Critical Discourse Studies Research Articles

Investigating the language of conflict and peace in critical discourse studies

ABSTRACT This introduction to a Special Issue of Critical Discourse Studies (CDS) – dedicated to showcasing scholarly research into the language of conflict and peace, describes the general conceptual character of language in conflict initiation as well as in peace process. It further examines the potentials of linguistic representation in the construction of social and political realities that have strong implications for conflicts not only at the interpersonal level but also have consequences in terms of national and global security. It argues that critical discourse analysis provides sufficient and interesting methodological resource for analyzing conflict and peace discourses. Then, it briefly summarizes the various topics covered in the Special Issue highlighting the approaches adopted by the authors. Drawing from different contexts and scenarios, the authors demonstrate how methods in linguistics and discourse studies are applied to analyzing conflict and peace processes. Hence, this introductory piece, shows how this Special Issue contributes to scholarly understanding of the roles of language within the context of conflict or peace, as well as illustrate in some interesting extent, how to research the language of conflict and peace in discourse studies.

You still want to have kids, right? Representation of childfree women in Indonesian leading online news outlets

This research aims to explore the childfree discourse constructed by the two leading online news outlets in Indonesia, namely Detik.com and Kompas.com. I argue that online news outlets construct a discourse that aims to discriminate childfree women and the representation of women in the issue of childfree is a media instrument to reproduce the ideology of pronatalism. By using the corpus assisted critical discourse studies method to analyze 137 news articles, this research found that online news outlets produce childfree discourse as a deviation, a source of problems, and a feminist agenda. In these discourses, childfree women are represented as selfish, cold, and incomplete individuals. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that online news outlets in Indonesia do not report the issue of childfree in a neutral and balanced manner. Furthermore, this research discussion seeks to uncover the role of ibuism, as a pronatalist ideology in the Indonesian context, behind the construction of these gendered discourses.

“Be a Good Fan During the Good, the Bad, and Even the Ugly”: Exploring Cultural Boundaries Through Sport Fan Discourses on Twitter

While sport fandom can be assumed to be inclusive, a deeper exploration of discourses around fandom exposes alternative perspectives. Using the frameworks of cultural boundaries and critical discourse studies, we explored how sport fans use Twitter to create, maintain, and transform cultural boundaries of sport fandom. We used tweets from a season of the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team as a case. Data were collected via Visual Twitter Analytics software focusing on tweets containing #LetsRise and #BlueJays. From the larger data set, we selected 172 tweets to examine using critical discourse analysis and ideological structures of discourse. Findings demonstrate that discourses of loyalty, consumption, and unity have plural meanings and are used to draw boundaries that are simultaneously fluid and rigid. Thus, we argue that fans engage in an active process of determining who is and is not included in fan cultures through Twitter use.

Critical Discourse Study of Online Media News about Cameron Herrin Issues: The Analysis of Van Dijk's Ideological Square

Critical Discourse Study of Online Media News about Cameron Herrin Issues: The Analysis of Van Dijk's Ideological Square

Communication Relations on Twitter During the Migrant “Crisis” in Slovenia

The article explores communication relations on Twitter during the 2015–2016 migrant “crisis” in Slovenia. By integrating social network analysis with critical discourse studies, the author finds that the “left-wing” political network had the most members. In contrast, the “right-wing” political network was notably more influential and active. The political elite, mass media, journalists, and public figures are among the most influential users. A vast majority of posts feature discriminatory discourse focused on security understandings of migration. The research is important because it provides one of the few and relatively comprehensive insights into the online digital discussion on migration in Slovenia.

