Critical Discourse Analysis Research Articles

Ideologies in outdoor public signs in Bali: A critical pragmatic and linguistic landscape study

Outdoor public signs found in Bali contain ideologies and messages that can be mistakenly understood, potentially triggering conflicts. This study aims to identify and analyze the underlying ideology and the language functions in outdoor public signs found in Bali from the perspective of critical pragmatics and linguistic landscape. The data of this study were outdoor public signs that contain power relation from government and private stakeholders. The data were collected through observation and photography. The data were analyzed through referential and pragmatic identity methods with descriptive-qualitative approach. The theories applied were Halliday’s context of situation, Yule’s speech act, Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis, and Saussure’s signifier and signified. The results show that outdoor public signs in Bali have underlying ideologies, such as ethnocentrism, xenocentrism, and ecologism. The language functions are directive, commisive, and expressive. The ideologies represented by the language used can potentially cause conflicts as they may be sensitive to certain ethnic groups. The findings highlight the significance of critically examining public signage to understand its influence in shaping social dynamics and potential for unintended consequences.

Atrocity in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale: A Critical Discourse Approach

This paper examines the discursive tactics employed in The Handmaid's Tale to (re)produce social reality. Using critical discourse analysis, the study reveals the ideological polarization between a favorable self-presentation and a negative portrayal of the other. Through the analysis of excerpts and the application of Van Dijk's framework, the pervasive use of discursive techniques is uncovered, emphasizing the ideological division between a positive self-portrayal and a negative depiction of the other. Pronouns and adjectives play a crucial role in conveying optimistic self-representations and pessimistic other representations, highlighting the characters' struggle against the inherent sexism and patriarchy within legal systems. The findings demonstrate the significance of polarization, lexicalization, positive and negative representation tactics, and the proximity of contrasting stages, illustrating the tension between the individual and society. Considering these results, the paper recommends fostering awareness and critical analysis of discursive tactics, promoting diverse narratives to cultivate empathy and understanding, encouraging dialogue and critical engagement, and actively addressing and challenging gender inequality. These recommendations aim to deepen our understanding of how discursive tactics shape social reality and promote a more equitable and inclusive society. By recognizing and interrogating these discursive strategies, individuals can navigate and challenge the manipulation of language and narrative. The study's insights contribute to a broader understanding of the underlying gender inequality and societal tensions portrayed in The Handmaid's Tale, shedding light on the power dynamics and systemic oppression present in society.

Persuasion Strategies in Saudi Arabia Vision 2030 Document: A Critical Discourse Analysis Approach

By adopting a critical discourse analysis (CDA) approach, this paper explores the strategies of persuasion employed in the Saudi Arabia Vision 2030 document. More specifically, the paper attempts to identify the various persuasion strategies used in the document of the 2030 Vision, the way through which these persuasion strategies are linguistically manifested, and the different modes of persuasion used in the document. The primary research questions of this study are: first, what are the different modes of persuasion employed in the Saudi Arabia 2030 Vision? Second, what are the strategies of persuasion used in the document under investigation? Third, how are these strategies linguistically manifested in the document at hand? Findings reveal that there are five strategies that are highly representative as persuasion conduits in the Saudi Arabia 2030 Vision. These include lexical choices, the inclusive ‘we’, religionization, future promises, and compositional summarization. The five strategies accentuate the assumption that the process of persuasion is successfully communicated at the various levels of linguistic analysis: lexically, semantically, pragmatically, and stylistically.

A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis of Lingnan Cultural Promotional Videos on Social Media

In recent years, more and more directors of culture and tourism have taken part in the promotion of local cultural tourism resources by cross-dressing, talent shows, and pushing their limits on self-media platforms. This study investigates short videos of Lingnan culture promoted by directors general and deputy directors general of the Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism, and Sports Bureau of counties and cities in Guangdong Province on social media by the method of multimodal critical discourse analysis. The analysis of 33 videos shows that Lingnan culture is a domineering and confident culture, historical culture, graceful and elegant culture, and vibrant and active culture. Domineering and confident culture is embedded in the utterances and behaviors of the directors general or deputy directors general in the video. Historical culture is realized through the conversation with historical figures through time travel. Graceful and elegant culture is constructed in the depiction of sceneries and the depiction of characters’ manners. Vibrant and active culture is represented in the depiction of the characters’ actional process and analytical process.

