Multi-Level Approach for Critical Discourse Analysis
Boris Johnson’s Statement on Ukraine to the House of Commons on 24 February 2022
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17851/2237-2083.32.1.66-86Keywords:
critical discourse analysis methodology, discursive procedures, cultural-historical activity theory, text linguistics, sociolinguistics’ contextualization cues, political statementAbstract
This study addresses methodological issues of critical discourse analysis and shows how an analytical multi-level approach we developed can be useful in adding theoretical resources and systematization to its methods. The analytical approach is grounded on the macrostructure of human activity (activity, actions, operations) and appropriates resources from text linguistics and sociolinguistics. We crossed this approach with historical and positioning discourses to identify ways of talking, foregrounded, and concealed meanings and ideologies in the statement of the ex-Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson as delivered to the House of Commons on Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Our results point out he established an agreement with the House through an explanatory statement with the predominance of the use of informing discursive procedures, which corresponded for almost half of his procedures. Most of the time Johnson spoke in the future tense through the intense use of the modal auxiliary verb “will”. These, among other linguistic choices, collaborated to conceal the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s roles in the invasion of Ukraine, framing responsibility solely on the president of Russia. In conclusion, we comment on the contributions and limitations of the analytical approach.
Downloads
References
ADAM, J-M. A linguística textual: Introdução à análise textual dos discursos. 1. ed. São Paulo: Cortez, 2008.
BILLIG, M. Arguing and thinking: A rhetorical approach to social psychology. 2. ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
BLOMMAERT, J.; BULCAEN. C. Critical Discourse Analysis. Annual Review of Anthropology, USA, v. 29, p. 447-466, 2000. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.anthro.29.1.447
BREEZE, R. Critical discourse analysis and its critics. Pragmatics, Amsterdam v. 21, n. 4, p. 493-525, 2011. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.21.4.01bre
BRONCKART, J-P. Atividade de linguagem, textos e discursos: Por um interacionismo sociodiscursivo. 1. ed. São Paulo: EDUC, 1999.
CAMERON, L. Metaphor in Educational Discourse. 1. ed. London: Continuum, 2003.
CHARAUDEAU, P.; MAINGUENEAU, D. Dicionário de análise do discurso. 1. ed. São Paulo: Contexto, 2004.
CHOULIARAKI, L.; FAIRCLOUGH, N. Discourse in late modernity: Rethinking Critical Discourse Analysis. 1. ed. Scotland: Edinburgh University Press, 1999.
CIRINCIONE, J. What’s Missing from Mearsheimer’s Analysis of the Ukraine War. Russia Matters: Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, 29th July 2022. Available from: <https://www.russiamatters.org/analysis/whats-missing-mearsheimers-analysis-ukraine-war>. Access on: July 07, 2023.
ENGESTRÖM, Y. Activity Theory and Individual and Social Transformation. In: ENGESTRÖM, Y.; MIETTINEN, R; PUNAMÄKI, R-L. (Orgs.). Perspectives on Activity Theory. 1. ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. p. 19-38.
FAIRCLOUGH, N. Discourse and Social Change. 1. ed. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1992.
FAIRCLOUGH, N. Critical Discourse Analysis as a Method in Social Scientific Research. In: WODAK, R.; MEYER, M. (Orgs.). Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis. London: Sage Publications, 2001. p. 121-138.
FAIRCLOUGH, N. Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research. 1. ed. London: Routledge, 2003.
FAIRCLOUGH, N. Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of language. 1. ed. London: Routledge, 2013.
GEE, J. P. An Introduction to Discourse Analysis: Theory and Method. 1. ed. New York: Routledge, 1999.
GUMPERZ, J. J. Discourse Strategies. 1. ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982.
GUMPERZ, J. J. Interactional Sociolinguistics: A Personal Perspective. In: TANNEN, D.; HAMILTON, H. E.; SCHIFFRIN, D. (Orgs.). The Handbook of Discourse Analysis. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 2008. p. 215-228.
HALLIDAY, M. A. K. Introduction to Functional Grammar. 2. ed. London: Edward Arnold, 1994.
JIMÉNEZ-ALEIXANDRE, M. P.; ERDURAN, S. Argumentation in Science Education: An Overview. In: ERDURAN, S.; JIMÉNEZ-ALEIXANDRE. (Orgs.). Argumentation in Science Education: Recent Developments and Future Directions. Dordrecht: Springer, 2008. p. 03-27.