‘It’s like Freire is haunting me’: the value of study groups for critical teacher professional development

ABSTRACT As part of a larger critical discourse study, I share how engaging with critical texts and discussion was personally and professionally meaningful for participants, despite perceived limitations. To understand how critical pedagogy overlaps and conflicts with contexts of teaching in public schools, I facilitated discussion with teachers in response to Paulo Freire’s text, Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Subsequently, I critically analysed teachers’ discourse in study groups, interviews and reflective writing to uncover how ideology functions to support or refute the possibility of critical pedagogy in teachers’ contexts. Implications of the study inform the intersections of critical pedagogy, teacher professional development and Whiteness Studies. While this research validates existing knowledge about professional development design and delivery, it challenges an assertion within professional development studies about the role of teachers as experts. I assert that when it comes to equity-based professional development programmes, groups of predominantly White teachers benefit from an informed facilitator and or colleagues and texts from various ideological stances. I recommend schools of education and professional development organisations doing critical work with teachers consider how teachers’ unexamined beliefs impede the realisation of critical pedagogy, and how these beliefs can be challenged in a professional space framed by institutional norms.

Hate speech and environmental activist discourse

On 14 October 2022, two activists from the environmental group Just Stop Oil threw a can of tomato soup at Van Gogh’s famous Sunflowers at the National Gallery in London, gluing themselves to the wall beneath the painting. The action, covered in a tweet by the organisation, received a backlash of negative comments by social media users. The present paper focuses on hate speech in response to the controversial tweet by Just Stop Oil in a dataset of about 2700 user comments. Moving from critical discourse studies of hate speech in digital contexts, the manual and software-assisted qualitative analysis employs the appraisal framework and discourse-historical strategies to observe the discursive construction of hate themes against environmental activism. In line with ecolinguistics, findings suggest that, when something valued as extremely positive and important such as art is under attack, people may fail to recognise the motivations behind activist action, appraising it negatively through hate speech, and even distancing themselves from environmental values.

Literacy for everyone: the privileged role of journalism in promoting media literacy

In contemporary societies, communication becomes increasingly plural, with the multiplication of information channels, connections, and social actors. On the one hand, this promotes greater democratization of communication and information systems, but, on the other hand, these become increasingly complex, requiring a growing degree of literacy to understand the value of each message and its potential impact. In this context, this article highlights the privileged role that professional journalism has in promoting media literacy, largely thanks to its ability to reach different audiences and actively contribute to opinion-forming processes. With this objective in mind, three projects are discussed involving the newspapers Público (Portugal) and O Estado de S.Paulo (Brazil), as well as the BBC (United Kingdom). It concludes that there is a need to diversify the role of journalism, which is often reduced to promoting knowledge about news production methods. The theoretical-methodological framework adopted is based on Cultural Studies, Critical Discourse Studies and Communication and Media Studies.

‘Talking about’ the far right and common sense. A case study of Matteo Salvini’s buon senso trope on Twitter (2018–2023)

AbstractBetween 2018 and 2023, Matteo Salvini, leader of Italian far right party Lega per Salvini Premier, depicted his policies as ‘common sense’ via Twitter. While far right actors frequently frame their politics as common sense, the role of this discourse in the mainstreaming of the far right via social media remains largely under-examined. This article addresses this gap in the literature by combining a Gramscian-inspired dyad of senso comune v buon senso (common sense v good sense), and recent discursive approaches to mainstreaming, with the general orientation of the Discourse Historical Approach (DHA) to Critical Discourse Studies (CDS). Viewing Salvini’s use of a buon senso trope over a five-year period through this conceptual and analytical lens reveals how it constituted a form of ‘talking about’ the far right, i.e. a self-referential strategy aiming to bring far right politics closer to the mainstream.

New opportunities for discourse studies

Abstract This paper proposes a methodological framework that integrates poststructuralist Discourse Theory (DT), Critical Discourse Studies (CDS) and Corpus Linguistics (CL). While previous research has discussed potential compatibility between combinations of these approaches, there have been few attempts to bring them all together into a cohesive research programme. Fostering dialogue between diverse methodological perspectives can facilitate multi-level analysis to capture the complex dynamics of sociopolitical issues. In this vein, the article presents the methodological tree, an analogy used to illustrate how these traditions may come together to complement one another. This foundation lays the groundwork for practical application in discursive analysis, with a flexible analytical structure proposed and examples provided to illustrate its implementation. It is hoped that the article can stimulate further discussion around how DT, CDS and CL can be brought together to harness their strengths.