How does a “neutral” rule become a systemic barrier to racial justice? Human rights activism, International Olympic Committee Rule 50, and the neutrality myth in racialized organizations

ABSTRACT This study focuses on the International Olympic Committee’s Rule 50 – a policy prohibiting athlete protest at the Games – as its site of analysis to examine how sport policy becomes contested terrain when being utilized by those in power to reinforce an unjust status quo. Specifically, we drew from critical discourse analysis and Ray’s Theory of Racialized Organizations to better understand how discourses of the neutrality of sport allow for the rule to be utilized to perpetuate hegemonic norms that silence activism among athletes and disguise unequal power relations in global sport governance. Through analysis of the contemporary discourses surrounding the IOC’s recent Rule 50 consultation, we found that those calling for keeping the rule intact framed the issue as an organizational integrity issue, whereas those calling for abolishment and amendments framed the rule as a human rights issue. As such, we critique the continuing effect of the neutrality myth in global sport governance – a harmful racist myth perpetuated by those governing Olympic sport that rests on the false claim of Olympic idealism being free from politics and social ills.

Unapologetically Blackfishing: Being Black without the Consequences of Blackness

ABSTRACT Kim Kardashian is a White female celebrity influencer who also blackfishes. Blackfishing refers to altering one’s appearance to appear Black, mixed-race, or racially ambiguous to appeal to a broader audience. In our case study, we examined blackfishing through the lens of celebrity and influencer, Kim Kardashian. We argue that blackfishers like Kardashian cosplay what they believe is Black womanhood for profit and fame at the expense of Black women. Using image repair theory and critical technocultural discourse analysis as our methodological approach, we explore how Kardashian uses social media to create and manage her image. Our study extends the concept of image repair theory by connecting the role social media with image repair, specifically through affordances and the “non-apology” apology. Our study shows the limits of image repair theory because there is little sanctioning of micro/celebrities due to their followers.

Contrasting media representations of race and national identity: The case of England and Italy at the Union of European Football Associations Euro 2020

The continuous growth of international sport events as media spectacles has magnified their ability to project ideas of nationhood. In media coverage, the athletes/players are portrayed as the embodiment of the ‘nation’, but this process is far from linear. Historically, mass media have constructed highly gendered and restricted ideas of the nation, placing women and ethnic minorities at the margins or erasing them altogether. The analysis of the coverage of the England and Italy men’s teams at the Euro 2020 brings to the forefront the persistence, but also the evolution, of such tensions. Combining critical discourse analysis with theories of race and racialisation, this article aims to unpack the often-overlooked role of ‘race’ in the articulation of national identity in Europe. While the England team proudly embraced the ethnic diversity of British society, Italy was the only Western European team not to select players with an immigrant background or ethnic minorities. By looking at a British popular newspaper, Daily Mail, and at an Italian one, Corriere della Sera, this article provides a necessary update to the understanding of the function of mass media as ‘gatekeepers’ of the nation.

Living in a world with(out) racism: everyday reflexivity among older White Dutch

ABSTRACT This article explores how older White Dutch people produce reflexivity on race and racism in the context of the public controversy around the “Zwarte Piet” (black Pete) tradition. Reflexivity refers to a conscious effort to become aware of and address one’s unconscious biases. Fourteen semi-structured in-depth interviews with older Dutch White individuals (65+) from (suburbs of) big to medium-sized cities located in the Netherlands were qualitatively analyzed with a combination of thematic and critical discourse analysis. We found that participants reflexively engaged with race and racism within three discursive contexts: (1) generational (dis)connectedness, (2) ever-evolving public discourses, and (3) identity (re)considerations. Across these contexts, the production of reflexivity entails rapid shifting from openings for critical reflection to epistemological and ontological anxieties. We show how the avoidance strategies offered by hegemonic Whiteness discourses offer comfort and perceived escape routes from such anxieties, while also creating new uncertainties for our participants.

