Historical Discourse Analysis Research Articles

Baltic States’ EU membership: discursive search for (and failure to obtain) farewell from Russia

ABSTRACT The article assesses the EU membership of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania with a special focus on their attempts, already as EU members to change their relations with Russia, which remains their ‘significant Other’. We employ the discourse-historical analysis and focus on the evolution of the Baltic strategic discourse towards three themes, particularly contested by Russia, including the domestic interethnic issues, politics of memory and the elements of the constitutional identities of three Baltic States. First, with references to the EU context, we introduce several landmark cases of the Baltic confrontation with Russia which occurred prior to 2014 (‘pre-Crimea’). Then we analyze the corpus of official documents from three Baltic states (2011 - December 2023), including their government programs, national security strategies, Constitutions and programs of their EU Council Presidencies (2013 Lithuania, 2015 Latvia and 2017 Estonia). Discourse analysis reveals how cautionary attitudes from the Baltic States are linked with their historical experiences of the Soviet occupation and with their prudent assessment of the EU as a security guarantee. We conclude that 20 years after the Baltic EU accession, their relations went through the full circle and since ‘post-Crimea’ downgraded from pragmatic partnership to animosity which makes Baltic-Russian reconciliation ontologically impossible.

The (Re)surgence of Sinophobia in the Australian Far-Right: Online Racism, Social Media, and the Weaponization of COVID-19

ABSTRACT In this article I critically examine the role of the Australian far-right in the racialisation of the COVID-19 pandemic. A Discourse-Historical Analysis of (n = 133) Facebook posts from Australia’s most prominent far-right populist party, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, revealed a range of discursive strategies, linguistic and rhetorical devices, and multimodal semiotic practices were employed to scapegoat China and Chinese-Australians throughout the pandemic. The findings highlight the unique role played by the Australian far-right in the racialisation of the health crisis which engendered a wave of Sinophobic and anti-Asian racism on a global scale. This research furthers our empirical understanding of how crises are exploited by the far-right to advance their racial politics in the twenty-first century.

The anatomy of austerity in Finnish media: The journalistic point-of-view towards Europe from the North

This article investigates how four Finnish media outlets, Helsingin Sanomat, YLE, Iltalehti and STT, framed the discussions about austerity policies and their impacts on Finland's national identity from 1998 to 2019. Using historical discourse analysis, the article shows the arc of austerity reporting and how Finland's position and role in the Euro crisis changed during the years. The analysis reveals something about the national self-understanding of Finland, as presented in the media in relation to other European countries. The article addresses three research questions. (1) How did the journalistic treatment of austerity change over time and what were the key turning points? (2) What kinds of perspectives and narratives did journalism construct in the coverage of austerity? (3) How was Finland as a nation represented and compared to other nations in the context of the Euro crisis and austerity? The article shows that the journalistic coverage of austerity evolved from a local issue affecting municipal economies to a global issue linked to the Euro crisis, and that Finland's national identity was constructed through a contrastive comparison with other Northern and Southern European countries. The article contributes to the discussion on media coverage of austerity by providing a longitudinal comparative analysis.

POLYCODE HISTORICAL DISCOURSE FEATURES

The paper deals with the feature of verbal and visual semiotic systems peculiar to historical discourse. The relevance of the research is determined by the necessity to identify the correlation of verbal and visual means used by historians in the transmission of information. The methodology of the article is based on the research works of home and foreign scholars. The methods that have been used in the research are: the method of discursive analysis, the method of linguistic analysis, the method of interpretive analysis. As a result of the analysis of historical discourse it has been established that the appeal to various semiotic systems facilitates and streamlines the assimilation of information about the events of the historical past of mankind, preserving the memory of them in the images proposed by the historians. History, which is not given to historians in their immediate experience, is reconstructed by them by means of different semiotic systems. The verbal code reinforced by the visual one sets a certain perception of historical events as they are viewed by historians. In historical discourse, the use of different semiotic systems in the transmission of the most significant historical events is necessary to attract the attention of recipients to them in order to change not only their perception, but also to transform the basic dominants of their mental space, in which the events of the historical past that are not reproduced in experience are reconstructed.

Linguistic perspectives on strategies in the three kingdoms: An analysis of the cooperative principle in the Jingzhou Event

This study delves into the application of linguistic theories, particularly the Cooperative Principle, in analyzing historical events, using the Three Kingdoms period's Jingzhou event as a case study. The research aims to explore how linguistic insights can enhance our understanding of historical figures’ communication strategies and decision-making processes. The paper discusses the interplay of language, politics, and military tactics in the Jingzhou event, highlighting the importance of Grice's Cooperative Principle in historical discourse analysis.

