CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

WHAT CDA IS ABOUT- A SUMMARY OF ITS HISTORY, IMPORTANT CONCEPTS AND ITS DEVELOPMENTS

Wodak, R.(2001). What CDA is about- a summary of its history, important concepts and its developments 

The text starts stablishing what is critical linguistics and critical discourse analysis, that in some way are treated interchangeably, it emphasizes in CDA with a particular interest in the relation between language and power. According to the author, it can be said that CL and CDA are highly concerned with analyzing structural relationships of power, equity and control manifested in language.

It is stated that in discourse analysis CDA is based not only on spoken or written texts, it also requires going beyond texts, analyzing different issues like social processes and structure that gives rise to the production of a text and also the meaning that is created through interaction with texts.

Critical discourse analysis emerged in the early 1990 with a symposium in Amsterdam where some scholars like: Van Dijk, Norman Fairclough, Gunther Kress, Theo van Leeuwen, and Ruth Wodak spent 2 days debating about discourse analysis specially CDA since then a lot of books were created, journals and multiples overviews have been written.

When scholars talks about CDA stablish assumption like: language as a social phenomenon, not only individuals but also institutions have specific meanings and values express in language, texts are relevant units in communication, readers and hearers are no passive receivers in their interaction with texts, there are similarities between the language of science and the one of institutions.

CDA in the words of Van Leeuwen ktakes two important aspects related to discourse, D as an instrument of power and control, and D as an instrument of the social construction of reality. It is important to mention that language is not powerful on its own; it gains authority by the use powerful people make of it. It is for that reason that critical discourse analysis is based on analyzing the language use of those in power, who are responsible for the presence of inequalities and that also the means and opportunities to provide better environments.

According to van Dijk (1998) Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is a field concerned with studying and analyzing written and spoken texts to reveal the discursive sources of power, dominance, inequality and bias. Taking into account this conception I can say that it is really important to see how social relationships are constructed through language, and how every single part of discourse is shaped by the interests of the reader writer and hearer.

Reading this chapter brought to my mind, the book 1984 wrote by George Orwell, book that for me is a clear example of language as a mean of power and domination, it is amazing to read in this dystopia how human beings can use behind discourse so many ideologies and patterns of authority. Studying discourse critically can lead as to find important features of ways to see life.

“Power is something exercised, put into action, in relationships” Foucault, M (1977)

Based on Foucault I can say that power is not only something related to politics and politicians, power is present in all the relationships in which we are immerse every day. It can also be stablished  this relation with the educational field, we as teachers have a lot of power and reliability, we can use that influence to guide our students and help them to develop metacognitive process where they awake and realize factors that are affecting our society.

Foucault, M. (1977) Discipline and Punishment: The birth of the prison, New York: Pantheon Books.

Orwell, G. (1970). 1984, London: Secker and Warburg.