Tragedy and value of life of older persons in long-term care homes during COVID-19: a critical discourse analysis

Abstract During the COVID-19 pandemic, the media provided daily coverage of this unprecedented crisis in the history of the 21st century. Some topics, such as how the virus affected older adults, were widely covered. The way in which COVID-19 was documented evoked a ‘tragedy’ narrative through consistent reporting about the suffering it was causing and the deleterious consequences it had on specific populations, including residents of long-term care homes (LTC). This article explores how reports on COVID-19 in LTC homes in a national newspaper (The Globe and Mail) fuelled a tragedy discourse that modulated the value of life of older adults living in those environments. We used critical discourse analysis and analysed 74 articles focusing on older persons residing in LTC homes in two Canadian provinces (Quebec and Ontario) during COVID-19. This article offers a brief overview of the notion of tragedy and how the discourse of tragedy is intertwined with humanitarian crises, life and death, and the value of life. Our findings revealed the construction of three types of tragedies that shape our societal values around life and death in LTC: the tragedy of the threat to life, the tragedy of the unfortunate (old, vulnerable and lacking in agency) and, finally, the tragedy of historical neglect and abandonment. Our findings suggest that the nature of reporting on life and death in LTC homes during the COVID-19 pandemic provoked a sense of fear and pity for a passive other. Re-thinking what gets reported in the media, including whose voice is represented/missing and how tragedy narratives are balanced with contesting stories, could elicit more sentiments of solidarity and action rather than reinforce pity, distancing and immobilisation.

Youth and COVID-19 immunization: navigating the nexus of individualism and mistrust

ABSTRACT The objective of this study is to comprehensively examine the diverse discourses among unvaccinated young individuals against COVID-19 in the region of Madrid. Our aim is to gain insights into the motivations and underlying rationales they articulate to justify their decision to remain unvaccinated. To achieve this, we employ a methodological triangulation approach, encompassing in-depth interviews, urban space ethnography, and a social network analysis with a specific focus on Telegram groups. The qualitative data collected is subsequently analyzed using a combination of Grounded Theory procedures and critical discourse analysis. Ultimately, our findings reveal three fundamental discursive dimensions. These encompass the assertion of the right to individual autonomy, perceptions of social and political manipulation, and skepticism towards vaccines rooted in scientific skepticism.

Playing (& Smoking) by the Rules: Sport Media’s Racialized Coverage of Athlete Drug Use

Sports media research has often found that athletes are depicted differently based on stereotypes attached to their racialized bodies, and often along a Black/white racial binary. Furthermore, Black men often receive more and harsher penalties for drug use compared to all other racial and gender categories. Using critical discourse analysis, this study explores how NFL athletes who either openly admitted to using illicit drugs or failed National Football League (NFL)-mandated drug tests were covered by sports media. Four NFL athletes (two Black, two white) were selected based on their prominence — Josh Gordon, Randy Gregory, Chris Long, and Aaron Rodgers. The findings tell us that the selected Black athletes were often demonized in coverage by being portrayed as addicts or criminals and objectified as commodities whose value rose and fell with each suspension/return. Additionally, journalists often deployed neoliberal logics to both criticize and defend Black and white athletes. The white athletes in the study were portrayed as intellectuals looking to challenge the NFL’s authority, “good person(s),” and went unpunished for their drug admittance. This study finds that monolithic coverage of athletes is not fair, however the stereotypical notions of the Black/white binary are present when analyzing media discourse on athletic drug use.

Dark Humour in Moving Frames: A Discourse Analysis of Bollywood Black Comedies

ABSTRACT The present study delves into the portrayal of dark humour in the Hindi films produced in Mumbai, popularly known as Bollywood films. The dark humour films of Bollywood mainly focus on prevalent social issues such as violence in the underworld, corruption, prostitution, and persistent poverty in India, while socially conscious Bollywood films have often sentimentalised these issues by depicting impoverished individuals as virtuous and hardworking. This study investigates the emerging trend of intermingling serious and comic elements in an attempt to create a more impactful narrative. While employing Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as a tool to dissect the dialogues and storylines and aiming to identify instances of humour, irony, satire, and social critique, the current study attempts to analyse two Bollywood films—Dev D (2009) and Lipstick Under My Burkha (2017). The findings highlight how these films utilise dark humour to unveil the double standards and hypocrisy prevalent in Indian society. By challenging established norms, the identity constructed through dark humour in these films seeks to provoke critical reflection and initiate social change. Through this examination, Bollywood’s evolving approach to addressing social issues becomes evident, providing insights into the power of dark humour in shaping the prevailing social context.

