When you’re in with the in-crowd

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-84
Author(s):  
Saira Fitzgerald
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
International Baccalaureate ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Publicly Funded ◽  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
Uncritical Acceptance

This paper examines the discursive construction of the International Baccalaureate (IB) in a 1.5 million word corpus of Canadian newspapers. Combining corpus analysis with the Discourse Historical branch of Critical Discourse Analysis, the study aims to identify discursive strategies employed in the construction of an IB in-group and a non-IB out-group, and suggests they are similar to those evident in discourses of discrimination that marginalise or exclude the outgroup (Baker, Gabrielatos and McEnery 2013a; KhosraviNik 2010; Reisigl and Wodak 2001). While discourses of discrimination tend to be directed at minority groups, in this case, the minority group is the in-group, exhibiting uniformly positive qualities. As a result, a ‘dichotomous world of insiders and outsiders’ (Reisigl and Wodak 2001:105) is created, privileging one and disadvantaging the other. This paper seeks to problematise the seemingly uncritical acceptance and adoption of IB programs in Canada’s publicly funded education system.

Imag(in)ing the Nation

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 645-664 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Teo ◽  
Cui Ruiguo
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
Close Analysis ◽  
Concrete Image

This article focuses on the discursive construction of national identity through a National Day Rally speech delivered by Singapore’s Prime Minister in 2010. Inspired by the theoretical framework of Critical Discourse Analysis and using methods developed by Halliday and van Leeuwen, it offers a close analysis of the speech, which uncovers patterns related to the type, extent and effects of various agentive roles attributed to the country, government and people of Singapore. Macro-discursive strategies like the use of specific references and real-life anecdotes calculated to reify the success of the Singapore ‘brand’ and inspire Singaporeans are also discussed. Through this multi-layered analysis, the article demonstrates how discourse transforms an imagining of Singapore’s nationhood into a concrete image of what Singapore is and what being a Singaporean is all about.

scholarly journals Social Power: The Gap Between Majority and Minority Groups in Martin Luther King Jr.’S Speeches

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-110
Author(s):  
Sylvia Christy Hendarto
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Social Power ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Martin Luther ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Cognitive Approach ◽  
Majority Group ◽  
The Social ◽  
Martin Luther King

This study examines the social power between majority and minority group as represented in Martin Luther King Jr.’s speeches. It investigates social power further into types of social power used, and how the gap between majority group and minority group is reflected in the speeches. Critical discourse analysis with socio cognitive approach was applied. The data were taken from three speeches of Martin Luther King Jr.: “I Have a Dream”, “Our God is Marching On”, and “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop”. The result revealed that there were several types of social power appeared in the speeches. The finding on the gap between majority and minority group is reflected in their social status and roles in society.

scholarly journals Discursive Strategies for the Social Construction in the Post-Conflict Era (2015-2017)

2019 ◽  
pp. 107-123
Author(s):  
Doris Torres ◽  
Angélica María Rincón Rodríguez
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Analysis Program ◽  
Theoretical Formulation ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
The Social ◽  
Two Stages

        The objective is to analyze the linguistic and rhetorical resources used in the discursive construction about the social actors of the post-conflict, through the study of nine editorials of the newspaper El Espectador, between the years 2015-2017. The research is woven from the perspective of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), in order to make a theoretical formulation about journalistic discursive manifestations and a critical reflection on the social realities of journalistic language. The methodology was developed in two stages: an exploratory-descriptive and an analytical one. In the first, a compilation of the editorials under study is made to be submitted to the qualitative analysis program NVivo 11, reporting significant elements such as the frequency of words, co-texts, and the cloud mark and the conglomerates. The second involved the realization of a linguistic analysis to interpret the strategies of legitimation, naturalization and concealment used to discursively construct the social actors of the post-conflict.

scholarly journals ‘Victims vs Terrorists?’ The Discursive Construction of Palestinians in Two Online Israeli Newspapers during the 2014 Gaza War

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rami Qawariq
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
The Political ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Huge Number ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
Political Orientations ◽  
Discourse Historical Approach

 This article is a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of the representation of Palestinians in two online Israeli newspapers published in English during the 2014 Gaza War. The study attempts to conduct a language-based analysis of the political and ideological workings that underpin the representation of social actors. It employs tools from the Discourse Historical Approach (Reisigl & Wodak 2001) to explain the discursive characterization of fighters/ Hamas and civilians. Since the huge number of Palestinian civilian fatalities was a major aspect of controversy in the last war, this article tries to reveal the linguistic choices and discursive strategies used in representing each group of social actors. More importantly, the article detects the linguistic and discursive differences between two newspapers and explains how they may reflect different political orientations. 

Discursive construction of an anti-immigration Europe by a Sweden Democrat in the European Parliament

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 429-439
Author(s):  
Kamber Güler
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Social Power ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Cognitive Approach ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Group

Discourses are mostly used by the elites as a means of controlling public discourse and hence, the public mind. In this way, they try to legitimate their ideology, values and norms in the society, which may result in social power abuse, dominance or inequality. The role of a critical discourse analyst is to understand and expose such abuses and inequalities. To this end, this paper is aimed at understanding and exposing the discursive construction of an anti-immigration Europe by the elites in the European Parliament (EP), through the example of Kristina Winberg, a member of the Sweden Democrats political party in Sweden and the political group of Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy in the EP. In the theoretical and methodological framework, the premises and strategies of van Dijk’s socio-cognitive approach of critical discourse analysis make it possible to achieve the aim of the paper.

scholarly journals Exploring the Discursive Construction of Obedience: An Analysis of Application Letters for the Position of Executioner in Hitler’s Germany

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Leisser ◽  
Katie Bray ◽  
Anaruth Hernández ◽  
Doha Nasr
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Legal History ◽  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
National Socialist ◽  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
National Socialist State ◽  
Interdisciplinary Framework ◽  
Research Questions

