2. Theoretical Framework
Discourses are not just about things that can be said or thought about,
but also about who can speak, when, and with what authority. Discourses
embody meaning and social connections. Foucault points out that his
reliance on discourse as independent of language and thought does not
mean that we can do nothing about its domination. Discourses are actions
that systematically shape issues. Discourses don’t talk about topics and
don’t identify them, they are the builders of the topics, and in the
process of this construction they hide their intervention (Tajik, 1998:
15). Based on this, it can be said that discourse analysis is a part of
qualitative research methods that is used to discover the meaning used
in the text or speech and is used in various fields such as politics and
media. Critical discourse analysis is a hybrid methodology that is
mostly used by social researchers. In this method, quantitative and
qualitative analysis is used to examine relationships based on critical
theory. CDA is the application of critical theory to content analysis
(Agiro, 2009). Given its critical roots in the critical language
tradition, the CDA seeks to apply traditional language description
methods to critical activities (Jones, 2007). Defining CDA analysis,
David Crystal (1992) states: ”It is an approach to language analysis
that aims to reveal the hidden relations of power and ideological
processes in linguistics.” (Aghagolzadeh, 2016: 11).
Norman Fairclough considers critical analysis to be a method used to
examine social and cultural change, among other methods, and is a
reference used in the struggle against exploitation and domination
(Yarmohammadi, 2014: 105). In fact, Fairclough considers the CDA to be
the development of an analytical framework (theory and method) for the
study of language in relation to power and ideology
(Rahimi & Amalsaleh, 2018: 118). The CDA approach is a formative
process of discourse analysis in linguistic studies that has
theoretically and methodologically elevated discourse analysis from the
level of descriptive texts to the level of explanation, and in terms of
scope of research, its range have improved from the level of the
individual’s position to society, history and ideology
(Aghagolzadeh & Ghiasian, 2017: 18).
Critical linguistics and the CDA are interested in analyzing the overt
or covert structural relationships of their dominance, racial
discrimination, power, control, and expression in language. In other
words, the goal of the CDA is to understand social inequalities, as used
in language, and this continuous application contributes to its
formation, consolidation and legitimacy. Accordingly, most critical
discourse analysis endorse Habermas’s claim that “language is a means
of domination and social force organized to legitimize power
relations.” (ibid: 36). Fairclough calls his approach a critical study
of language, with the first goal, which is more theoretical, “helping
to correct the widespread lack of attention to language in producing,
maintaining, and changing the social relations of power,” and the
second, which is more practical goal, “It raises awareness of how
language plays a role in dominating some over others”. This concept
includes several implicit concepts: 1. Language is a part of society and
is not outside it, 2. Language is a social process, and 3. Language is a
conditional social process (it is conditional on other non-linguistic
sections of society) (ibid: 37).
The CDA is a methodological content analysis used by social researchers
to examine the thematic repetition of critical theory issues
(Fairclough, 2003). The CDA is primarily concerned with analyzing
ambiguous as well as explicit structural relationships such as
domination, discrimination, power, and control. Texts are a very
important resource for CDA. Because they can have a causal effect on
people’s actions (beliefs, views, etc.), social relations and the
material world and even change them. On the one hand, the processes of
text production and their interpretation are formed through the nature
of social action, and on the other hand, the production process shapes
the text, and the interpretive process affects the signs and keywords in
the text (Hill, 2009). The CDA is a three-dimensional framework that
examines text, social action, and discourse (Leitch & Davenport: 2005).
Context
Figure 2-1- Triple levels of analysis in CDA (Hill, 2009)
Critical theory examines societies and evaluates how societies have
treated minorities and groups that have traditionally been oppressed and
silenced, this theory examines the negative effects of power in society
and how to reduce these effects (Arnowitz & Giroux, 1991). Finally, the
CDA sees language as a form of social action. The role of discourse in
the production and reproduction of social reality, in the imposition and
interpretation of social relations and identities, as well as the impact
on social cohesion and change is also considered important (Koosha &
Shams, 2005).