N orm an Fairclou gh D iscourse T heory
2 4
D isc o u rse a n a lysis
in C ritic al
D isc o u rse A n a lysis
C D A
3 7
m ea n s th e
re se a rch e r a n a lyz e at th e le v e l o f tex t, h isto ry a n d th e co n te x t o f th e d isc o u rse . T h e re se a rch o f d isco u rs e is n o t o n ly c o n d u c ted a t th e le v e l o f te x t b u t a lso co n tin u e d at
th e fac to rs w h ich in flu e n t th e tex t. F a irc lo u gh 1 9 8 9 se ts o u t th e so c ial th eo ries u nd erp in n in g C D A an d
as in o th e r ea rly c ritical lin g u istic w o rk a v ariety o f te x tu a l ex a m p les a re a n alyz ed
to illu stra te th e fie ld , its a im a n d m eth o d o f an a lysis. L a te r F airc lo u g h 1 9 9 2 , 1 9 9 5 an d C h o u lia rik i a n d
F airc lo u g h 1 9 9 9
ex p la in ed an d
ela b o ra te so m e
a d v an c e s in
C D A sh o w in g n o t o n ly h o w th e an a lytic al fra m e w o rk fo r in v e stig a tin g la n g u a g e in re la tion
to p o w e r a n d id eo lo g y d ev e lo p e d b u t a lso h o w C D A is u se fu l fo r d is clo sin g th e d isc u rsiv e n atu re o f m u c h c o n te m p o ra ry so c ial a n d cu ltu ra l ch a n g e .
3 8
P articu larly th e la n gu a g e o f th e m ass m ed ia is sc ru tin iz ed as a sid e o f p o w er, o f stru g g le a n d as a site w h e re la n g u a g e is a p p a re n tly tran sp a ren t. M ed ia in stitu tio n
o fte n p u rp o rt to b e n e u tral in th at th e y p ro v id e s p ac e fo r p u b lic d isco u rse, th at th e y re fle ct
sta te s o f
a ffairs d isin te re ste d ly,
an d th o se
th e y g iv e
th e p e rc ep tio n s
an d a rgu m en ts o f n e w sm a k e rs. F a irc lo u gh sh o w s th e falla c y o f
su c h a ssu m p tio n s a n d
3 7
C ritic a l: a c e n tra l o u tc o m e o f th e a c t o f a n a ly sis is to e n a b le c o n sid e ra tio n o f th e so c ia l e ffe c ts o f th e m e a n in g s a re a d e r b e in g p o sitio n e d o r c a lle d u p o n to su b sc rib e to in th e a c t o f re a d in g ,
a n d th e c o n te sta tio n o f th e se m e a n in g . D isc o u rse : c o n c e r n e d w ith lan g u a g e in u se o n e se n se o f th e w o rd
‘ d isc o u rse’
a n d w ith
th e w a y
in w h ic h
p a tte rn o f
m e a n in g a s
in sto rie s
th a t m a k e
th e w o rld m e a n in g fu l a re so c ia lly c o n s tru c te d th e o th e r se n se o f th e w o rd ‘d isc o u rse ’. A n a ly sis: a d e ta ile d sy ste m a tic e x a m in a tio n o f a p a rtic u la r su b je c t w ith a v ie w to a rriv in g a t o n e o r
m o re u n d e rlyin g p rin c ip le . Ibid. p . 9
3 8
R u th W o d a k a n d M ic h a e l M e y e r, M ethod of Critical Discourse Analysis, L o n d o n : S ag e, 2 0 0 1 . p . 6
2 5
illu stra te th e
m ed ia tin g a n d
co n stru c tin g ro le
o f th e
m ed ia w ith
a v ariety
o f ex a m p les.
3 9