AbstractThis article presents an empirical investigation into the construction of obedience in letters of applications mailed to National Socialist authorities for the position of executioner between the years 1933 and 1945. To this end, a corpus of 178 letters of application was compiled, annotated, and analyzed using the corpus analysis toolkits Antconc and Lancsbox. A quantitative and qualitative analysis of the corpus was conducted. The findings were related to and interpreted from the perspectives of applied legal linguistics, stylistics, and legal history. The project aims to explore the construction of a shared discourse of obedience and how this discourse is operative in the letters of application. Drawing on an explorative interdisciplinary framework, this project seeks to answer the following research questions: Is obedience a construct in applicants’ letters of motivation? Which linguistic devices and discursive strategies are used by the executioners to express submission to officials of the National Socialist state? Are there variants of the construction of submission by applicants?

scholarly journals A Critical Discourse Analysis of Representations of Travellers in Public Policies in Ireland

Societies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Claire Jane Snowdon ◽  
Leena Eklund Eklund Karlsson
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Practice ◽  
Expert Knowledge ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Discursive Practice ◽  
Negative Stereotypes

In Ireland, negative stereotypes of the Traveller population have long been a part of society. The beliefs that surround this minority group may not be based in fact, yet negative views persist such that Travellers find themselves excluded from mainstream society. The language used in discourse plays a critical role in the way Travellers are represented. This study analyses the discourse in the public policy regarding Travellers in the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy (NTRIS) 2017–2021. This study performs a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of the policy with the overall aims of showing signs of the power imbalance through the use of language and revealing the discourses used by elite actors to retain power and sustain existing social relations. The key findings show that Travellers are represented as a homogenous group that exists outside of society. They have no control over how their social identity is constructed. The results show that the constructions of negative stereotypes are intertextually linked to previous policies, and the current policy portrays them in the role of passive patients, not powerful actors. The discursive practice creates polarity between the “settled” population and the “Travellers”, who are implicitly blamed by the state for their disadvantages. Through the policy, the government disseminates expert knowledge, which legitimises the inequality and supports this objective “truth”. This dominant discourse, which manifests in wider social practice, can facilitate racism and social exclusion. This study highlights the need for Irish society to change the narrative to support an equitable representation of Travellers.

scholarly journals The Enemy Next Door: The Image of Russia in Georgian and Ukrainian Political Discourses Amid Conflicts Escalation

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 194-203
Author(s):  
Aram Terzyan
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Identity Construction ◽  
Image Representation ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Democratic Values ◽  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
Political Discourses ◽  
The Core ◽  
Standing Up

Abstract This article presents an analysis of the evolution of Russia’s image representation in Georgian and Ukrainian political discourses amid Russian-Georgian and Russian-Ukrainian conflicts escalation. Even though Georgia’s and Ukraine’s troubled relations with neighboring Russia have been extensively studied, there has been little attention to the ideational dimensions of the confrontations, manifested in elite narratives, that would redraw the discursive boundaries between “Us” and “Them.” This study represents an attempt to fill the void, by examining the core narratives of the enemy, along with the discursive strategies of its othering in Georgian and Ukrainian presidential discourses through critical discourse analysis. The findings suggest that the image of the enemy has become a part of “New Georgia’s” and “New Ukraine’s” identity construction - inherently linked to the two countries’ “choice for Europe.” Russia has been largely framed as Europe’s other, with its “inherently imperial,” “irremediably aggressive” nature and adherence to illiberal, non-democratic values. The axiological and moral evaluations have been accompanied by the claims that the most effective way of standing up to the enemy’s aggression is the “consolidation of democratic nations,” coming down to the two countries’ quests for EU and NATO membership.

Constructing the myth of protest masculinity in Chinese English language news media

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yating Yu ◽  
Mark Nartey
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
News Media ◽  
English Language ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Social Harmony ◽  
Chinese Media ◽  
Research Attention ◽  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
News Reports ◽  
The Media

Although the Chinese media’s construction of unmarried citizens as ‘leftover’ has incited much controversy, little research attention has been given to the ways ‘leftover men’ are represented in discourse. To fill this gap, this study performs a critical discourse analysis of 65 English language news reports in Chinese media to investigate the predominant gendered discourses underlying representations of leftover men and the discursive strategies used to construct their identities. The findings show that the media perpetuate a myth of ‘protest masculinity’ by suggesting that poor, single men may become a threat to social harmony due to the shortage of marriageable women in China. Leftover men are represented as poor men, troublemakers and victims via discursive processes that include referential, predicational and aggregation strategies as well as metaphor. This study sheds light on the issues and concerns of a marginalised group whose predicament has not been given much attention in the literature.

Eulogies for the Resistance

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 272-292
Author(s):  
Jack Joy
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
State Of Exception ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Scholarly Work ◽  
Affective States ◽  
Mimetic Desire ◽  
Syrian Civil War ◽  
Moral Universe

Recent studies into the notion of crisis argue that affective states of insecurity can offer an instrumental utility to elites seeking to sustain existing power relations. Through their discursive construction, such imaginative landscapes help legitimize previously illegitimate forms of political action, rationalize heightened forms of collective sacrifice and instill new disciplinary technologies among political subjects. Building on this growing body of scholarly work, in this study I use critical discourse analysis (CDA) to address Hizbullah’s mobilization of a specific ‘crisis imaginary’ as part of its efforts to legitimize its ongoing involvement in the Syrian civil war. This perceptual regime works to uphold a ‘state of exception’ for Hizbullah, sustain the practice of martyrdom as a form of Girardian ‘mimetic desire’ and structure a wider moral universe that continues to bind the party’s audience to the resistance society while maintaining their continued docility.

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