Manifestations of Epistemic Violence in Assumptions of Students in an Undergraduate Classroom in Bangladesh

Epistemic violence refers to the silencing and displacing of a system of knowledge deemed to be inferior by another system of knowledge self-perceived as superior. In postcolonial context, it refers to the dominance and imposition of Western ways of perceiving the world by displacing the non-Western ways of perceiving the world. Colonial discourse is so encompassing in the postcolonial countries that students come to the classroom with assumptions that carry baggage of epistemic violence. According to Freire, the manifestations of this global “theme” may take particular dimensions in particular societies. Critical interrogation of epistemic violence requires identification of the particular manifestations of epistemic violence in particular societies. Following the approach of critical discourse analysis, this paper attempts to explore how epistemic violence manifests itself in the student assumptions exposed in their classroom interactions in an undergraduate classroom in Bangladesh, a postcolonial country. The findings reveal that besides the Western form of epistemic violence, there are local varieties of epistemic violence in Bangladesh. The discourses contributing to epistemic violence have been so ingrained in society that they appear as symbolic capital exercising symbolic violence where education plays a big role. The manifestations of epistemic violence in the context of Bangladesh revealed in this study have implications for framing critical instruction for problematising epistemic violence in postcolonial countries like Bangladesh.

CONTESTATION OF NEWSPAPER DISCOURSES IN THE NOVEL PEROESOEHAN DI KOEDOES: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS PERSAINGAN WACANA AKHBAR DALAM NOVEL PEROESOEHAN DI KOEDOES: SATU ANALISIS WACANA KRITIS

Newspapers are the primary medium of moulding discourse on significant events, including the anti-Chinese riots in Koedoes, also known as Kudus, Central Java in 1918. Some publications even created conversations to further their goals of broadcasting news to the public. Hence, this study aims to examine discourse conflicts featured in newspapers highlighted by the novel Peroesoehan di Koedoes by Tan Boen Kim (TBK). A qualitative descriptive approach was utilised in this study, with an emphasis on the identification of news cuttings featured in the novel. Data was processed using Teun A. Van Dijk’s critical discourse analysis theory, focusing on social context, text structure and social cognition. Findings indicated that the contestation of discourse in the newspaper cuttings was an attempt to influence public opinion. Sin Po, a Chinese newspaper, focused on protecting Chinese victims, whereas De Locomotief, a Dutch periodical, focused on the hazardous propaganda by indigenous groups. Conversely, Sinar Hindia, a Bumiputera newspaper, focused on the protection of residents and the Islamic Union (SI). The outlet also wrote a clarification to relieve the Bumiputera of responsibility. In addition, specific newspapers could have potentially displayed ulterior motives. TBK’s choice of stories might also indicate his aim to denounce the rioters’ crimes against ethnic Chinese. Future research can explore other TBK works through critical discourse analysis as well to map his tendencies during the production of discourse. Keywords: contestation of discourse; newspaper; Peroesoehan di Koedoes; indigenous; Chinese

Religious Figures as Philosophers

This article looks at narratives of major religious figures to draw similarities with the philosophical way of dialogue, modeled on the maieutic example set by Socrates, and makes a case that these religious figures ought to be considered and appreciated as philosophers. The study employs Critical Discourse Analysis in order to understand the interactions between religious figures, protagonists, other characters, and the reader. Conclusions address philosophical attitudes and techniques that match the Socratic Method in order to build the case that the religious figure provokes thinking and challenges paradigm as a philosopher does. The examples include being agile in interpretation, using absurdity and paradox, playing with irony, teaching with allegory, to develop meaning in dialogue with the other. The origins of philosophy begin with a way of life, a method of provoking thinking, an interest in examining and questioning what it is to be human. Systemic philosophy and its closely related sister religion have developed into formal disciplines of distinguished paradigms, where dogmatic beliefs are prioritized over freedom of inquiry. Yet this study makes the case that important figures of major religions were working with their interlocutors on how to think, not what to think.

