Crlucal ulscourse Analysls: ConcepLs, MeLhods and Appllcauons

Semlnar aL Lhe unlverslLy of 8ergamo,

ulparumenLo dl Sclenze Azlendall,
13 novembre 2013



lranco Zappemnl

8lrkbeck, unlverslLy of London
8oyal Polloway, unlverslLy of London

lranco.Zappemnl[rhul.ac.uk
hup://royalholloway.academla.edu/lrancoZappemnl
Semlnar CuLllne
WhaL ls dlscourse and how ls lL Lheoreucally
accounLed for
Pow can dlscourse analysls help academlc
researchers Lo make sense of Lhelr daLa and
how can lL be done 'crlucally'
WhaL meLhodologles are avallable and whaL
are Lhelr llmlLauons
Lxample of appllcauon
WhaL we mean by dlscourse
Many dlerenL meanlngs
All wrluen and spoken language
1exL = a semlouc manlfesLauon ('reallsauon')
of dlscourse
ulscourses undersLood ln Lhelr dlaloglcal
relauon wlLh socleLy
ulscourses = bundles of LexL ln conLexL
ulaloglclLy of language and socleLy
Language ls a 'Lhlng we do' as humans Lo
lnLeracL soclally
dlaloglclLy beLween llngulsuc and soclal acLs
helps us make sense of our world
dlscourses as 'meanlng maklng' processes
whereby a web of relauons ls esLabllshed
beLween physlcal ob[ecLs, ldeas and soclal
pracuces
Language and Lhe consLrucuon of
soclal reallLy
Meanlngs are consolldaLed lnLo lnsuLuuonal
sLrucLures (culLure, legal sysLem) Lhrough Lhelr
reproducuon ln dlscourse
dlscourses 'clrculaLe', Lhey can be
(re)produced buL also challenged and
Lransformed
ulscourses are never xed buL uld as Lhey
are dependanL on speclc soclo-hlsLorlcal
conungencles for Lhelr reproducuon
SLrucLurallsL and osLrucLuralslL vlews
of dlscourse and socleLy
SLrucLurallsm
8elauvely xed 'web of
slgnlers'
Language consLralns our
Lhlnklng and reproduces
soclal sLrucLures and
relauons of power
(Marx's class sLruggle and
loucaulL's 'sysLem of
knowledge')
locus on macro
sLrucLures
osLsLrucLurallsm
WluengsLeln's 'llngulsuc
Lurn'
lnescaplblllLy of dolng
research ouLslde
sLrucLures and dlscourses
Language ls consuLuuve
of reallLy
Meanlngs are consLrucLed
ln and Lhrough dlscourse
locus on mlcro
lnLeracuon
Crlucal ulscourse Analysls (CuA)
An umbrella of approaches ln 'beLween'
sLrucLurallsL and posL sLrucLurallsL vlews
Language and socleLy are muLually
consuLuuve
locus on Lhe dynamlc lnLerplay of sLrucLural
and agenuve dlmenslons of language aL boLh
mlcro and macro levels
MeLhodologles and Lheoreucal backgrounds
adapL Lo Lhe research quesuons
Crlucal ulscourse Analysls (CuA)
1kLND WnC]WnLkL 1nLCkL1ICAL INILULNCLS
D|scourse-n|stor|ca| Approach (DnA) Un|vers|ty of V|enna and Lancaster
k. Wodak, M. ke|s|g|, k. De C|||a
Cr|nca| theory and the Irankfurt Schoo|
D|a|ecnca|-ke|anona| Approach Norman Ia|rc|ough Marx|st theor|es
system|c-funcnona|
Grammar
Ioucau|t
1he Soc|a| Actors approach 1heo van Leeuwen 8ernste|n, Ioucau|t, na|||day
V|sua| and |nter-sem|onc approach Gunther kress and h|s co||aborators Soc|a| sem|oncs
Soc|o-cogn|nve approach 1eun A. van D|[k and h|s fo||owers Moscov|c|, soc|a| psycho|ogy
sycho|og|ca||y-or|ented trend 'the Loughborough Group' D|scurs|ve pshycho|ogy
Corpus L|ngu|snc Approach 'the Du|sburg Group' Cr|nca| theory
Maln feaLures of uPA: Lheory and daLa
Maln feaLures of
uPA:conLexLuallsauon
Maln feaLures of uPA: eld and genre
lleld: 'SegmenLs' of soclal reallLy
characLerlzed by dlerenL funcuons and
dlscurslve pracuces (law maklng, adveruslng)
Cenre: a convenuonallsed use of language
assoclaLed wlLh a soclal acuvlLy
lnLerLexLuallLy and lnLerdlscurslvlLy: relauon
beLween LexLs and dlscourses
ue and 8e-conLexLuallsauon processes
Source: Wodak 2001
Maln feaLures of uPA: llngulsuc
analysls
8ecurrenL Lhemes and Loplcs
argumenLauon schemes and frames
dlscurslve sLraLegles
lnferences, lmpllcaLures
SynLax, for example passlve forms as Lhey allow for Lhe
foregroundlng/backgoundlng of soclal acLors (an expresslons llke
