Critical discourse

analysis

Critical discourse analysis (CDA) uncovers the hidden meanings embedded in

texts and conversations. It analyses the way the language used reinforces power
relationships, social hierarchies, and ideologies. [1]

CDA is a critical theory approach to the study of discourse that views language as
a form of social practice. CDA combines critique of discourse and explanation of
how it figures within and contributes to the existing social reality, as a basis for
action to change that existing reality in particular respects. Scholars working in the
tradition of CDA generally argue that (non-linguistic) social practice and linguistic
practice constitute one another and focus on investigating how societal power
relations are established and reinforced through language use.[2] In this sense, it
differs from discourse analysis in that it highlights issues of power asymmetries,
manipulation, exploitation, and structural inequities in domains such as education,
media, and politics.[3]

Background
Critical discourse analysis emerged from 'critical linguistics' developed at the
University of East Anglia by Roger Fowler and fellow scholars in the 1970s, and the
terms are now often interchangeable.[4][5] Research in the field of sociolinguistics
was paying little attention to social hierarchy and power.[6] CDA was first developed
by the Lancaster school of linguists of which Norman Fairclough was the most
prominent figure. Ruth Wodak has also made a major contribution to this field of
study.

In addition to linguistic theory, the approach draws from social theory, critical
theory and contributions from Karl Marx, Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Jürgen
Habermas, Michel Foucault and Pierre Bourdieu—in order to examine ideologies
and power relations involved in discourse. Language connects with the social
through being the primary domain of ideology, and through being both a site of,
and a stake in, struggles for power.[2] Ideology has been called the basis of the
social representations of groups, and, in psychological versions of CDA developed
by Teun A. van Dijk and Ruth Wodak, there is assumed to be a sociocognitive
interface between social structures and discourse structures.[7] The historical
dimension in critical discourse studies also plays an important role.[8]

Methodology
CDA is an application of discourse analysis; it is generally agreed that methods
from discourse studies, the humanities and social sciences may be used in CDA
research. This is on the condition that it is able to adequately and relevantly
produce insights into the way discourse reproduces (or resists) social and political
inequality, power abuse or domination.[9][10] Examples of power being used by
mainstream media have been identified in the work of Stephen Teo in Australia
where he found numerous examples of racism in crime reports of Vietnamese
youth. He describes the use of headlines used to control the opinions of readers to
see and read about crime using what David Altheide calls fear discourse. CDA
does not limit its analysis to specific structures of text or talk, but systematically
relates these to structures of the sociopolitical context. This was further examined
by Pamela D Schulz in her book linking Media reporting of Courts in Australia and
in western democracies. Her book "Courts and Judges on Trial: Analysing and
Managing Discourses of Disapproval" showed a strong connection between
political manipulation of media to encourage "tougher sentencing" while at the
same time refraining from changing legislation to ensure that it happens.[11] CDA
has been used to examine rhetoric in political speech acts, and any forms of
speech that may be used to manipulate the impression given to the audience.[12]
However, there have been flaws noted with CDA. For example, it has been said that
it is simultaneously too broad to distinctly identify manipulations within the
rhetoric, yet is also not powerful enough to appropriately find all that researchers
set out to establish.[13]

Norman Fairclough discussed the term CDA in his book Language and Power.
Fairclough introduced the concepts that are now viewed as vital in CDA such as
"discourse, power, ideology, social practice and common sense."[14] He argues that
language should be analyzed as a social practice through the lens of discourse in
both speaking and writing.

Fairclough developed a three-dimensional framework for studying discourse,

where the aim is to map three separate forms of analysis onto one another:
analysis of (spoken or written) language texts, analysis of discourse practice
(processes of text production, distribution and consumption) and analysis of
discursive events as instances of socio-cultural practice.[2][15] Particularly, he
combines micro, meso and macro-level interpretation. At the micro-level, the
analyst considers various aspects of textual/linguistic analysis, for example
syntactic analysis, use of metaphor and rhetorical devices. The meso-level or "level
of discursive practice" involves studying issues of production and consumption, for
instance, which institution produced a text, who is the target audience, etc. At the
macro-level, the analyst is concerned with intertextual and interdiscursive
elements and tries to take into account the broad, societal currents that are
affecting the text being studied.[16][17]

Teun A. van Dijk's approach to critical discourse analysis combines cognitive

theories with linguistic and social theories. Van Dijk uses cognition as the middle
layer of a three-layer approach consisting of discourse, cognitive and society. By
integrating a cognitive approach, researchers are better able to understand how
larger social phenomenon are reinforced through popular, everyday discourse.
Critics of this practice point out that his approach focuses on the reproduction of
ideologies rather than the transformation.[18]

Ruth Wodak has developed a framework based on the systemic collection of

sample texts on a topic to better understand the interrelationship of discourses
that exist within the field. This framework allows for the discussion and analysis of
ideologies involved in a set of discourses. The macro level of analysis is helpful in
understanding how macro-structures of inequality persist through discursive
processes across multiple sites and texts.[18]

