Critical Discourse Analysis

The present article offers a study of the theoretical principles and analytic methods of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). CDA takes as its point of departure that language and discourse are not transparent, objective or neutral means for representing truth or reality. Rather, they effectively construct, regulate and control knowledge, social relations and institutions. This paper examines the discourse/power/ideology nexus and through the analysis of some textual samples, it discusses the analytic methods of CDA in terms of linguistic devices and shows how CDA can contribute to our understanding of power relations and ideological processes in discourse. The article concludes with a brief discussion of some implications of CDA and the importance of the general raising of critical language awareness.