Critical Discourse Analysis

CriticalDiscourseAnalysisAuthor(s):JanBlommaertandChrisBulcaenSource:AnnualReviewofAnthropology,Vol.29(2000),pp.447-466Publishedby:AnnualReviewsStableURL::27/12/201020:22YouruseoftheJSTORarchiveindicatesyouracceptanceofJSTOR'sTermsandConditionsofUse,availableat.://=annrevs..EachcopyofanypartofaJSTORtransmissionmustcontainthesamecopyrightnoticethatappearsonthescreenorprintedpageofsuchtransmission.JSTORisanot-for-profitservicethathelpsscholars,researchers,andstudentsdiscover,use,andbuilduponawiderangeofcontentinatrusteddigitalarchive.Weuseinformationtechnologyandtoolstoincreaseproductivityandfacilitatenewformsofscholarship.FormoreinformationaboutJSTOR,[e-mail]tingwithJSTORtodigitize,preserveandextendaccesstoAnnualReviewofAnthropology.:[e-mail]rsity,DepartmentofEnglish,B-9000Gent,Belgium;e-mail:[e-mail],socialtheory,power,ideology,critique*AbstractThispaperprovidesasurveyofcriticaldiscourseanalysis(CDA),arecentschoolofdiscourseanalysisthatconcernsitselfwithrelationsofpowerandinequalityinlanguage.CDAexplicitlyintendstoincorporatesocial-theoreticalin-sightsintodiscourseanalysisandadvocatessocialcommitmentandinterventionisminresearch.ThemainprogrammaticfeaturesanddomainsofenquiryofCDAarediscussed,withemphasisonattemptstowardtheoryformationbyoneofCDA'smostprominentscholars,NormanFairclough.Anothersectionreviewsthegenesisanddis-ciplinarygrowthofCDA,mentionssomeoftherecentcriticalreactionstoit,andsituatesitwithinthewiderpictureofanewcriticalparadigmdevelopinginanumberoflanguage-oriented(sub)disciplines.Inthiscriticalparadigm,topicssuchasideol-ogy,inequality,andpowerfigureprominently,andmanyscholarsproductivelyattempttoincorporatesocial-theoreticalinsightsintothestudyoflanguage.INTRODUCTIONCriticaldiscourseanalysis(CDA)emergedinthelate1980sasaprogrammaticdevelopmentinEuropeandiscoursestudiesspearheadedbyNormanFairclough,RuthWodak,TeunvanDijk,andothers.Sincethen,ithasbecomeoneofthemostinfluentialandvisiblebranchesofdiscourseanalysis(ascanbeseenintheanthologybyJaworski&Coupland1999).Weprovideanoverviewofthemainthrustsofthismovement,discusscriticallyitsmainfociofattention,andsituateitinawiderpanoramaofdevelopmentsinlinguistics.Insodoing,wehopetoshowthatthecriticalturninstudiesoflanguageisbynomeansrestrictedtoanysingleapproachbutrepresentsamoregeneralprocessof(partial)convergenceintheoriesandpracticesofresearchonlanguage.CDAprovidedacrucialtheoreticalandmethodologicalimpetusforthisparadigm,butitcouldbenefitfromacloserintegrationwithnewdevelopments.0084-6570/00/1015-0447$14.00447448BLOMMAERT?BULCAENCRITICALDISCOURSEANALYSISTheCDAProgramThepurposeofCDAistoanalyzeopaqueaswellastransparentstructuralre-lationshipsofdominance,discrimination,powerandcontrolasmanifestedinlanguage(Wodak1995:204).Morespecifically,[CDA]studiesreal,andoftenextended,instancesofsocialinteractionwhichtake(partially)linguisticform.Thecriticalapproachisdistinctiveinitsviewof(a)therelationshipbetweenlanguageandsociety,and(b)therelationshipbetweenanalysisandthepracticesanalysed(Wodak1997:173).CDAstatesthatdiscourseissociallyconstitutiveaswellassociallyconditioned.Furthermore,discourseisanopaquepowerobjectinmodemsocietiesandCDAaimstomakeitmorevisibleandtransparent.Itisanimportantcharacteristicoftheeconomic,socialandculturalchangesoflatemodernitythattheyexistasdiscoursesaswellasprocessesthataretakingplaceoutsidediscourse,andthattheprocessesthataretakingplaceoutsidediscoursearesubstantivelyshapedbythesediscourses.Chouliaraki&Fairclough(1999:4)ThemostelaborateandambitiousattempttowardtheorizingtheCDAprogramisundoubtedlyFairclough'sDiscourseandSocialChange(1992a).Faircloughconstructsasocialtheoryofdiscourseandprovidesamethodologicalblueprintforcriticaldiscourseanalysisinpractice.[OtherprogrammaticstatementsofCDAcanbefoundinFairclough(1992b,1995b),Chouliaraki&Fairclough(1999),vanLeeuwen(1993),vanDijk(1993a,c,1997),andWodak(1995,1997).]Fairclough(1992a)sketchesathree-dimensionalframeworkforconceivingofandanalyzingdiscourse.Thefirstdimensionisdiscourse-as-text,i.e.thelinguisticfeaturesandorganizationofconcreteinstancesofdiscourse.Choicesandpatternsinvocabulary(e.g.wording,metaphor),grammar(e.g.transitivity,modality),co-hesion(e.g.conjunction,schemata),andtextstruc