Critical Discourse Analysis Definition

Various moments in time have triggered an act of urgency and produced endless questions that center around the complexity of how the world is structured and its impact on the present and past society. These questions then become a vital part of the creation of social theory. Through the different lenses of the countless theorist, the binary questions that are made to deconstruct the theoretical perspective that the anti-intellectuals present to the public, create a different framework for how the people define structure and "play". Through the viewpoints of W.E.B Dubois and Elie Pariser, the discussion of the social imagination and intellect are revealed. By integrating concepts from Dubois and Pariser, we can further analyze the structure of society and how the relationship with the past supplied the foundation for the perspectives of the classic theorist.

Structuralism and Semiotics Structuralism & semiotics, the general study of signs which developed from the structuralist program, have a complex theory of the way signs work but, in essence, we may say that the categories of meaning (words) are comprised in a system of binary oppositions: white & black, body & mind, the sacred & the profane, individual & collectivity. We are engaged, then, in the study of signs & sign systems. Structuralism analyzes society & elements of society via binary oppositions that it sees as essential to the way the brain works. Post structuralism, on the other hand, sees this binary dualism as an aspect of Western thought & not universal. For postmodernism, meaning & the categories of thought are shifting & unstable.

Attracts young women interested in empowerment but uninterested in social change and activism. Postcolonial Feminism: Rejection of colonial relationships, Argues for the deconstruction of power relationships and the inclusion of race within feminist analyses. Post Feminism: Emphasizes multiple forms of oppression, multiple definitions of feminism, and a shift beyond equality as the major goal of the feminist movement. Postmodern Feminism: the male or female binary is Criticised by arguing against this binary as the organizing force of society. Psychoanalytic Feminism: psychoanalysis is used as a tool of female liberation by revising certain patriarchal tenants, such as Freud’s view on mothering, Oedipal/Electra complex, penis envy, and female sexuality.

1.6 CDA and Political Discourse Analysis There are many approaches for the analysis of Political Discourse integrated with Critical Discourse Analysis. Wodak (1995) postulates a major influence in this study by summarizing the constitutive principles of CDA as follows: 1- Political commitment: the aim of CDA is to uncover power-abuse and inequality. CDA is being criticised for being political only because its political values are explicit.

The speech pattern has its definite form and therefore its functional features are strictly correlated with the nature social codes. Thus sociolinguistics, as an interdisciplinary study of language use, attempts to show the relationship between language and

Next, Anthony Giddens (1997) views power is the ability to make changes, from what we have usually been. For example, A can use power against B when A disturbs B’s will and interest. After that, for Foucault, we need to discover the close connection between power and

The concept of genre Swales (1990), believes that a genre is a class of communicative events in which language has a vital and inseparable role. He also adds that the principal factor which changes a series of communicative events into a genre is “some shared set of communicative purposes” (p.46). Regarding the communicative events Bahatia (1997) believes that “genre analysis is the study of situated linguistic behavior in institutionalized academic or professional setting”. He further defines genre in terms of “the use of language in conventionalized communicative settings”. He further goes on to point out that genres serve the aims of specific discourse communities and to this end they set relatively “stable structural forms”.

However, Paul (1990) criticized these definitions, since he believes that these definitions rely on concepts such as reasonableness or reflectivity that are not defined well. Elder and Paul (1994) assert that critical thinking is the ability of thinkers to take control of their own thinking and develop logical criteria and standards for analyzing and evaluating their own thinking. “These definitions emphasize the metacognitive aspect of critical thinking, independent thinking, and the importance of learning to assess thinking (your own or someone else’s) according to normative standards” (Reed, 1998, p.19). Some researchers believe that the origin of these differences has rested in the various theories and models in two distinct disciplines: philosophy and psychology study.

Defining fundamental terms There is no type of discourse in which the connection between language and power and the creation of social inequality is as obvious as in political discourse. In fact, politics affect people’s cognition by constructing and changing the image of the world around them (social reality). This means that “language is constitutive of reality, and that political realities are very much linguistic constructs”. (Townson, 1992:32) Applying an interdisciplinary approach, which relies on the principles of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Cognitive Linguistics (CL), especially the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT), Critical Metaphor Analysis (CMA) and the Theory of Ideographs (TI), this dissertation seeks to explain the discursive

The concept of the theory of projection is that we project our qualities to others in order to understand ourselves. In “Independence and dependence of Self-Consciousness: Lordship and Bondage”, Hegel presented the process of self-consciousness, that we become self-conscious when encounter another self-consciousness. It comes from outside and achieved only by being acknowledged or recognized. Yet, it can see otherness as a threat to itself that both may enter life-and-death struggle to prove themselves and each other (Hegel,

“Indeed, names in our society function as powerful symbols - arbitrary signs that come to be endowed with special meanings and, ultimately, gain the ability to influence behaviors, attitudes, and emotions” (Cerulo & Ruane, 79). Additionally Cerulo and Ruane provide multiple examples to support their claim of the importance of names. For example, the authors discuss that names and identity are intermixed and intertwined with each

More specifically, by using the two theories together, both the complexities of an individual’s relation with the structural systems of oppression and power can be uncovered, and their personal experience with oppression and power in relation to their unique social interactions and experiences can be understood. Consequently, using intersectionality and life course theory is useful in informing my social work practice in challenging oppression and inequality. The use of intersectionality is crucial in challenging oppression and inequality, as it tackles it from an institutional level. Jones (2000) describes how it is first important to address “instructional racism”, to tackle “personally mediated” and “internalized racism” (pp. 1212 &1213).