A Study on Identity Construction of China-US Cross-border E-commerce Enterprises from the Perspective of Discourse-Historical Analysis

A Study on Identity Construction of China-US Cross-border E-commerce Enterprises from the Perspective of Discourse-Historical Analysis

The Russia-Ukraine conflict as a discursive continuum: A comparative study of Business Today and New York Times using an extended corpus-based discourse-historical approach

This paper presents a comparative discourse analysis of media representations of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in the American newspaper New York Times and the Indian newspaper Business Today. Using an extended corpus-based discourse-historical approach incorporating tools from critical discourse analysis and corpus linguistics, the study identifies key differences in main themes, discursive strategies, and linguistic means modulated by each nation’s geopolitics. The analysis reveals New York Times constructs the conflict predominantly as a moral and political crisis, employing critical language and ideological framing of Russia as the villain versus Ukraine as the victim. In contrast, Business Today approaches the conflict neutrally as an economic issue with pragmatic implications for India, avoiding explicit judgments and moral evaluations. While reflecting different ideological positions, the divergent framings and discursive strategies demonstrate the traditional “us versus them” dichotomy is an oversimplification. Through nuanced linguistic analysis of modal verbs, metaphors, analogies, hyperboles, and rhetorical questions, the study shows how historical relations, geopolitical interests, economic ties and cultural values create a complex discursive continuum rather than a static binary. By extending discourse-historical analysis, the paper advocates more pluralistic, self-reflexive journalism to enable nuanced policy debates attuned to on-the-ground realities, not just propagandistic binaries.

A hidden nusach: the linguistic literacy of the Maharam Lublin

The study focuses on an individual rabbi from early-modern Poland, Maharam of Lublin, and on his proficiency as a writer. We explore the Maharam's competence in recruiting different linguistic devices to serve both specific textual functions and the overall communicative function of the text. Taking the combined perspectives of historical discourse analysis and usage-based corpus linguistics, we analyse one responsum as an example of this historically - and in our view linguistically - important source of study. Specifically, we investigate the distributions of the lexical items the Maharam employed in different textual units according to their linguistico-historical strata. Our analyses show that these distributions are either highly constrained or reflect a distributionally dominant component in each texteme, which corresponds to a particular discursive function. In writing this text, the Maharam skilfully and systematically transitions between different linguistic models. His command of the Hebrew strata reflects a literate, functionally motivated nusach.

Review of Demata (2023): Discourses of Borders and the Nation in the USA: A Discourse-historical Analysis

Review of Demata (2023): Discourses of Borders and the Nation in the USA: A Discourse-historical Analysis

From the Ancient Persian Court to the Early American Drama: A Discourse Historical Analysis of the Representation of Esther and Persia

Abstract In efforts to pay homage to the establishment of nationalities, there is precedence in creating a binary opposition of “us” and “them” in some narrative contexts. This discursive construction within the narrative starts with the labeling of social elements, then proceeds to generalize the negative attributions, and then culminates elaborately in justifying the exclusion of many and the inclusion of some. Discourse Historical Analysis is a critical attempt to study power relations as reflected in the language of a (literary) text. The Book of Esther in the Old Testament recounts the story of the exiled Jews in Persia and the ill-fated conspiracy of the Persian prince to exterminate them. The most common opinion about the time and date of its composition is that it was composed among the Jewish diaspora in Persia during the reign of Xerxes I. The consolidation of their own Jewish nationality was indispensable while living an exiled life in Persia. As such, they cling to the idea of positive Jew and negative Persian representation in their recounts of the story of Esther in the Persian court. The interest in this biblical story has been maintained in numerous literary works. The focus of the present study is on the six late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century American plays that speak to this phenomenon. In light of Ruth Wodak’s DHA (2003), the present article studies the power relations between the Persian regal host and the expatriate Jews in these dramatic texts. Essentially concerned with the study of conflicting ideologies in the social and political spheres, the discursive function of language in the construction of a diasporic nationality is highlighted herein.

