Critical discourse analysis in the study of representation, identity politics and power relations: a multi-method approach

Ana Caballero-Mengíbar

doi:10.15581/003.28.35957

Ana Caballero-Mengíbar e-mail

(Login required)

PDF (

2528)

View in DADUN

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15581/003.28.35957

How to Cite

Caballero-Mengíbar, A. (1). Critical discourse analysis in the study of representation, identity politics and power relations: a multi-method approach. Communication & Society, 28(2), 39-54. https://doi.org/10.15581/003.28.35957

Authors

Ana Caballero-Mengíbar e-mail

(Login required)

University of Wisconsin-Rock County.

Abstract

1549

This article sheds light on the principles of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as an approach for uncovering power relationsin the study of identity politics. To evaluate this approach, Idraw from my experience investigating the role of language useand the meaning contained in the discourses reproduced in twomain newspapers in Spain when referring to Spaniards inrelation to immigrants from the Global South. Drawing fromthis case study, I argue that CDA is an invaluable approachwhen used to expose patterns of language use which allows foruncovering, vis à vis critical evaluation, the production ofknowledge in society. However, using CDA involves developinga creative research design. A multidisciplinary and multimethodologicalapproach, largue, is desirable whenresearching in CDA to seek explanation, to fully uncovering andexplaining obscured exploitative/unequal social powerrelations, and to enact social change.

References

Anderson, M., & Collins, P.H. (2001). Rethinking institutions. In M. Anderson & P. H. Collins, Race, class and gender: An anthology (pp. 213–228). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thompson Learning.

Chatterjee, P. (1986). Nationalist thought and the colonial world: A derivative discourse. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Chilcote, P. (2005). Missing the links in mainstream CDA: Modules, blends and the critical instinct. In R. Wodak & P. Chilcote (Eds.), A new agenda in (critical) discourse analysis (pp. 19–52) Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Collins, C., & Jones, P.E. (2006). Analysis of discourse as a form of history writing: A critique of critical discourse analysis and an illustration of a cultural-historical alternative. Atlantic Journal of Communication, 14(1-2), 51–69.

Checa Olmos, J. C., & Arjona Garrido, A. (2013) ‘Los immigrantes vistos por los españoles: Entre la amenaza y la competencia (1997–2007), Revista de Estudios Sociales 47, 118–132.

Davies, B., & Davies, C. (2007). Having, and being had by, ‘experience’: Or, ‘experience’ in the social sciences after the discursive/poststructuralist turn. Qualitative Inquiry, 13(8), 1139–1154.

DeFrancisco, V. (1997). Gender, power and practice: Or, putting your money (and your research) where your mouth is. In R. Wodak (Ed.), Gender and discourse (pp. 37–56). London: Sage Publications.

Doty, R. (1996). Imperial encounters. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Escobar, A. (1984-5). Discourse and power in development: Michael Foucault and the relevance of his work to the Third World. Alternatives 10, 377–400.

Fairclough, N. (1998). Political discourse in the media: An analytical framework. In A. Bell & P. Garret (Eds.), Approaches to media discourse (pp. 1–45). Oxford: Blackwell.

Fairclough, N. (2001). Critical discourse analysis as a method in social scientific research. In R. Wodak & M. Meyer (Eds.), Methods of critical discourse analysis (pp. 121–138). London: Sage Publications.

Fairclough, N., & Wodak, R. (1997). Critical discourse analysis. In T. A. van Dijk (Ed.), Discourse studies: A multidisciplinary introduction: Vol. 2. Discourse as social interaction. London: Sage Publications.

Foucault, M. (1978). The history of sexuality, Vol. 1. New York: Vintage.

Foucault, M. (1980). Power/knowledge: Selected interviews and other writings, 1972–1977. New York: Pantheon.

Foucault, M. (1990). The history of sexuality: The use of pleasure, Vol. 2. New York: Random House.

Goffman, E. (1974). Fame analysis: An essay on the organization of experience. New York: Haper & Row.

González-Enríquez, C. (2009) ‘Spain, the cheap model. Irregularity and regularisation as immigration management policies,’ European Journal of Migration & Law 11(2), 139–157. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed January 8, 2014).

Hart, C. (2008, May). Critical discourse analysis and metaphor: Toward a theoretical framework. Critical Discourse Studies, 5(2), 91–106.

Jäger, S. (1999). Language–knowledge–power. Victor Klemperer’s contribution to the analysis of language and ideology of fascism. London: Society for German Language (GfdS).

Jäger, S. (2001). Discourse and knowledge: Theoretical and methodological aspects of a critical discourse and dispositive analysis. In R. Wodak & M. Meyer (Eds.), Methods of critical discourse analysis (pp. 32–62). London: Sage Publications.

Jeram, S. (2013) ‘Immigrants and the Basque nation: Diversity as a new marker of identity, Ethnic and Racial Studies 36(11), 1770–1788.

Johnson, J., & Joslyn, R. (1995). Political science research methods. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press.

Martin, J.R., & Wodak, R., Eds. (2003). Re/reading the past: Critical and functional perspectives on time and value. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing.

Meyer, M. (2001). The discourse-historical approach. In R. Wodak & M. Meyer (Eds.), Methods of critical discourse analysis. London: Sage Publications.

Reinharz, S. (1992). Feminist methods in social research. New York: Oxford University Press.

Wodak, R. (1997). Gender and discourse. London: Sage Publications.

Wodak, R. (2001). What CDA is about: A summary of its history, important concepts and its developments. In R. Wodak & M. Meyer (Eds.), Methods of critical discourse analysis (pp. 1–12). London: Sage Publications.

Wodak, R. (2012). Critical discourse analysis: An example. In S. Becker (Ed.), Understanding research for social policy and social work (pp. 346–348). Bristol: Policy Press.

Wodak, R. (2013). Analyzing meetings in political and business contexts: Different genres, similar strategies. In P. Cap & O. Okulsa (Eds.), Analyzing genres in political communication. Discourse approaches to politics, society and culture, Vol. 50 (pp. 187–221). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Wodak, R., & Chilcote, P. (2005). A new agenda in (critical) discourse analysis: Theory, methodology and interdisciplinarity. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing.

Wodak, R., & Meyer, M. (Eds.) (2001). Methods of critical discourse analysis. London: Sage Publications.

Wodak, R., & Meyer, M. (Eds.) (2009). Methods of critical discourse analysis. London: Sage Publications. Second edition.

Metrics

Details

Issue

Vol 28 No 2 (2015)

Section

Articles

RIGHTS TRANSFER

By submitting the article for evaluation and subsequent publication in Communication & Society, the AUTHOR exclusively assigns the rights of public communication, reproduction, distribution and sale for commercial exploitation to the University of Navarra through its Publications Service, for the maximum legal term in force -the entire life of the author and seventy years after his death or declaration of death-, in any country, and in any of the current and future edition modalities, both in print and electronic versions.

In the event that the article is not accepted for publication , this transfer of rights lapses with the communication of the refusal to the AUTHOR.

The AUTHOR affirms that the article is unpublished, that it has not been sent simultaneously to another publication medium and that the rights have not been transferred exclusively previously. He is responsible to the University of Navarra through its Publications Service for the authorship and originality of his work, as well as for all pecuniary charges that may arise for the University of Navarra through its Publications Service, in favor of third parties due to actions, claims or conflicts arising from the breach of obligations by the AUTHOR.

Article Sidebar

Main Article Content