Instrumentalisation of critical discourse studies: a linguistic analysis of public relations concepts in the CDS journal article abstracts (2000–2020)

Abstract

Driven by its problem-oriented nature, research of Critical Discourse Studies (CDS) employs an interdisciplinary approach to addressing social problems and concludes different levels of discourse practices. Among the disciplines that CDS scholars touch on, public relations (PR) stands out as one of the most inspiring, whose studies have implied the practicality of CDS to critique PR, explicating how institutional and media discourses shape stakeholders’ attitude toward the management process and further negotiate their identities and power relations. Nevertheless, little research has tackled the opposite, which is how the interconnected discipline of PR and its theories benefit CDS research. By adopting van Leeuwen (2005)’s integrationist model of conducting interdisciplinary research, the present case conducts an analysis of PR concepts used in the CDS journal article abstracts during 2000 and 2020, with three terms of “image”, “stakeholder”, and “strategy” as a case study. It argues that the use of PR concepts instrumentalises CDS, which offers analytic tools of communication for CDS scholars to refer to and helps to interpret the management power use and its discursive patterns in a CDS project. This ontological study not only offers insights into developing an interdisciplinary contribution during the institutionalisation of CDS but shows how both disciplines of PR and CDS have fostered a two-way development from linguistic and non-linguistic perspectives.