JOHNSON, B. PM statement to the House of Commons on Ukraine: 24 February 2022. Gov.uk, 24th February 2022. Available from: <https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-statement-to-the-house-of-commons-on-ukraine-24-february-2022>. Access on: July 07, 2023.
JOHNSON, B. Ukraine: Volume 709, debated on Thursday 24 February 2022. UK Parliament, 24th February 2022. Available from: <https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2022-02-24/debates/A76282B2-C1F4-4D00-B5E8-A8A0F2476FBB/Ukraine>. Access on: July 07, 2023.
KRESS, G. Representational resources and the production of subjectivity: Questions for the theoretical development of critical discourse analysis in a multicultural society. In: CALDAS-COULTHARD, C. R.; COULTHARD, M. (Orgs.). Text and Practices: Readings in Critical Discourse Analysis. London: Routledge, 1996. p. 15-31.
KRESS, G. Multimodality: a social semiotic approach to contemporary communication. 1. ed. London: Routledge, 2010.
LEONTIEV, A. N. Activity, Consciousness, and Personality. 1. ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1978.
LIU, K.; GUO, F. A Review on Critical Discourse Analysis. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, v. 6, n. 5, p. 1076-1084, 2016.
MACHIN, D.; MAYR, A. How to Do Critical Discourse Analysis: A Multimodal Introduction. 1. ed. London: Sage, 2012.
MEARSHEIMER, J. The Causes and Consequences of the Ukraine War. Russia Matters: Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, 23rd June 2022. Available from: <https://www.russiamatters.org/analysis/causes-and-consequences-ukraine-war>. Access on: July 07, 2023.
MEARSHEIMER, J. Why Leaders Lie: The Truth About Lying in International Politics. 1. ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2011.
SEMINO, E. Metaphor in Discourse. 1. ed. Cambridge University Press, 2008.
TENORIO, E. H. Critical Discourse Analysis, an Overview. Nordic Journal of English Studies, v. 10, n. 1,
p. 183-210, 2011.
TOULMIN, S. The Uses of Argument. 1. ed. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1958.
VAN DIJK, T. A. Principles of Critical Discourse Analysis. Discourse & Society, California v. 4, n. 2, p. 249-283, 1993. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926593004002006
VAN DIJK, T. A. Contextual Knowledge Management in Discourse Production: A CDA Perspective. In: WODAK, R.; CHILTON, P. (Orgs.). A New Agenda in (Critical) Discourse Analysis. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2005. p. 71-100.
VAN DIJK, T. A. Discourse and Context: A Socio-cognitive Approach. 1. ed. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
VIEIRA, R. D., & KELLY, G. J. Multi-level Discourse Analysis in a Physics Teaching Methods Course from the Psychological Perspective of Activity Theory. International Journal of Science Education, Milton Park, v. 36, n. 16, p. 2694-2718, 2014. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2014.929754
VIEIRA, R. D., KELLY, G. J., & NASCIMENTO, S. S. An activity theory-based analytic framework for the study of discourse in science classrooms. Ensaio: Pesquisa em Educação em Ciências, Belo Horizonte, v. 14, n. 2, p. 13-46, 2012. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/1983-21172012140202
VIEIRA, R. D., MELO, V. F., AVRAAMIDOU, L., & LOBATO J. A. Reconceptualizing Scientific Literacy: The Role of Students’ Epistemological Profiles. Education Sciences, Basel, v. 7, n. 2, p. 1-18, 2017. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci7020047
WIDDOWSON, H. Discourse Analysis: A Critical View. Language and Literature, London, v. 4, n.3, p. 157-172, 1995. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/096394709500400301
WIDDOWSON, H. The Theory and Practice of Critical Discourse Analysis. Applied Linguistics, United Kingdom,v. 19, n. 1, p. 136-151, 1998. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/19.1.136
WIKIPEDIA. Russian Invasion of Ukraine. Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia, 2023. Available from: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine>. Access on: July 07, 2023.
WODAK, R. Critical Linguistics and Critical Discourse Analysis. In: VERSCHUREN, J.; ÖSTMAN, J-O.; BLOMMAERT, J. (Orgs.). Handbook of Pragmatics-Manual. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1995. p. 203-210.
WODAK, R. Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis. London: SAGE Publications, 2001.
WODAK, R. Editor’s Introduction: Critical Discourse Analysis. In: WODAK, R. (Org.). Critical Discourse Analysis - Volume 1: Concepts, History, Theory. Sage, London, 2013. p. xix-xliii.
Esta obra está licenciada com uma Licença 