Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language

Citation

Fairclough, N. (2010). Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language (2nd ed.). Longman/Routledge.

Chapter Summary

The book is a collection of 22 papers by Norman Fairclough, written over a period of about 25 years, arranged in seven sections. The publisher presents the second edition as extensively revised and enlarged. It is not a textbook that introduces critical discourse analysis step by step; it is the author's own body of work, grouped around seven themes: language, ideology and power; discourse and social change; the dialectics of discourse; methodology; political discourse; globalization and "transition"; and language and education. Each section opens with a short introduction, and a general introduction opens the volume. Where a paper was co-written, the contents give the co-authors, and the chapter titles below are given as listed.

General Introduction

The general introduction frames the collection as a whole, before the seven sections.

Section A, Language, Ideology and Power (Chapters 1–3)

The section brings together three papers: "Critical and descriptive goals in discourse analysis", "Language and ideology" and "Semiosis, mediation and ideology: a dialectical view". Together they place the study of language within the study of ideology and power, and the last paper adds the idea of a dialectical view of semiosis.

Section B, Discourse and Social Change (Chapters 4–6)

The papers are "Critical discourse analysis and the marketization of public discourse: the universities", "Discourse, change and hegemony" and "Ideology and identity change in political television". They take change in institutions and public discourse, including the university, as the object of critical analysis, and bring in hegemony and identity.

Section C, Dialectics of Discourse: Theoretical Developments (Chapters 7–8)

The section has two papers: "Discourse, social theory and social research: the discourse of welfare reform", and "Critical realism and semiosis", written with Bob Jessop and Andrew Sayer. It develops the theoretical position that discourse is dialectically related to other moments of social life.

Section D, Methodology (Chapters 9–13)

The five papers are "A dialectical-relational approach to critical discourse analysis in social research"; "Understanding the new management ideology" (with Eve Chiapello), a transdisciplinary contribution from critical discourse analysis and the new sociology of capitalism; "Critical discourse analysis in researching language in the new capitalism: overdetermination, transdisciplinarity and textual analysis"; "Marx as a critical discourse analyst" (with Phil Graham); and "Critical discourse analysis, organizational discourse, and organizational change". The section is the main statement of how critical discourse analysis is carried out as social research.

Section E, Political Discourse (Chapters 14–17)

The papers are "New Labour: a language perspective", "Democracy and the public sphere in critical research on discourse", "Critical discourse analysis and citizenship" (with Simon Pardoe and Bronislaw Szerszynski) and "Political correctness". They apply the approach to political language, democracy and citizenship.

Section F, Globalization and "Transition" (Chapters 18–20)

The papers are "Language and globalization", "Global capitalism, terrorism and war: a discourse-analytical perspective" and "Discourse and 'transition' in Central and Eastern Europe". They extend the analysis to global processes and to post-communist change.

Section G, Language and Education (Chapters 21–22)

The last section has two papers, "Critical language awareness and self-identity in education" and "Global capitalism and critical awareness of language", which link the critical study of language to education and to critical language awareness.

Key Concepts

Sections A–C

• Ideology and power in language: the view that discourse helps to sustain or change relations of power.
• Hegemony: the form of domination or leadership that discourse can help produce.
• Dialectical view of semiosis: discourse as one moment of social life in a dialectical relation with the others.
• Critical realism and semiosis: the philosophical position set out in Chapter 8 with Jessop and Sayer.

Sections D–E

• Dialectical-relational approach: Fairclough's methodological framework for critical discourse analysis in social research.
• Transdisciplinarity: combining critical discourse analysis with other social-scientific work, such as the new sociology of capitalism.
• Marketization of public discourse: the spread of market-style language into public institutions such as universities.
• Public sphere and citizenship: concepts applied to political discourse.

Sections F–G

• Globalization and "transition": the discursive side of global capitalism and of change in Central and Eastern Europe.
• Critical language awareness: the educational aim of making learners aware of the social workings of language.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• A single author's development laid out in one place. The twenty-two papers show how one analyst developed critical discourse analysis over about 25 years, from ideology and power through social change to a dialectical-relational method.
• A clear structure. The seven sections each open with their own introduction, and group the papers by theme.
• Methodological core. Section D gathers papers on method and the use of critical discourse analysis in social research, with co-authors from other disciplines.
• Range of applications. Universities, welfare reform, political television, New Labour, globalization and education give a wide spread of cases.
• Revised and enlarged. The publisher states that the second edition has been extensively revised and enlarged to include a total of twenty-two papers.

Limitations

• A collection, not a textbook. The papers were written for different occasions and do not form a single progressive introduction, and the book has no exercises of the kind found in introductory textbooks.
• One author's approach. The book represents Fairclough's version of critical discourse analysis, and does not survey other approaches.
• Assumed background. The publisher presents it as essential reading for advanced undergraduates and postgraduates, and the papers on dialectics, critical realism and the new capitalism call for some background in social theory.
• Dated cases. Several papers deal with political events and institutions of their moment, such as New Labour and the aftermath of the post-communist transition.

Where It Fits in the Course

This is the critical, theory-heavy volume in the discourse-analysis list. Brian Paltridge's Discourse Analysis: An Introduction, Barbara Johnstone and Jennifer Andrus's Discourse Analysis and Rodney Jones's Discourse Analysis: A Resource Book for Students are textbooks that introduce the field and its methods, and are the place to begin. James Paul Gee's An Introduction to Discourse Analysis: Theory and Method also treats language as building social worlds and is closer in spirit. Deborah Schiffrin's Approaches to Discourse compares six linguistic frameworks and gives the background from which Fairclough's critical approach departs. Fairclough is best read after one of the textbooks, when the question is how discourse analysis can serve social critique.

How to Use This Book

It suits advanced undergraduates, master's students and researchers in linguistics and the social sciences who have taken an introductory discourse-analysis course; some background in social theory helps.

A practical reading plan:

• Core: the General Introduction and Section A for the central ideas, then Chapter 9 for the dialectical-relational method.
• For analytical projects: Section D, followed by the section whose subject matches the data: Section B for institutional change, E for politics, F for globalization.
• For theory: Chapters 3, 7 and 8 on dialectics and critical realism.
• For education: Section G on critical language awareness.
• Alongside: try the method on a text from your own project, and read the papers against a textbook account of other discourse-analytic approaches.