Norman Fairclough Critical Discourse Analysis

Background

Norman Fairclough (1941-) is British and trained in linguistics at the University of London. Since the 1980s, Fairclough has developed a discourse analysis approach called critical discourse analysis and his work was published in 1992 in a work entitled Discourse and Social Change

Discourse analysis is about text analysis. That every text contains interpretations.

Norman Fairclough has developed a model for critical discourse analysis, which has 3 dimensions. Before we start with the model itself, we have some concepts that need to be in place.

We start by looking at the concept of discourse.

Discourse is the collection of words and signs that we choose when we write or speak. By choosing very specific words, we also choose our attitude to what we are talking about. 

For example: “My aunt was an old witch”. Or – “My aunt was an old lady”. 

By choosing Witch or Lady respectively – I express an attitude towards the aunt. The same is the case if I describe the horse in the field as “a horse”, “a gallop” or “a teal”.

The point is that through our choice of words and the way we put the text together we tell about our attitude towards what we are talking about. 

Discourse is a language community. It is the words we choose that make us feel a community. 

In a critical discourse analysis we see “Language as a carrier of change”. The way we talk about a topic can change our view of the topic. 

Language is not neutral and innocent. It often contains values, attitudes and assessments that the sender wants to convey to the recipient. Language creates opinions and influences our attitudes. It creates social relationships. Language is associated with power.

Language is part of our communication and at the same time communication is a social event, where language and word choice are the space for the social community. 

Language and communication are also closely connected to the society we find ourselves in. In this context, society can be a company where there are certain norms and traditions in the company and its organization. 

When we tie language - social structures and society or organization together in an analysis of a text, we are working with Critical Discourse Analysis.

About the model

Norman Fairclough's model is based on the fact that every instance of language use is a communicative event with three dimensions:

Dimension 1: Text understood as: Speech, writing, images or a mixture of the linguistic and the visual. Here, analysis takes place at the word level

Dimension 2: What is called Discursive Practice, which involves production – i.e. the constitution of texts. Here the analysis takes place at the text level.

Dimension 3: Social Practice – the norms in society or the organization – the social structures. Here the analysis takes place at what we can call the norm level.

Fairclough's analytical approach is that language helps to create change and can be used consciously to change given behavior or signal the behavior that is desired. Language thereby becomes a tool of power. 

When we choose our words, we also express an attitude. Whether a person is a "terrorist" or a "freedom fighter" depends on our view of the action that has occurred. The Danish freedom fighters during World War II were called terrorists by the Germans and some Danes. 

Criticism of the model

Fairclough's model for Critical Discourse Analysis is difficult to access and much literature has been written about it. In this video we have only brought the principles to form a framework for understanding the model and its use for analyzing change communication.