Damascus

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