Applications
CDA has been applied to media studies, advertisements texts [19] English language
teaching, heritage language, power and ideology,[20] socialization and
environmental sciences to name a few.[21][22][23][24]

Notable academics
Notable writers include Norman Fairclough, Michał Krzyżanowski, Paul Chilton,
Teun A. van Dijk, Ruth Wodak, Martin Reisigl, John E. Richardson, Phil Graham,
Theo Van Leeuwen, Siegfried Jäger, Christina Schäffner, James Paul Gee, Roger
Fowler, Gunther Kress, Mary Talbot, Lilie Chouliaraki, Thomas Huckin, Hilary Janks,
Veronika Koller, Christopher Hart, Bob Hodge, and William Feighery.

See also

Argumentation theory
Conceptual history
Informal logic
Hermeneutics
Linguistic anthropology
Mediated Stylistics
Pragma-dialectics
Pragmatics
 Rhetoric
Semiotics
Systemic functional grammar
Foucauldian discourse analysis

Bibliography

Notes

1. https://researchmethod.net/disc
ourse-analysis/

2. Fairclough, Norman (1995).

Critical Discourse Analysis: The
Critical Study of Language (http
s://books.google.com/books?id
=3djbAAAAQBAJ) . Longman.
ISBN 978-0582219847.
3. Jan Blommaert; Chris Bucean
(2000). "Critical Discourse
Analysis". Annual Review of
Anthropology. 29 (1): 447–466.
doi:10.1146/annurev.anthro.29.1
.447 (https://doi.org/10.1146%2
Fannurev.anthro.29.1.447) .

4. Some still insist on distinctions

between the two terms,
although they are relatively
minor
5. Fowler, Roger; Bob Hodge,
Gunther Kress, Tony Trew
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ttps://archive.org/details/langua
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6. Wodak, R. (2001) "What CDA is

about" In: Wodak, Ruth & Meyer,
Michael (eds.) (2001) Methods
of Critical Discourse Analysis.
London: Sage. p. 5

7. van Dijk, Teun Adrianus (1998).

Ideology: A Multidisciplinary
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References

Caldas-Coulthard, Carmen Rosa,

and Coulthard, Malcolm, (editors)
(1996) Texts and Practices:
Readings in Critical Discourse
Analysis, London: Routledge.

Chouliaraki, Lilie & Norman

Fairclough (1999). Discourse in
Late Modernity: Rethinking Critical
Discourse Analysis. Edinburgh:
Edinburgh University Press.
Norman Fairclough (1995). Media
Discourse. London: Edward
Arnold.
Norman Fairclough (2003).
Analysing Discourse: Textual
Analysis for Social Research.
London: Routledge.
Jaworski, Adam, & Coupland,
Nikolas (Eds.) (2002). The
Discourse Reader. New York:
Routledge.
Lazar, Michelle (Ed.) (2005).
Feminist Critical Discourse
Analysis: Gender, Power and
Ideology In Discourse (https://boo
ks.google.com/books?id=cTkWD
AAAQBAJ) . Basingstoke:
Palgrave.
Rogers, Rebecca (2003). A Critical
Discourse Analysis of Family
Literacy Practices: Power in and
Out of Print (https://books.google.
com/books?id=1LyQAgAAQBAJ) .
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Rogers, Rebecca (Ed.) (2003). An
Introduction to Critical Discourse
Analysis in Education. Mahwah,
NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Talbot, Mary, Atkinson, Karen and
Atkinson, David (2003). Language
and Power in the Modern World.
Edinburgh: Edinburgh University
Press.
Toolan, Michael (Ed.) (2002).
Critical Discourse Analysis:
Critical Concepts in Linguistics
(Vol I: Precursors and
Inspirations). London: Routledge.
Toolan, Michael (Ed.) (2002).
Critical Discourse Analysis:
Critical Concepts in Linguistics
(Vol II: Leading Advocates).
London: Routledge.
Toolan, Michael (Ed.) (2002).
Critical Discourse Analysis:
Critical Concepts in Linguistics
(Vol III: Concurrent Analyses and
Critiques). London: Routledge.
Toolan, Michael (Ed.) (2002).
Critical Discourse Analysis:
Critical Concepts in Linguistics
(Vol IV: Current Debates and New
Directions). London: Routledge.
Teun A. Van Dijk. (1993). Elite
discourse and racism. Newbury
Park, CA: Sage.
Teun A. Van Dijk. (2005). Racism
and discourse in Spain and Latin
America. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Teun A. Van Dijk. (2008).
Discourse and Power.
Houndsmills: Palgrave.
Weiss, Gilbert & Wodak, Ruth
(Eds.) (2003). Critical Discourse
Analysis: Theory and
Interdisciplinarity in Critical
Discourse Analysis. London:
Palgrave.
Young, Lynne & Harrison, Claire
(Eds.) (2004). Systemic Functional
Linguistics and Critical Discourse
Analysis: Studies in Social
Change. London: Continuum.
Anna Duszak, Juliane House,
Łukasz Kumięga: Globalization,
Discourse, Media: In a Critical
 Perspective / Globalisierung,
Diskurse, Medien: eine kritische
Perspektive. Warsaw University
Press, 2010

Further reading

Amoussou, F., & Allagbe, A. A.