Representation of political conflicts in history textbooks

This research scrutinizes the representation of political conflict within contemporary Indonesian history textbooks. The research question is about how the contemporary history textbooks present political conflicts in Indonesian historiography for the younger generation within the frame of political interests, nation-building, and the demand of conflict reconciliation and transformation. Discourse Historical Analysis was used as the research method, particularly in investigating conflict representation from the analysis of nomination, predication, argumentation, perspectivation, and intensification. The object is Indonesian History textbook used in schools. Data analysis techniques are carried out with discourse historical analysis techniques through analysis of nominations, predicates, arguments, and perspectives. The findings show that historical conflicts in the textbooks are represented in two forms of historical narrative logic. The first is a simple plot and heroism narrative logic to present the conflicts in Indonesia from 1945 to 1965. The second is a cooperative-constructive narrative logic that emphasizes the conflict reconciliation rather than the conflictual process in presenting the conflicts in Indonesia from 1965 to 1998. Those logics consist of the binary system and schizophrenic feeling that shows the confusion of the historians in narrating conflict within the history textbook. Therefore, the chance to take advantage of the textbook in supporting conflict transformation in Indonesia can be hard to achieve. The historian has to find an alternative approach to solve the problem of conflict representation within the Indonesian history textbook. This alternative approach is carried out as an effort to support the transformation of conflict in Indonesian society.

‘He thinks he is inspired, and he is mad’

Abstract During the last decades of the eighteenth century, knowledge about Siberia inspired Catherine II to create the main character of one of her comedies, The Siberian Shaman. Taking Foucault’s dispositif-concept as its theoretical premise, the present paper discusses the historical context in which The Siberian Shaman was written, deconstructs the identity of the comedy’s main character, and explores the socio-political purposes for which the comedy was written. By utilising the perspective of entangled history of religions and the methodology of historical discourse analysis, this paper shows that the comedy’s alleged “shamanic” content and “anti-shamanic” purpose cannot be taken for granted. Rather, the discourse in The Siberian Shaman should be read as Catherine II’s own engagement with the themes of unreason and madness within the philosophical, socio-political and religious context of the period.

Policy Reform in a Colonial Setting: A Historical Discourse Analysis of George Stark’s Advocacy for Technical-Vocational Education

Colonial education is often criticized for being conservative, static, oppressive, and irrelevant to the needs and interests of the colonized people. This theoretical paper, however, disrupts the established narrative of condemnation by challenging scholars of curriculum reform to take a fresh look at colonial education policy. This study teases George Stark’s policy of technical-vocational education for Africans by employing critical policy historiography as the theoretical framework and historical discourse analysis as its methodology. Two questions drive this theoretical paper: What were the central tenets of George Stark’s curriculum reform policy in Rhodesia, and what lessons can be drawn from this policy to inform contemporary education reform in Zimbabwean secondary schools? From the research findings, it cannot be disputed that Stark’s reform policy for African education in colonial Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) was fervently racist and discriminatory, as it was framed within the overarching scope of white hegemony. But his advocacy for a practical technical-vocational curriculum for Africans seems pragmatic, visionary, and prophetic. These findings become more compelling when considering the current clarion call for worldwide technical-vocational education. As if policy planners are scavenging nuggets from Stark’s widely condemned colonial script, the Zimbabwe government is currently piloting a reform initiative to transform secondary education from an academic to a practical-oriented curriculum. In light of these findings, it appears there are several lessons to be drawn from Stark’s colonial policy for technical-vocational education to inform current curriculum reform and practice in Zimbabwe and globally. Keywords: Curriculum reform, colonial education, critical policy historiography, historical discourse analysis, technical-vocational education

Regulating Poverty: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Media Reporting on Energy Elite

The current discursive development of renewable energy in news media is toward a direction of hyper-commodification, in which the process of creating a commodity is mainly subject to dominant political ideologies rather than a free market. Regarding the process of media reporting on global leaders’ renewable energy policies to the global public, I utilized semantic network analysis and discourse historical analysis to explore the process of hyper-commodification in media narratives. I found that media discourse constructs an illusion when representing renewable energy as essential and affordable in people’s everyday lives and indeed portrays a future without poverty. The underlying statement is that renewable energy is the future if you can afford it. Such discourses reimagine commodification by producing an emergent social class and intensifying the ongoing class warfare through the use of language. Although seeking solutions to implementing renewable energy is key to the public interest, the urgency of having a sustainable plan for energy consumption is often omitted from current media discourse. Instead, such discourses that represent the social reality retrospectively transition from reflecting public interests to only those of well-limited social groups can lead to detrimental consequences for successfully implementing sustainable goals in a timely manner.

Construction of Climate Identity of Britain and America Based on Discourse-historical Analysis

Climate change has always been the focus of the international community, and the construction of national identity in the field of climate is closely related to discourse power. Based on discourse-historical analysis, this paper analyzes the speeches delivered by American and British leaders at the 26th and 27th Conferences of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change through nomination strategy and predication indication strategy. It is found that Britain constructs its national identity as an active advocate and the United States constructs its national identity as a trustworthy world leader. National identity, national power, and discourse restrict and influence each other. This paper adds a reference for other countries to build their identity and enhance their national discourse power in climate diplomacy.

