Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA): An Extended Overview
Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is an interdisciplinary approach that views language as a form
of social practice. It emerged in the 1970s, shifting focus from purely structural to the
functional aspect of language. CDA studies language use in its socio-political context and
pays attention to the relation between language, power, and the ideologies underlying
discourse.
Main Principles of CDA
The core philosophical underpinnings of CDA are summarized in five main tenets:
1. Discourse as Social Practice
○ CDA views discourse (or discursive practice) as a form of social practice.
○ Language is considered a social phenomenon and an integral part of society.
○ Discourse is the communicative process where language is produced and
interpreted in a social setting, encompassing spoken, written, and
visual/audio-visual modes.
2. Discourse is Socially Constituted and Constitutive
○ This reflects a dialectical relationship between discourse and the social.
○ Discourse is socially constituted (or conditioned) because it complies with
social conventions, reflecting and being shaped by social reality (e.g., power
relations).
○ It is also constitutive (or conditioning) because it contributes to the shaping and
reshaping of social structures.
3. Analysis within Social Context
○ Discourse must be understood with reference to its context and existing
discourses.
○ Analysis involves examining the relationship between texts, processes (of
production and interpretation), and their social conditions.
○ Social conditions include the immediate situational context as well as higher-level
institutional and social structures.
○ Concepts like intertextuality and interdiscursivity highlight the necessity of
seeing texts in relation to other existing texts.
4. Discourse Functions Ideologically
○ Language embodies our cultural and social values.
○ CDA aims to uncover the underlying ideologies.
○ Uncovering ideologies that disadvantage a particular social group can raise
awareness, which is considered the first step towards emancipation.
5. CDA is Research with a Stance
○ CDA is explicit about its position and commitment.
○ It is committed to radical social change for fairness and equality, and takes
sides with the oppressed and less powerful.
○ The term 'critical' means taking a distance to the data, embedding the data in the
social, taking an explicit political stance, and focusing on self-reflection.
Methods of Doing CDA (Fairclough's Framework)
Norman Fairclough's three-dimensional framework is a foundational methodology for CDA,
combining textual analysis with social theory to link the micro-level of the text to the macro-level
of social structure. The analysis moves through three interconnected stages:
Stage Focus of Description/Example
Analysis
1. Description Text (Micro This stage involves the close examination of linguistic
Level) features (vocabulary, grammar, textual structures) and
other modalities in the text. The analyst moves from
micro-levels to higher-level textual structures.
2. Discursive This deals with discourse processes and their
Interpretation Practice (Meso dependence on background assumptions. Formal
Level) features act as 'cues' that activate the interpreter's
background knowledge to understand presuppositions
and implications.
3. Explanation Social Practice This stage explains how the discourse is positioned in
(Macro Level) relation to the situational, institutional, and societal
levels. The core question is whether the discourse
challenges or sustains existing power relations and
ideologies.
Research in CDA
CDA studies analyze a variety of data types to investigate specific social issues.
Data Sources Social Issues Investigated
* Media discourse * Gender inequality
* Political discourse * Racism
* Textbooks * Unequal power enacted in discourse
* Everyday discourse * Others