Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE LLT3410

 
TITLE Discourse, Ideology and Power

 
UM LEVEL 03 - Years 2, 3, 4 in Modular Undergraduate Course

 
MQF LEVEL 6

 
ECTS CREDITS 4

 
DEPARTMENT Institute of Linguistics and Language Technology

 
DESCRIPTION The centrality of language as a means of social construction has been consistently acknowledged in the social scientific literature, with linguistic expression constituting a primary source of data for research that transcends the boundaries of linguistics, critical theory, sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, to name but a few. In this vein, discourse-analytic tools enable us to observe how and why certain discourses are produced in a particular social context, through the identification of textual elements that contribute to the (re)production of ideologies that have been shown to legitimise and perpetuate - but also resist, on some occasions - social inequality. At the same time, a closer look at our discursive practices can additionally reveal dominant ideologies in relation to more specific issues of social relevance. Examining such elements as lexical choice, implicitly communicated meaning, clause transitivity, metaphorical allusions, or even visual depictions in multimodal texts, one can identify the outlook that the producer of a text has in relation to the social actors involved in the discussion.

Focusing primarily on discriminatory discourse and abusive language and drawing on data from a number of sources (such as traditional and social media, political discourse and advertising), this study-unit offers an overview of key concepts and methodological tools that have been used for the study of sociological phenomena such as belief, power and dominance, all the while tackling the question of how and why ideologically-charged discourses are produced in the first place.

Study-Unit Aims:

This study-unit has the following aims:

- to situate discourse in society and introduce students to its critical understanding;
- to showcase the connection between discourse analysis and social scientific research;
- to familiarise students with the intrinsic characteristics of a range of texts and their contribution to the shaping of ideologies;
- to integrate the theoretical discussion of discourse(s) with the applied perspective of critical sociolinguistics.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- develop an understanding of various analytical frameworks in critical discourse studies;
- account for the relationship between the linguistic/semiotic features of texts and the social-cultural contexts of their production;
- evaluate some of the methods that have been developed for the critical analysis of ideology and power on the basis of textual analysis;

2. Skills:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- select texts from a variety of genres and engage in their critical interpretation in response to coherent social-scientific research questions;
- analyse authentic texts using corpus-driven and qualitative methodologies and evaluate them against their original socio-political context;
- explain how different text genres, with their distinct textual characteristics, mediate the construction of social identities;
- debate in a clear and logical way about issues of social relevance.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings:

Main Texts:

- Wodak, R. & Meyer, M. (Eds.). (2016). Methods of critical discourse studies (3rd ed). London: Sage.
- Flowerdew, J. & Richardson, J. E. (Eds.). (2018). The Routledge handbook of critical discourse studies. London/New York: Routledge

Supplementary Readings:

- Assimakopoulos, S., Baider, F., & Millar, S. (Eds.). (2017). Online Hate Speech in the European Union: A discourse-analytic perspective.
- Baker, P. (2006). Using corpora in discourse analysis. London: Continuum.
- Blommaert, J. (2005). Discourse: A critical introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Cameron, D. (1995). Verbal hygiene. London/New York: Routledge.
- Cameron, D., & Kulick. D. (2003). Language and sexuality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Charteris-Black, J. (2011). Politicians and rhetoric: The persuasive power of metaphor. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
- van Dijk, T.A. (1993). Elite discourse and racism. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
- van Dijk, T.A. (1998). Ideology: A multidisciplinary approach. London: Sage.
- van Dijk, T.A. (2008). Discourse and power. Houndsmills: Palgrave.
- Fairclough, N. (1989). Language and power. London: Longman.
- Fairclough, N. (1995). Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of language. London: Longman.
- Fowler, R. (1991). Language in the news: Discourse and Ideology in the British press. London: Routledge.
- Fowler, R., Hodge, B., Kress, G., & Trew, T. (1979). Language and control. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
- van Leeuwen, T. (2005). Introduction to social semiotics. London: Routledge.
- van Leeuwen, T. (2008). Discourse and practice: New tools for critical discourse analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Machin, D. & A. Mayr. (2012). How to do critical discourse analysis. London: Sage.
- Musolff, A. (2016). Political metaphor analysis: Discourse and scenarios. London: Bloomsbury.
- Richardson, J. E. (2007). Analysing newspapers: An approach from critical discourse analysis. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Wodak, R. (Ed.) (1989). Language, power and ideology: Studies in political discourse. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
- Wodak, R. (Ed.). (1997). Gender and discourse. London: Sage.

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Assessment Due Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Assignment SEM1 Yes 100%

 
LECTURER/S Stavros Assimakopoulos

 

 
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It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

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