Cultural Representation on The Functional Grammar Exercises in an Indonesian Junior High School English Textbook

Studies on English language textbook analysis rarely incorporate cultural values in the functional grammar exercises since it is a crucial learning material in the English textbook. To address this gap, we aim to pinpoint the representation of cultural values in the functional grammar exercises in an Indonesian junior high school English textbook. By employing critical discourse study as the research methodology, we analyzed both the visual and textual data presented on the functional grammar exercises in the textbook. We adopted two analytical tools for analyzing data, i.e. transitivity analysis; and critical discourse analysis. The result shows that there are 28 functional grammar exercises that facilitate students in making meaning. Meaningful cultural representation from many social practices was found. This study suggests incorporating its findings into teaching to explain cultural values to students. Further studies need to focus on providing teacher experiences in teaching functional grammar exercises.

Coping with gender-critical voices from within: A sociocognitive approach to Sussex’s Twitter (X) crisis responses

Drawing on critical discourse studies (CDS), this article foregrounds how British higher education institutions respond to gender-critical controversies sparked by their staff members. Adopting Teun van Dijk’s sociocognitive approach, we analyse the University of Sussex’s crisis responses on Twitter (known as X today) concerning de-platforming campaigns against Kathleen Stock. The analysis unpacks how Sussex employs various discursive strategies to validate its institutional stance in the Stock incident. Sussex’s communicative actions aim to mitigate reputation damage caused by the incident. However, such discursive practices simultaneously indicate the university’s attempt to evade its institutional responsibility for equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) advocacy, neither do they address the reputation crisis caused by fellow Twitter users’ counter-narratives. The analysis points towards the need for a sociocognitive analysis of crisis responses to hold higher education institutions accountable for their core mission, amid trans-rights debates unfolding in wider society.

(Nanny) State as family by proxy

In this article, we extend the boundaries of research on family language policy (FLP) by addressing the situation that occurs when the State takes over the care of unaccompanied minor refugees and asylum-seekers, thereby assuming by proxy the responsibilities normally assigned to families. We analyse media discourses involving unaccompanied minors (UMs) in Norway, a Scandinavian country perceived as having liberal policies, in a corpus of 30 articles published between 2016 and 2017, a significant period of immigration in a European context. Our analysis reveals a polarized debate around these children, often termed anchor children, who allegedly aim for future biological family reunification. Assuming the family role as proxy, Norway is referred to as a Nanny State, making decisions for the UMs regarding their well-being, education and language learning. Engaging with recent calls for decolonizing and southernizing critical discourse studies (CDS), we anchor our analysis onto decoloniality. We argue that this epistemological move allows us to identify opposing understandings of culture undergirding two competing sides in debates about UMs in Norway. The study has both theoretical and methodological implications for future conceptualizations of the family in FLP research.

Spatializing HIV: Putting Queer (men) in its place via social marketing

The current study is concerned with how HIV is spatialized, or emplaced in everyday life, and therefore how prevention, Queer identity, and the virus itself are given meaning. Employing a transdisciplinary methodology based in Critical Discourse Studies and critical human geography, this study provides a geosemiotic analysis of an HIV prevention social marketing effort called the Little Prick campaign. Findings showed that space was constructed through multiple competing dynamics across professionals and citizens, as well as amidst contested notions of risk and branding in the epidemic. The analysis illuminates the discursive relationship amongst Queer, HIV, and prevention. Equally, this study counters the biased notion that “prevention fatigue” in high-risk populations hampers professional labor by, instead, exposing a semiotic fatigue in the HIV epidemic and prevention efforts.

Knowledge, power and discourses in Van Dijk’s Critical Discourse Analysis

Critical Discourse Analysis (or Critical Discourse Studies – CDA/CDS) examines the relationship between texts, discourses and power, dominance, power abuses and social inequalities. Critical discourse analysis is a multidisciplinary research perspective, which not only examines the interactions between the text, the micro level and its surroundings, the macro level, but its main goal is to uncover social inequalities, expose the forms and modalities of abuse of power. The representatives of CDA are committed to social equality and justice. Present paper presents the work of one of the outstanding representatives of Critical Discourse Analysis, Teun A. Van Dijk, by presenting the history and possibilities of CDA, and also the key elements of Van Dijk’s approach. This study aims to show how knowledge, power and discourse are connected in Van Dijk’s Critical Discourse Analysis.

