Critical Discourse Analysis

'Please don't put the whole dang thing out there!': A discursive analysis of internet discussions around infant feeding

by Jane Callaghan

Co-authored with Lisa Lazard

What were the dominant themes within media narratives during the UN sanctioned NATO intervention in Libya and the non-UN sanctioned NATO intervention in Kosovo? An analysis of print media discourses.

by Derek McKenna

Getting People on Board

by Ruth Wodak

Misyurov D.A. Dialectical formulas based on the binary notation as the development formulas // Credo New. 2012. №2

by Dmitry Misyurov

The article suggests dialectical formulas based on the binary notation as the development formulas: formula with... more The article suggests dialectical formulas based on the binary notation as the development formulas: formula with dominant and the non-dominant elements; universal formula; formula with symbolic weight of elements; tautological formula. For example, it suggests an opportunity to use the dialectical formulas for modeling and artificial intelligence creation, etc.

Political Strategies and Language Policies: The European Union Lisbon Strategy and its Implications for the EU’s Language and Multilingualism Policy

by Ruth Wodak

co-authored with Michal Krzyzanowski

Recontextualizing European Higher Education Policies: The Cases of Austria and Romania

by Ruth Wodak

co-authored with Norman Fairclough

The interplay of language ideologies and contextual cues in multilingual interactions: Language choice and code-switching in European Union institutions

by Ruth Wodak

co-authored with Michal Krzyzanowski, Bernhard Forchtner

Sense and Sensibility: Mothering practices and school choice under neoliberalism

by Andrew Wilkins

For consideration in ‘Mothering in the Age of Neoliberalism’.  M.V. Giles (ed.)

Draft copy only.
Please do not quote without permission from author.

Since the late 1970s/early 80s political and public policy opinion in England has been saturated with inflated claims... more Since the late 1970s/early 80s political and public policy opinion in England has been saturated with inflated claims to the waste and inefficiency generated through government intervention over the control and delivery of public services.  As a corrective to such top-down bureaucracy, neoliberal ideologues insist that citizens should be ‘empowered’ to pursue their own self-interest as a condition of their rights (and obligations) as consumers of public resources.  The expectation here is that market-driven reform will produce direct incentives for welfare providers to improve their services through appealing to welfare users as rational economic actors; in other words, informed and discriminating.  In the case of education, parents are expected to exercise choice over which school to send their child to.  But how do parents know how to choose and how are parents expected to know what is the ‘right’ choice? This chapter intends to move beyond the abstractions and estimations posited through government advice on choice in order to capture the fractures, tensions and dilemmas pertaining to mothers’ choice-making practices.  Utilising in-depth data taken from semi-structured interviews with several mothers, this chapter brings into question the neoliberal orthodoxy that works to subsume human behaviour to fit with a tidy, narrow utilitarian construction of the parent as consumer.  In doing so, it offers a grounded discussion of the ways in which neoliberal meanings and representations are lived as well as negotiated through sites and practices of mothering.

Discursive enactment of power in Iranian high school EFL classrooms

by Faiz Sathi Abdullah

Co-authored with Kobra Hosseini; published in GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, Volume 12(2), Special Section, May 2012, pp. 375-392.

Teachers’ dominance in teaching environments has been criticized as an oppressive educational practice by critical... more Teachers’ dominance in teaching environments has been criticized as an oppressive educational practice by critical theories of education. While critical pedagogy that espouses a problem-posing model of education has sought to promote a more equitable and dialogical teacher-student partnership and to transform the oppressive conditions of the ESL/EFL classroom, the claimed potential of the approach has had only limited success in practice. Drawing upon Fairclough’s approach to critical discourse analysis to make for a principled analysis of EFL classroom practice, this study investigated the discoursal features of unequal power relations in Iranian high school EFL classes. The data was collected via observation of two classrooms, one located in an urban area and the other in a semi-urban area of Iran. The analysis of the observation data, which included transcripts of classroom lessons as well as field notes, indicated that teachers played a disproportionately dominant role to the extent that the students were kept
apparently passive and powerless via a range of discursive strategies including maximizing teacher-controlled talking time, turn-taking, topic control, modes of meaning-construction, and elicitation strategies. The findings of this study are expected
to provide critical and emancipatory insights into ESL/EFL classroom practice and contribute to the transformation of its status quo.

