Analysing Political Discourse II: Analyses and Applications

Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is a way of carrying out social research with a focus on ‘discourse’ i.e. on text and other forms of semiosis analysed in their contexts of use, production and reception. While becoming very popular across the variety of social and political sciences, many features of what CDA is or does remain misinterpreted. For example, CDA is often approached from a limited perspective i.e. as a ‘method’ rather than a coherent approach with a distinct theory and methodology. Though resting on sound theoretical and methodological foundations, CDA is also often viewed as a homogeneous approach with criticism against CDA failing to notify that it is indeed a heterogeneous research tradition which consists of several schools which, while sharing general principles (on e.g. the relation between language and power, ideology), differ in their theoretical and methodological ontology as well as their analytical pathways and foci.

By offering comprehensive introduction to Critical Discourse Analysis as an approach to research on dynamics of contemporary political change, this course wishes to outline key theoretical foundations, methodological premises and analytical pathways in CDA. In doing so, and by clarifying several misconceptions and misinterpretations of CDA that are widespread in social- and political-scientific research, the course wishes to highlight those aspects of critical-analytic studies which make them particularly useful to interdisciplinary and context-related explorations of contemporary politics. By showing similarities and differences between CDA – and especially one of its major traditions known as the Discourse-Historical Approach (or DHA) – and other discourse-based approaches widely-used in social and political studies (e.g. the Discourse Theory initiated by Laclau and Mouffe or other approaches, see below), the course wishes to highlight such advantages of CDA/DHA research as, inter alia, systematic approach to analysis or its clear relation to the levels of pre-analytical theorising and post-analytical interpretation.

The major aim of the course is practical as it is geared towards making students familiar with the ways of analysing political and related discourses from a critical-analytic as well as discourse-historical perspective. For this reason, whether within lectures or the related discussion or hands-on analysis workshops, the course aims at showing the practical application of presented theories, methods and analyses. These will be related to studies of a wide array of genres incl. those from within the political field itself (e.g. parliamentary and other speeches, party programmes, etc.) as well as from within the related fields of policy-making and administration (regulations, policy documents, etc.) or of media and its representations of politics (reporting, interviews, debates, etc.). The analyses of those genres will be guided by such DHA principles as, inter alia, ‘interdiscursivity’ or ‘recontextualisation’ which allow for relating discourses produced synchronically and diachronically as well as across different contexts and within different texts and genres.

The course takes place in a 1+1 format so both weeks can be taken independently or as a one 2-week module (the latter option is, however, strongly advised if students wishing to acquire a thorough theoretical as well as practical knowledge as well as in-depth analytical skills in CDA).

The second part of the course – Week II – is mainly devoted to deepening students’ knowledge and skills of, and related, to Critical Discourse Studies and especially its Discourse-Historical approach as a method of political and policy analysis. Both workshops on Day 6 – which opens Week II of the course – look in detail at various categories of in-depth analysis in CDA/DHA. Here the focus is on such analytical categories as, inter alia, discursive strategies or strategies of representation of social actors. The analysis is practiced on a variety of genres from within politics and the public sphere and is performed from the point of view of key political debates. The workshops focus on the gradual step-by-step application of the analytical categories and aim to show the students the actual practice of conducting CDA/DHA examination as well as the necessity of multi-level analysis of different spaces and genres within and beyond the political field. The second workshop on Day 6 also serves discussing and assigning out-of-class group tasks that will be performed by the students throughout Week II.

The morning lecture on Day 7 closes the presentation of CDA/DHA analytical categories by looking into legitimation strategies deployed in political discourse of politics and the media. On the other hand, during Days 8-9, lectures serve showcasing different applications of CDA/DHA in various analyses of political and public discourse. They focus on various ‘integrative’ approaches that combine CDA/DHA and other types of analysis thus facilitating exploration of increasingly complex objects of critical-analytic investigation. The lecture on Day 8 looks, for instance, at political discourses on immigration and explore right-wing populist discourse (incl. in countries such as Austria and Poland) as well as compares populist patterns in right-wing populist, mainstream-political and uncivil society language. On Day 9, in turn, the lecture highlights contribution of CDA/DHA to analysis of policy and policy communication genres and showcases the so-called discourse-conceptual approach in CDA which, drawing on DHA and Historical Semantics/Conceptual History, allows investigating the change of salient social and political concepts and related discourses.    

While the lectures on Days 8-9 serve as an input, the core of Week II remains in hands-on workshops during noon sessions of Days 8-9 as well as during both morning and noon sessions on Day 10. All of these are devoted to sharing analyses and related questions between the participants. Thus, the unique benefit of the workshops is not only in getting acquainted with the highlighted pathways and categories of analysis but also in gaining practical advice on how to proceed with CDA/DHA analyses within specific research projects as well as in pilot-testing those analyses within the group of researchers.

During workshops on both day 8 and 9, in each case max. 2 students will present their research projects (max 6 slides about main hypotheses and research questions, key theoretical and methodological foundations, suggested path of analysis and the outline of the analysed empirical material) as well as provide sample material that will be subsequently analysed by the entire class from the point of view of CDA/DHA, under the guidance of the instructor and experienced TA. On Day 10, results of out-of-class group assignments – performed by students in groups throughout Week 2 – will be discussed along with sample analyses in both morning and noon session. The noon session, which closes the course, also serves a final Q&A exchange between students and instructors. 

NB: Altogether 4 slots of 30-45 min each will be distributed among the students during Day 8-9 workshops. Students willing to present, discuss and analyse their material during those workshops are kindly requested to send to the instructor: (a) their presentations, (b) a max. 1-page abstract of their MA/PhD or other current research with a short bio, and (c) max. 1-2 A4 samples of empirical material which they wish to be analysed by the group. Deadline for sending the material is Friday 07 July 2017, although it is advisable that, once accepted/registered for the course, presenting students get in touch with the instructor as soon as possible in order to facilitate the preparations and reserve their slot (see above for contact details).

Please note that the major aim of the course is to transfer and generate knowledge from discussions and interactions between the instructors and participants and among the students. All students are therefore expected to fully participate in the course (i.e. ask critical questions, complete in time all obligatory readings, actively participate in in-class tasks and discussions and out-of-class assignments, relate obtained knowledge to their current/future research, etc.).

In addition, an individual supervision session will take place on Day 7 (Tue of Week II) in order to allow students to individually discuss their research projects with the instructor or ask any questions related to lectures/workshops (for clarification etc.).  

Note from the Academic Convenors to prospective participants: by registering to this course, you certify that you possess the prerequisite knowledge that is requested to be able to follow this course. The instructor will not teach again these prerequisite items. If you doubt whether you possess that knowledge to a sufficient extent, we suggest you contact the instructor before you proceed to your registration.

Students attending the course should have good, proven knowledge of the existent discourse- and language oriented approaches to social and political analysis (especially those taught in Week I of the course, see outline). They should also be familiar with selected aspects of social theory, especially those relevant for the discourse-analytic approaches discussed during the course (see outline).

Students should also be open to new, interdisciplinary qualitative methods of research in social and political sciences and should be interested in both synchronic and/or diachronic analyses of contemporary national and supranational politics in Europe and beyond, also in relation to other fields such as media, institutions, policy-making, etc.