Critical Discourse Analysis

Theoretical and Methodological Basis

What are the general characteristics of CDA? Essential are at least the following four features. First, CDA focuses on the role played by language in the construction of power relationships and reproduction of domination in social and societal life. Of specific concern are usually social problems [Page 245]and inequalities in the contemporary world. In a sense, CDA attempts to make visible taken-for-granted assumptions that easily pass unnoticed in more traditional analyses. Second, CDA involves an in-built critical stance. Thus, a researcher is not a “neutral observer,” but his or her role is to acknowledge a particular kind of (critical) perspective.

Third, contextuality is a crucial issue in CDA. Consequently, the ability to place specific texts in their contexts is important in CDA. On the one hand, this means taking the social, cultural, and institutional settings seriously. Norman Fairclough, for example, argues that discourses should be analyzed at three levels simultaneously: textual (microlevel textual elements), discursive practices (the production and interpretation of texts), and social practice (the situational and institutional context). On the other hand, the historical dimension is important in CDA. In particular, Ruth Wodak argues for a historico–discursive methodology where specific texts and discourses are placed in their historical context. This kind of analysis should thus link textual representations with social and material practices, which is naturally a demanding task for any scholar. Furthermore, such analysis thus often becomes interdisciplinary. In fact, some CDA scholars argue that the essence of CDA is to combine methods of linguistic analysis with social theories and subject-specific understanding.

Fourth, intertextuality—linkages between different texts—is a key issue in CDA. In brief, one cannot fully understand specific texts or discursive acts without linking them with other texts and discursive acts. Thus, as in other contemporary discursive methodologies, discourses are seen to be constituted by complex webs of texts, and even if CDA often focuses on close analysis of individual texts, these texts should always be placed in their intertextual context. This issue of intertextuality is also related to the broader question of interdiscursivity, that is, how specific discourse and genres are interlinked and constitute particular “orders-of-discourse.” Such orders-of-discourse are then seen as essential parts of power relations and systems of domination in contemporary society.

...