“Tem uma hora que você tem que puxar o gatilho!”: discurso de ódio, apologia e incitação ao crime na TV no pós-eleições 2022

This article analyzes evidence of hate speech, incitement and apology for crime in television news programs in three critical moments of Brazilian democracy. The objective is to investigate the role played by Brazilian TV in the propagation and normalization of hate speech and incitement to criminal practices against the democratic rule of law. To investigate its roots, we examine media-driven penal populism and the conceptual contours of hate speech. Six episodes of the programs "Os Pingo nos Is" and "Alerta Nacional" were analyzed in conjunction with Critical Discourse Studies.

Searching for a Southern perspective on climate coverage: a contribution from critical discourse studies

Searching for a Southern perspective on climate coverage: a contribution from critical discourse studies

The Framing Perspective on the Discourse Construction of Chinese and Western Mainstream Media on the Xinjiang Cotton Dispute

The dispute between China and western countries over Xinjiang cotton attracted attention from international media. There were many news reports about this issue arising in March 2021. News is a typical ideological discourse (Liu, 2016). This study attempts to unveil the relationship between language use and ideology by employing critical discourse studies (CDS) through keyword analysis, aiming at revealing the linguistic patterns in framing the dispute by different news report from three different media, namely China Daily, BBC and VOA. This study found that these media represented the issue in an objective tone, using both lexical tools and (in)direct quotations to constitute a perspectivization strategy. BBC and VOA used palpable allegations of the so-called “human rights violation” and ignorance of China’s contribution to the world economy. While China Daily used a more positive tone and projected it as politicalizing business issues, defining the so-called “human rights violation” as an ideological one held by the anti-China forces, and revealed the devastating impacts on every sides.

Kolektivna agentivnost i toposi u funkciji gradnje rimskog nacionalnog i nadnacionalnog identiteta u historiografskom narativu V. Paterkula / Collective agency and topoi in the function of creating Roman national and supranational identity in the historiographical narrative of Velleius Paterculus

Language, as the linguistic manifestation of extralinguistic experiences, often functions as a means for the creation and expression of societal inequality. In addition to the fact that the participants of social reality are almost never socially equal, which means that someone has power over others, the linguistic reflection of those relationships always derives from the author, who has the power to control the context; his practical instrumentation comes from his own lexical and grammatical choices, as well as their conscious and targeted combination. In this paper, the focus is on noticing and distinguishing, and analyzing and interpreting the choices of V. Paterculus as an author within the framework of collective agency and the topoi with which the Roman national identity is first built, and then positioned as superior to the identities of the peoples with whom the Romans came into contact. While for authors from the 1st century A.D. the language strategies touched on in this paper were not available, since they were neither described nor defined before the 20th century, ancient writers used them completely unconsciously in their spontaneous writing; therefore, these texts, as well as modern ones, are subject to linguistic analysis, interpretation and criticism precisely according to the guidelines of modern language criteria. In this paper one of the possible methods of analysis of the construction of the national and supranational identity of a nation in the historiographical discourse will be offered; the analysis will be based on discursive strategies and macro-strategies offered by the discursive-historical approach and based on empirical data gathered in tabular reviews. An indispensable part of the analysis will be the analyst’s criticism, which derives from democratic norms, human rights and the criteria of rational argumentation from today’s temporal, cultural and political context, because the purpose of critical discourse studies is to expose and point out how domination, i.e., the abuse of social power and inequality, are realized and reproduced in text and speech, but also on how to oppose them in a social and political context (van Dijk 2001, 352).

Book review: Majid KhosraviNik (ed.), Social Media Critical Discourse Studies

Book review: Majid KhosraviNik (ed.), <i>Social Media Critical Discourse Studies</i>