Pragmatics and CDA

by Ruth Wodak

Language, Power, Identity

by Ruth Wodak

DEFINE AND CONQUER: AN INVESTIGATION INTO FRAMING AS A VIOLENT ACT

by Michael Caster

Eco-Arsonists, Bomb-Wielding Neighbors & Queer Vegans: Reflecting on Labeling As Reflective Practice [2012]

by Michael Loadenthal

The following discussion will attempt to draw out aspects of reflective practice a bit more, focusing on the three... more The following discussion will attempt to draw out aspects of reflective practice a bit more, focusing on the three venues touched upon namely: researching the animal and environmental liberation movement, organizing and reporting on the Palestinian intifada, and finally, advocating for a politic of holistic anti-oppression situated in problematizing the animal-human binary and advancing a vegan framework within academic fields of analysis.

An analysis of police interview discourse and its role(s) in the judicial process

by Kate Haworth

PhD thesis, University of Nottingham 2009.

This study analyses the current role of police-suspect interview discourse in the England & Wales criminal justice... more This study analyses the current role of police-suspect interview discourse in the England & Wales criminal justice system, with a focus on its use as evidence. A central premise is that the interview should be viewed not as an isolated and self-contained discursive event, but as one link in a chain of events which together constitute the criminal justice process. It examines: (1) the format changes undergone by interview data after the interview has taken place, and (2) how the other links in the chain – both before and after the interview – affect the interview-room interaction itself. It thus examines the police interview as a multi-format, multi-purpose and multi-audience mode of discourse.

An interdisciplinary and multi-method discourse-analytic approach is taken, combining elements of conversation analysis, pragmatics, sociolinguistics and critical discourse analysis. Data from a new corpus of recent police-suspect interviews, collected for this study, are used to illustrate previously unaddressed problems with the current process, mainly in the form of two detailed case studies. Additional data are taken from the case of Dr. Harold Shipman. The analysis reveals several causes for concern, both in aspects of the interaction in the interview room, and in the subsequent treatment of interview material as evidence, especially in the light of s.34 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. The implications of the findings for criminal justice are considered, along with some practical recommendations for improvements. Overall, this study demonstrates the need for increased awareness within the criminal justice system of the many linguistic factors affecting interview evidence.

Representing the 'Zionist Regime': Mass Communication of anti-Zionism in the English-language Iranian Press

by Rusi Jaspal

**FOR A PDF OF FULL PAPER, E-MAIL ME**

Jaspal, R. (under review). Representing the 'Zionist Regime': Mass Communication of anti-Zionism in the English-language Iranian Press. Submitted to Mass Communication and Society.

Anti-Zionism constitutes an important ideological building-block of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). This paper... more Anti-Zionism constitutes an important ideological building-block of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). This paper provides insight into the mass communication of anti-Zionism in the English-language Iranian Press in order to examine how this ideology is ‘exported’ to an international readership. The paper presents the results of an empirical study of two leading English-language Iranian newspapers: The Tehran Times and Press TV. The study uses critical discourse analysis and draws upon tenets of Social Representations Theory from social psychology. The following discourses are discussed: (i) Resisting social representations of Israeli statehood; (ii) Constructing threat: The Zionist regime as a terrorist entity; and (iii) Responding to threat: Anti-Zionism as a religious duty for the Muslim Ummah. As a ‘mouth-piece’ of the IRI, these outlets adopt and encourage a fervently anti-Zionist stance by refusing to recognise the statehood and civilian population of Israel and by constructing the ‘Zionist regime’ as a terrorist threat which should be mitigated collectively by the Islamic Ummah. Implications are discussed.

Keywords: media representations; Iran; Israel; anti-Zionism; prejudice; social representations theory; critical discourse analysis; qualitative; social psychology

What Does Quality Mean in the Context of White Institutional Space?

by Danny Martin

Neoliberalism as discourse: between Foucauldian political economy and Marxian poststructuralism

by Simon Springer

Springer, S. Forthcoming. Neoliberalism as discourse: between Foucauldian political economy and Marxian poststructuralism. Critical Discourse Studies.

Contemporary theorizations of neoliberalism are framed by a false dichotomy between, on the one hand, studies... more Contemporary theorizations of neoliberalism are framed by a false dichotomy between, on the one hand, studies influenced by Foucault in emphasizing neoliberalism as a form of governmentality, and on the other hand, inquiries influenced by Marx in foregrounding neoliberalism as a hegemonic ideology. This article seeks to shine some light on this division in an effort to open up new debates and recast existing ones in such a way that might lead to more flexible understandings of neoliberalism as a discourse. A discourse approach moves theorizations forward by recognizing neoliberalism is neither a ‘top down’ nor ‘bottom up’ phenomena, but rather a circuitous process of socio-spatial transformation.

Political cartoons as a vehicle for setting social agenda: The newspaper example

by Faiz Sathi Abdullah

Co-published with Iro Sani, Mardziah Hayati Abdullah and Afida Mohd Ali.

