Critical Discourse Analysis in Interpretation of Newspaper Articles

Critical Discourse Analysis in Interpretation of Newspaper Articles

Mureškić Harbaš, Alma

This paper discuses the use of the Critical Discourse Analysis approach in the study of newspaper articles. Analysis of newspaper texts cannot be limited to linguistic analysis of texts; rather, it calls for a wider perspective, which includes both the study of the actual text as well as the study of the text’s external factors as elements of context. The Critical Discourse Analysis approach has proved particularly useful in the study of newspaper articles, as it enables the study of newspaper text in the context of its production and reception and offers critical interpretation of newspaper text. Critical interpretation of newspaper texts is not only of academic interest, but it is also an important social skill. Adopting the CDA approach, this paper investigates the use of passive voice for obfuscation of responsibility in representation of negative events. We argue that representation of events in newspapers relies not only on the message that is conveyed explicitly, through a particular word choice, but also implicitly, through syntactical patterning.

Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed

2012-05

791