Critical Discourse Analysis Essay -- Social Discourse

Critical Discourse AnalysisJan blommaert and Chris Bulcaen makes a brief introduction to the study of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). CDA intends to use social-theoretical method acting in conversation analysis and is primarily lingualally based (Blommaet & Bulcaen, 2000, p.447). It intends to analyze the structural relationships of dominance, discrimination, power and control through a textual study (Blommaet & Bulcaen, 2000, p.448). ground on the assumption that social discourse is constructed and socially conditioned, CDA explores the power dynamics in this process.According to Fairclough, CDA analysis can be divided into three-dimensions first, discours-as-text which analyzes the textual linguistic elements as concrete instances of discourse second, discourse-as-discursive-practice, especially focusing on discourse processes like speech act, coherence and intertexuality third, discourse-as-social-practice which examines the effects and the hegemonic process in the discourse (Blommaet & Bulcaen, 2000, p.448-9). go both the second and the third dimension consider the arrangement of text elements or quotes as intertexuality, the second dimension makes the interaction between text and stage setting visible and the third dimension makes the discursive power dynamic visible as well. Moreover, they point out that CDA aims to undertake a social responsibility to improve particular discourses for change, empowerment, and practice-orientedness (Blommaet & Bulcaen, 2000, p.449). Because of this, CDA pay large attention to social topics and works on two main directions power and ideology, and change of the structuralist determinism (Blommaet & Bulcaen, 2000, p.452). Although it ambitiously put such big emphasis on social phenomena o... ...te in the 1960s which reflected two opposite public opinions on Television and radio respectively. More current example could be the different experience of a same news text people read on a mainstream newspaper and on a fa cebook sharing page. As Blommaert and Bulcaen suggest the incorporation of linguistic and nonlinguistic dimensions, this could be taken into consideration in further studies. ReferenceBlommaert, J., & Bulcaen, C. (2000). Critical discourse analysis. AnnualReview of Anthropology,29, 447-66.Schroder, K.C. (2007). Media discourse analysis researching cultural meaning from inception to reception. Texual Cultures Texts, Contexts, Interpretation 2, 2, 77-99.Steensland, B. (2008). Why do policy frames change? actor-ideacoevolution in debates on welfare reform. Social Forces, 86(3), 1027-54.