'mlsLakes were made' allows for Lhe agenL Lo be omlued)
Lvaluauve language (posluve and negauve expresslons)
Speclc represenLauons of soclal agenLs and Lhelr caLegorlzauon
(!"#$%&')
speclc llngulsuc elemenLs (such as for example, gures of speech,
meLaphors, delcucs,) and how Lhey 'hold' Lhe dlscourse LogeLher.
Maln feaLures of uPA: llngulsuc
analysls
8ecurrenL Lhemes and Loplcs
argumenLauon schemes and frames
dlscurslve sLraLegles
lnferences, lmpllcaLures
SynLax, for example passlve forms as Lhey allow for Lhe
foregroundlng/backgoundlng of soclal acLors (an expresslons llke
'mlsLakes were made' allows for Lhe agenL Lo be omlued)
Lvaluauve language (posluve and negauve expresslons)
Speclc represenLauons of soclal agenLs and Lhelr caLegorlzauon
(!"#$%&')
speclc llngulsuc elemenLs (such as for example, gures of speech,
meLaphors, delcucs,) and how Lhey 'hold' Lhe dlscourse LogeLher.
LlmlLauons of CuA
Llnklng macro and mlcro dlmenslons (how
language lnLeracL wlLh Lhe soclal world) ls
prlmarlly done vla lnLerpreLauve work
oLenual lssues of blas and 'hldden' agendas for
soclal/pollucal change
1he role of Lhe analysL ln Lhe co-consLrucuons of
reallLy
Cauuon ln reveallng 'LruLhs' behlnd LexLs
8e crlucal, do noL crluclze
Pow Lo apply CuA Lo a 'LexL'
ConLexLuallsauon
8esearch Lhe company background and conLexLuallse Lhe acuvlLy of
'reporung' wlLhln Lhe macro eld of economlc and nanclal
acuvlues - you mlghL wanL Lo draw from general Lheorles of
accounung/accounLablllLy and sLakeholders
uene Lhe genre of 'susLalnablllLy' reporung: whom ls lL for? Why ls
lL produced?
SusLalnablllLy reporL ls a genre of LexL LhaL belongs Lo Lhe general
organlzauonal pracuce of communlcaung Lo an exLernal audlence
abouL Lhe lmpacL of lLs pracuces and LhaL wlll Lyplcally be read by
lnvesLors who mlghL be lnuenced ln Lhelr declslons. ln a
'susLalnablllLy reporL' Lhe organlzauon makes LransparenL how lL
has meL lLs economlc, soclal and envlronmenLal obllgauons Lo a
'susLalnable developmenL'. WhaL ls meanL by 'susLalnable
developmenL'? (8runLland 8eporL, 1987)
8ene your research quesuons ln Lhe llghL of conLexLuallsauon
Lxamples of 8esearch quesuons you
mlghL declde Lo pursue Lhrough CuA
1. WhaL ls Lhe general vlew of Lhe world and socleLy consLrucLed by
Lhe dlscourses of llnmeccanlca?
2. Pow does llnmeccanlca consLrucL Lhe nouon of 'belng
susLalnable' ln and Lhrough lLs dlscourses?
3. Pave dlscourses of susLalnablllLy ln Lhls year's reporL changed
compared Lo prevlous years and , lf so, how?
4. lf we refer Lo speclc evenLs (such as scandals of corrupuon
lnvolvlng llnmeccanlca LhaL have emerged ln Lhe news) how, lf so,
been dealL wlLh aL dlscurslve level ln Lhe reporL?
3. lf we Lake lnLo accounL Lhe llnmeccanlca defence/securlLy range
(alrcras, arullery, weapons, mlllLary survelllance sysLems) how has
Lhe company dealL wlLh Lhe soclal lmpacL of such producLs ln lLs
dlscourses?
6. ...

lcklng and unpacklng quesuon 2

a) dene whaL ls meanL by susLalnablllLy ln
Lhe LexL
b) dene how Lhe company leglumlzes lLs
acuvlues as 'susLalnable'
c) dene whlch argumenLs and dlscurslve
sLraLegles are used ln Lhe LexL Lo supporL Lhe
leglumlsauon argumenL(s)
1hemauc analysls
'hybrld' denluons of susLalnablllLy characLerlzed
as a 'sLraLegy', a 'challenge', a 'soluuon', an
'opporLunlLy' and relaLed Lo 'developmenL' and
'growLh' vla economlc, soclal and envlronmenLal
dlscourses
We can also recognlze LhaL Lhese Loplcs are oen
dlscurslvely aruculaLed and llnked Lo each oLher
ln relauon Lo 'lnnovauon' and 'compeuuveness'.
Whose 'developmenL' do dlscourses expllclLly
and lmpllclLly refer Lo?
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1hank you !

Cuesuons?



lranco.Zappemnl[rhul.ac.uk
hup://royalholloway.academla.edu/lrancoZappemnl

fzappe01[mall.bbk.ac.uk