A Critical Discourse Analysis of ChatGPT’s Role in Knowledge and Power Production

Based on the significance and role of ChatGPT in the power and knowledge production, this research aims to display how ChatGPT responds to questions that are by nature controversial and debatable, as their values depend on the agency or power that answers them. The main question of this work is whether this artificial intellegince model is influenced by any discourse(s). The approaches employed in this work are Michel Foucault’s discourse analysis and Norman Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis. It is contended that discourses are ubiquitously everywhere in social practices. To Fairclough and Foucault, language production is strongly connected to power and knowledge production. Therefore, utilising a qualitative method in the examination, the work wishes to identify the discourse(s) that can affect ChatGPT’s responses and discuss its implications for knowledge and power production. The research discovered that ChatGPT’s answers unveiled a prejudice towards capitalist discourse, established knowledge, and suppressed alternative opinions. Also, the definitions of capitalism and communism by ChatGPT were insufficient because the political and ideological dimensions of capitalism were ignored, which can be considered major findings of this present work regarding the two selected systems. This indicates that ChatGPT’s knowledge production, an example or model from the ongoing technological revolution, cannot be relied on for being biased in its responses.

The strategies of using Chinese language in cosmetic advertising through the Taobao online marketplace

This study aimed to 1) analyze the information structure of texts concerning facial beauty in Chinese cosmetics advertisements, and 2) examine linguistic strategies employed within the advertisements. Language strategies in 150 Chinese cosmetic product advertisements from Taobao were analyzed, employing critical discourse analysis concepts as proposed by Norman Fairclough and Teun Adrianus van Dijk. By exploring the advertising language, the study offered valuable insights into the persuasive techniques used in the cosmetics industry. It categorized the strategies into semantic and discourse-pragmatic. Semantic strategies involved descriptive verbs, intensifiers, negation, and word formation through pinyin transliteration. Discourse-pragmatic strategies included presuppositions, figures of speech, claims, and rhetorical questions. These strategies mirrored beauty values in Chinese society, implying beauty was achievable through the products advertised. The study highlighted the significant impact of language strategies in forming beauty ideals, influencing consumer beliefs, and motivating the pursuit of beauty standards. This analysis of cosmetic advertising in China showcased the influential role of language in shaping societal views and consumer behavior.

Quoting and well-being: researching social media posts of two mental health campaigns in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT Residents in Hong Kong have recently faced more severe mental health challenges due to the 2019 social unrest and the COVID-19 pandemic, among other social, economic and political issues. The situation has given rise to more local public mental health campaigns which mobilise different linguistic, cultural and discursive resources. This article critically examines a common type of social media discourse by two public mental health campaigns in Hong Kong which respectively adopt Chinese and English as the main language. Through a comprehensive, critical multimodal discourse analysis, it illustrates how this type of discourse (1) draws attention to multiple dimensions of mental well-being beyond mental illness/disorder, (2) strategically re-appropriates words and voices from different individuals, cultures and domains and (3) tacitly reinforces neoliberal and Confucianist ideologies through public mental health communication. The article ends with a discussion that can deepen our critical understanding of public mental health communication in contexts featuring digitalisation and linguistic and cultural diversity.

Ideal early childhood teacher?

In policy, teachers are persistently positioned as central to improving the quality of early childhood education and care (ECEC). They are frequently the targets for policy reform that proactively seeks to shape teaching priorities and practices. The constructions of teachers in policy shape notions of ideal professional identities, opening up spaces for certain identities and closing spaces for others. This critical discourse analysis of seven key ECEC policy texts assembles a range of discourses to identify and critically examine two prevalent and distinct 'ideal' professional identities for early childhood teachers: The Professional and The Kaiako.

‘We’re in this together’ – COVID-19 statements by Boris Johnson: A discourse analysis

This article presents a discursive analysis of crisis communication strategies employed by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson during the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Utilising critical discourse analysis, the study examined official communications from March 2020 to January 2022. While Johnson's communication style encompassed empathy, assertiveness, and a focus on vaccination efforts, enhancing specificity, transparency, addressing potential inequalities, as well as prioritising community building, could have heightened the impact of his messages during the COVID-19 pandemic. By examining Boris Johnson's speeches as a case study, the research adds depth to the discourse on effective communication strategies employed by world leaders. The findings underscore the significance of clarity, adaptability, empathy, and reliance on scientific evidence in navigating the complexities of crisis communication.