In recent years, the cartoons genre has gained considerable research interest across disciplines; for example,... more In recent years, the cartoons genre has gained considerable research interest across disciplines; for example, communication, media studies and health sciences. More so, cartoons serve as potent source of data used to study social phenomena. This paper aims at illustrating how political cartoons are used as a vehicle of setting social agenda in Nigerian newspapers to reorient and shape the public opinion through recurrent depictions mirroring current socio-political issues at a given period. The cartoons texts were excerpted from two major Nigerian newspapers, Daily Trust and Vanguard during the period 2007-2010. One-hundred cartoons were selected using purposive sampling technique. Fifty cartoons were taken from each newspaper magazine. Specifically, content analysis was used to identify the themes contained in the cartoons depictions. Qualitative method was used to analyze the cartoons through semiotic analysis. The analysis is mainly concerned with the interpretation of the sign system based on the connotation and denotation elements in the cartoons. The results indicated that 80% of the themes focused on substantive issues through which social agenda is set to reflect social practices in the Nigerian social political contexts. Also, the results showed that Nigerian political cartoons set social agenda by mainly encapsulating current and sensitive issues that people are much concerned about. Finally, the study has identified the lack of supportive and clearly defined theoretical background in analyzing political cartoons as a major problem in previous cartoons research. Thus, this paper contributes to the cartoon research by offering theoretical insight to the cartoon genre through agenda setting theory of media effect.

In Pursuit of the Vikings - An anthropological and critical discourse analysis of imagined communities

by Sanna Fridh

Pretty much finished copy.

Globalization is a phenomenon that is hard to capture, and many scholars have written about how subject. Of importance... more Globalization is a phenomenon that is hard to capture, and many scholars have written about how subject. Of importance for this thesis is Arjun Appadurai’s theory of the imaginary and how he attempts to frame globalization through the imagined, creating a world where various aspects of culture are interconnected in both simple and complex ways through the various scapes. This thesis will approach globalization in a similar manner, and focus on some specific subgenres of heavy metal called Viking metal, folk metal, pagan metal and national socialist (black) metal (collectively henceforth referred to VPFNS metal) as a form of case study, by examining how global structures of common difference take upon different local forms.
By interviewing fans of the music, attending concerts as a form of participant observation and by analyzing lyrics using critical discourse analysis, it became obvious that a sense of belonging was created thanks to the imaginary, where rituals help to maintain the neighborhood. These rituals include but are not limited to clapping hands, cheering, bands touring over the world, holding stage banters, people participating in the mosh pit, doing the devil sign, singing along the lyrics, wearing similar clothing by adhering to a typical heavy metal aesthetic, reading lyrics, talking about music with friends, seeking out new music and so on and so forth. All these actions or lack thereof exemplify a person’s ability to possess cultural capital, which in turn marks whether one is “in” or “out”, thus helping to build specific social discourses that define the scene and sets it apart from other subcultures.
These discourses are in turn situated in larger social contexts and fans of VPFNS metal also position themselves in relation to these discourses in various ways. Examples include the prevalent homophobia, racism and sexism found within the scene, and how there appears to be a reproduction of an archaic and romantic form of masculinity that rejects the feminine as abject. This rejection of femininity can be understood as VPFNS metal being situated in a highly phallocentric global context, seeing how patriarchy is often the dominating discourse.
The focus on a cultural historical past can also be understood as the rejection of modernity itself, and all my respondents cite the importance of cultural history being one of the defining features of VPFNS metal. This play with the past and the creation of a hypermasculine discourse within the scene allows people to imagine something beyond themselves and create a sense of stability in a world that is considered to be ever-changing. To conclude, even though religion is slowly being forced into the private sphere and mass media may be considered to be the new opium for the masses, imagination is not dead. If anything, thanks to new technology people are capable of imagine in ways not previously possible by being united through the various scapes and VPFNS metal stands as a good example of the beauty of human imagination.

Discourse Analysis of Political TV Talk Shows

by Ahmad Bilal

This study aims at exploring the relationships between language and ideology and how such relationships are... more This study aims at exploring the relationships between language and ideology and how such relationships are represented in the analysis of spoken texts, following van Dijk’s Socio Cognitive Model (2002). In this study, it is tried to show that political talk shows broadcast by private TV channels are working apparatuses of ideology and store meanings which are not always obvious for readers. Through the analysis of two episodes of a very popular talk show of a private television channel of Pakistan, the researchers attempt to reveal how the ideologies are represented in these shows. It also suggests that these talk shows mystify the agency of processes by using various strategies. In other words, critical text analyses reveal how these choices enable speakers to manipulate the realizations of agency and power in the representation of action to produce particular meanings which are not always explicit for all readers.