American Superiority, Democratic Idealism, and the Truman Commission: A Critical Discourse Historical Analysis of Higher Education for American Democracy

ABSTRACT In this critical historical analysis, Higher Education for American Democracy is considered a historical artifact, and its veneration as a landmark quest for equal opportunity in higher education is challenged. I argue that this report and the institutional expansion that resulted positioned the federal government to have a direct role in higher education, allowing presidential agendas and dominant ideologies to influence the course of college and university curriculum, access, and purpose. Through a discourse historical approach and a critical realist lens, the Truman Commission Report and President Truman’s public statements are analyzed to reevaluate ther report and its implications for the democratic purpose of higher education in America after World War II.

Anti-Black sentiments in Chinese Weibo discourse: a critical discourse historical analysis

ABSTRACT Diplomatic ties have deepened between China and Africa. However, unlike the friendly rhetoric at the State level, racist issues at the individual and societal levels, which are under-researched, are becoming increasingly salient in the Chinese context. Analysing 2766 posts and 13 477 comments from Weibo, this study deploys the 2021 Shadeed Abdulmateen murder case in Ningbo to investigate the online racial discourse that Chinese Weibo users construct around Black people. While thematic analysis shows that racism in China comprises a complex combination of anti-Black, anti-government, and anti-social class attitudes, critical discourse analysis identifies the discursive strategies used to construct the dichotomy between “positive Chinese” and “negative Black people". Specifically, the argumentation strategy justifies exclusionary practices against Black people in China, whereas the predicational strategy criminalises the Black community. Moreover, the nomination strategy discursively represents Black people as foreign threats and animals. Lastly, this study also reveals the orthographic manoeuvrings contrived by Weibo users to avoid censorship of racist language use on Weibo.

John Pechey (1654–1718) and the Popularization of Learned Medicine

AbstractThis essay offers a corpus‐based linguistic analysis of the paratexts of the works of John Pechey (1654–1718), a licentiate physician and prolific medical author and popularizer, whose ideas and practice brought him into conflict with the Royal College of Physicians. Following the methodology of corpus‐assisted discourse analysis, historical discourse analysis, and historical sociopragmatics, the essay analyses the paratextual material of Pechey's medical publications, with the aims of (a) collecting a corpus of texts published under his name, (b) assessing his role in the popularization of learned medicine, and (c) tracing how he constructed and performed his identity both as a knowledgeable medical practitioner and as a critic of the beliefs and practices of the Royal College of Physicians.

Critical Discourse Analysis on China’s Image in Climate Coverage by Mainstream US Media

In the trend of information globalization, mass media is not only an authoritative source of information but also a participant and executor of international affairs. News reporting is the most influential and authoritative form of media, shaping people’s cognition and attitudes while conveying information. Therefore, using news reports to build a national image has become an essential strategy for the government of a country. At the same time, an excellent national image is essential for improving a country’s global discourse power. Therefore, this paper uses discourse-historical analysis as a theoretical framework to analyze the China-related climate reports of mainstream media in the United States from 2015 to 2023 and explores the diachronic changes and reasons for the image of China in mainstream media reports in the United States. In this study, a combined approach of quantitative and qualitative methods is employed, with a particular emphasis on data-driven corpus research methods. The study found that mainstream US media’s climate reporting on China mainly focuses on China’s climate responsibility, renewable energy, and inter-country relations in climate governance. Through the analysis of the predication strategy, argumentation strategy, and intensification strategy, it is found that the media’s stance has gone through a period of neutrality from 2015 to 2017, increased hostile rhetoric from 2018 to 2019, and continued to worsen from 2020 to 2023. The media’s stance is mainly related to the changes in climate policies in the United States at different phases.

A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Language Used in Dove’s Advertisements

The study investigates the use of language in the ‘Real Beauty’ advertising campaign initiated by the care brand Dove from 2006 to 2020 through the lens of Fairclough’s (1989) three-dimensional critical discourse analysis and Wodak’s (2001) historical-discourse analysis. By unfolding the textual elements used in five video advertisements, it aims to examine how the advertiser Dove constructs the beauty image of women through discursive strategies used in the text and investigate the possible ideologies underlying the discourse. The findings indicate that the textual resources used in Dove’s advertisements experienced a discursive construction to reveal the essence of feminism and further explore the connection between female’s negative self-evaluation and social judgment. It concludes that although the changing traits of Dove’s advertisements may not escape from the accusation of legitimating the commercialism, they indeed attempted to empower women with the autonomy to control the vision of beauty and provide solutions to unite women of all ages and with all colors.