Critical discourse analysis (CDA)
Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is a subfield of discourse analysis that examines how power relations within society are constructed, maintained, or challenged through various forms of discourse, such as speech, text, and visual media. Emerging in the late 20th century, CDA is rooted in critical theory and discourse analysis, drawing on the works of influential scholars like Norman Fairclough, Ruth Wodak, and Teun van Dijk. This interdisciplinary approach spans linguistics, anthropology, philosophy, social psychology, and education, focusing on three interconnected levels of analysis: the text, the practices surrounding its production and consumption, and the broader social context.
CDA posits that discourse is ideological and plays a crucial role in reinforcing or contesting societal power imbalances. It emphasizes the importance of language in shaping thought and discourse, illustrating how even seemingly neutral terms can uphold dominant social norms, such as gender bias. Scholars in this field have applied CDA to various domains, including education, media, politics, and race relations, to uncover hidden inequalities. By the early 21st century, CDA had gained recognition and established a vibrant academic community, with dedicated journals and conferences promoting further study and discussion in this critical area of research.
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Subject Terms
Critical discourse analysis (CDA)
A subfield of discourse analysis, critical discourse analysis (CDA) studies the way power relations in a society are reproduced, reinforced, or challenged through the varieties of discourse (such as speech, text, or graphics) employed in that society. In particular, CDA focuses on exposing the way power inequalities are maintained through established forms of discourse.
Overview
Originally known as “critical linguistics,” critical discourse analysis has its roots in the 1970s and ’80s in the work of European linguists influenced by both critical theory and discourse analysis. Critical theory is an approach to social criticism elaborated by scholars of the Frankfurt School in the pre–World War II era, while discourse analysis is an area of postwar sociolinguistic study that became especially influential through the work of French philosopher Michel Foucault. A key figure in the development of CDA has been linguistics professor Norman Fairclough of Lancaster University in England; his 1989 book Language and Power is a seminal text in the field, which began to fully emerge in the 1990s. Other important CDA scholars include the Austrian linguist Ruth Wodak and Dutch linguist Teun van Dijk.
CDA is interdisciplinary, with applications in linguistics, anthropology, philosophy, social psychology, education, and other disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. It is not limited to any one particular approach to discourse analysis, although broadly speaking, it emphasizes three interrelated levels of analysis: the text itself, including its syntax and diction; the discursive practices surrounding the text (that is, how it was produced and the way it is delivered and consumed); and the broader social context surrounding the text and its source.
The philosophical roots of CDA are not just linguistic but neo-Marxist, and CDA scholars take an explicit stance in favor of the marginalized elements of society, seeking to empower them by exposing the way the dominant forms of discourse in a society subtly reinforce existing power imbalances. CDA practitioners adopt the Foucauldian perspective that power relations in modern society tend to be maintained not so much through overt force as through the control of language and therefore thought; they view discourse as inherently ideological and perceive discourse and ideology as mutually reinforcing. To take a simple example, the historical use of the word “mankind” to refer to all humanity, or “he” as a neutral pronoun to refer to a nonspecific person, can be seen as a speech act that reinforces patriarchal relations in society, privileging men over women. CDA scholars have done much more extensive work, however, examining patterns of discourse in areas such as education, mass media, advertising, national politics, race relations, and globalization.
By the early twenty-first century, the relatively young linguistic discipline of CDA was fairly well established, with dedicated scholars in academic departments around the world, regular conferences and symposia, and scholarly CDA journals, including Discourse and Society, Critical Discourse Studies, and the Journal of Language and Politics, among others.
Bibliography
Caldas-Coulthard, Carmen Rosa, and Malcolm Coulthard, eds. Texts and Practices: Readings in Critical Discourse Analysis. London: Routledge, 1996. Print.
Fairclough, Norman. Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language. 2nd ed. New York: Longman, 2010. Print.
Fairclough, Norman. Language and Power. London: Longman, 1989. Print.
Fowler, Roger, et al. Language and Control. London: Routledge, 1979. Print.
Machin, David, and Andrea Mayr. How to Do Critical Discourse Analysis. London: Sage, 2012. Print.
Van Dijk, Teun A., ed. Discourse Studies: A Multidisciplinary Introduction. 2nd ed. London: Sage, 2011. Print.
Van Leeuwen, Theo. Discourse and Practice: New Tools for Critical Discourse Analysis. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008. Print.
Wodak, Ruth, and Michael Meyer, eds. Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis. 2nd ed. London: Sage, 2009. Print.