(2018). Principles, Theories and
Approaches to Critical Discourse
Analysis (http://45.113.122.54/pd
fs/ijsell/v6-i1/2.pdf) . International
Journal on Studies in English
Language and Literature, 6(1), 11–
18.
Henry Widdowson (1995). Review
of Fairclough's Discourse and
Social Change. Applied Linguistics
16(4): 510–516.
Norman Fairclough (1996). A
Reply to Henry Widdowson's
'Discourse Analysis: A Critical
View. Language & Literature 5(1):
49–56.
Henry Widdowson (1996). Reply
to Fairclough: Discourse and
Interpretation: Conjectures and
Refutations. Language &
Literature 5(1): 57–69.
Henry Widdowson (1998). "The
Theory and Practice of Critical
Discourse Analysis." Applied
Linguistics 19(1): 136–151.
O'Halloran, Kieran A. (2003)
Critical Discourse Analysis and
Language Cognition. Edinburgh:
Edinburgh University Press.
Beaugrande, Robert de (2001).
"Interpreting the Discourse of H.G.
Widdowson: A Corpus-Based
Critical Discourse Analysis.
Applied Linguistics 22(1): 104–
121.
Toolan, Michael (1997). What Is
Critical Discourse Analysis and
Why Are People Saying Such
Terrible Things About It?
Language & Literature 6(2): 83–
103.
Stubbs, Michael (1998). Whorf's
Children: Critical Comments on
Critical Discourse Analysis. In
Ryan, A. & Wray, A. (Eds.), Evolving
Models of Language: British
Studies in Applied Linguistics 12,
Clevedon: BAAL/Multilingual
Matters.
Blommaert, Jan & Bulcaen, Chris
(2000). Critical Discourse
Analysis. Annual Review of
Anthropology 29: 447–466.
Blommaert, Jan, Collins, James,
Heller, Monica, Rampton, Ben,
Slembrouck, Stef & Jef
Verschueren. Discourse and
Critique. Special issue of Critique
of Anthropology 21(1): 5–107 and
21(2): 117–183.
Slembrouck, Stef (2001).
Explanation, Interpretation and
Critique in the Analysis of
Discourse. Critique of
Anthropology, 21: 33–57.
Slembrouck, Stef (2005).
Discourse, critique and
ethnography: class-oriented
coding in accounts of child
protection. Language Sciences
27:619–650.
Threadgold, Terry (2003). Cultural
Studies, Critical Theory and
Critical Discourse Analysis:
Histories, Remembering and
 Futures (https://web.archive.org/
web/20051101222230/http://ww
w.linguistik-online.de/14_03/inde
x.html) . Linguistik Online 14(2).
Tyrwhitt-Drake, Hugh (1999).
Resisting the Discourse of Critical
Discourse Analysis: Reopening a
Hong Kong Case Study. Journal of
Pragmatics 31: 1081–1088.

External links

Discourseanalysis.net (http://ww
w.discourseanalysis.net)
Research portal and mailing list
Critical Approaches to Discourse
Analysis Across Disciplines (htt
 p://www.cadaad.net/) Research
portal and conference
Discourses.org (http://www.disco
urses.org) Website of Teun van
Dijk
Norman Fairclough's profile page
(http://www.ling.lancs.ac.uk/profil
es/norman-fairclough)

Associated research groups

Language, Ideology and Power

research group at Lancaster
University (http://www.ling.lancs.a
c.uk/groups/lip/)
Newcastle Critical Discourse
Group (http://www.criticaldiscours
egroup.net/)
 Discourse and Rhetoric group at
Loughborough University (https://
web.archive.org/web/2014120310
4957/http://www.lboro.ac.uk/dep
artments/socialsciences/researc
h/groups/darg/)

Associated journals

Discourse & Society (http://www.d

iscourses.org/journals/das/)
(from 1990)
Social Semiotics (https://web.arch
ive.org/web/20061231054624/htt
p://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/title
s/10350330.asp) (from 1990)
Journal of Language and Politics
(https://web.archive.org/web/200
 51025154004/http://www.benjami
ns.com/cgi-bin/t_seriesview.cgi?s
eries=JLP) (from 2002)
Critical Discourse Studies (http://
www.tandfonline.com/loi/rcds2
0) (from 2004)
Critical Approaches to Discourse
Analysis Across Disciplines (htt
p://www.cadaad.net/journal/)
(peer-reviewed free online journal,
from 2007)

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