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Mariaelena Bartesaghi deconstructs CDA’s unaccountable intentionality, hiddenness, and hegemony. The study shows how unaccountable claims can hinder critical discourse.

Image courtesy of interviewee. January 29, 2024

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This video video discusses the proliferation of critical work, specifically in the field of critical discourse analysis (CDA). The speaker expresses concern over the ambiguity of the term "critique" and its implications for their own work. They reflect on their understanding of critique and the potential disconnect between critical analysis and actual emancipatory change in social practice.

The speaker critiques traditional CDA for its focus on deconstruction without necessarily facilitating real-world change. They argue that effective critique should be practical, moving towards reconstructive purposes instead of merely emphasizing critique itself. This video video proposes a shift from a purely critical approach to a more applied one, where insights from analysis are made accessible and collaborative for those experiencing power asymmetries in their contexts.

The speaker highlights the importance of reflexivity in analysis, recognizing that researchers are part of the very structures they study. They emphasize the need for language in critical discourse studies to be understandable and actionable, enabling transformation in social practices. Ultimately, the text advocates for the reorientation of critical discourse studies towards meaningful, practical action that aims for emancipation rather than just critique for its own sake.

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There is a proliferation of critical work.

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And so that the, the term critique as a, as a prefix to

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analysis has proliferated.

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And it's unclear

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what this actually should mean if we all

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understand critique the same way.

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Um, and it, it seems,

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to me like work that is not,

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introduced as critical, then becomes less critical.

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And, so this is a problem

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because I always thought I was doing critical work.

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So what is the meaning of critique?

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Am I not doing critical work if I do not, say

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that I am doing, critical discourse analysis?

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So as a discourse analyst, this, this bothered me.

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Um, there's, there's also,

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probably I confess a distaste with what I, understood

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to be the, the purpose of critical discourse analysis,

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the claims made of an emancipatory, effort

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of critical discourse analysts.

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And I wanted to make the idea of critical

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and the, the premises of critical discourse analysis,

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subject of empirical investigation themselves.

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So the, the topic, the topic of analysis,

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and also I wanted to undertake a reflexive move

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to understand my own understanding of what is critical and,

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and my own analysis.

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Critical discourse analysis is a project that evolved to,

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to sort of, dispute the,

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the leading chomsky

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and cesareans understanding of, of language that

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perhaps still prevail,

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but certainly prevailed, in, in the 1960s

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and and seventies.

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Um, the assumptions of the Chomsky

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and cesarean approaches is that we should focus on,

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a sort of orthodoxy of how language should, should be

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as opposed to how language is actually practiced and used.

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And so, the, the impetus of critical linguistics,

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of, of Fowler

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and Cress, also halladay, which which came

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as a response, to this was that

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language is shot ideologically through and through.

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There is no escaping,

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right from the ideological purpose of language.

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And so we we're looking at language,

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in its political context as a doing, as as action.

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And so we're looking at language in use,

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and we're looking at language as grammar as not,

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an orthodoxy of how it should be

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or as a universal, universal structure as,

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as Tomsky would have it, but as, as competence and,

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And as a doing, and this doing is, is political.

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It it, it it is within a social context.

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So this is the, the premise of critical discourse analysis

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and,

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critical discourse analysis gained traction mostly due

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to the, the work of Van D**e,

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AK and Faircloth.

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And they're all, European scholars.

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And a and a lot of cri critical discourse analysis is

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still European focused.

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Um, perhaps

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because Europeans are more sensitized to the political

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and ideological, thrust

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of language than, than than the us.

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I, I actually work in the us

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but I am a European, so, so there's more sensitization

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to, to what's going on in the world, perhaps,

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I don't know, but it is still, even to this day, mostly,

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you know, a, a European, practice enterprise.

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My critique of critical discourse analysis is that

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with this premise though, it has a premise of emancipate

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emancipation, right?

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Uh, the, a movement, an emancipatory, intent

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to me,

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focusing on deconstruction and critique.

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If we believe that discourse constitutes our social world

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and is, is action within our social world

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focusing on critique, no matter how stunning,

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and well executed this critique is

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recreates the very conditions that we are trying

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to emancipate from.

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So, if we, so the, the critique

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of ideology in a sense has to work through,

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assumptions of intentionality, hiddenness of purpose,

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what I call an, an ontology of, of the critical

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and, implicit oppression.

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So, so deciding these things, so the analyst would, would,

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decide these things ahead of time in a sense, know

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what power is, and know where power lies

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and with the danger of replicating, the, these very,

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these very assumptions and

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therefore not liberating us at all.

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So the, the enterprise of critical discourse studies

05:26.015 --> 05:29.685
moves away, from, from the

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sort of the normative, practice of,

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of CDA, and in fact, moves away by saying

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that this is a practice,

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and in order for it to be a practice,

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it should be practical, it should make a difference,

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difference, in order for emancipation

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to actually happen.

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Uh, critique should be, a reconstruction

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of social practice in order to

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Enact change in social practice.

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And, so not just for the deconstructive purpose,

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but for a reconstructive purpose

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and for this reason, takes up, different sorts of,

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approaches.

06:13.505 --> 06:15.965
Um, not just a textual based approach,

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but a multimodal approach,

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and attention to, to bodies

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and, embodied experience.

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Um, and let's see, and,

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and also a reflexive, a reflexive, sensibility

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toward our own assumptions,

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because in fact, we cannot escape

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as analysts from the very structures

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that we intend to dismantle.

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We are part of them, and academia is certainly part of them.

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What what is interesting is that CCDA already had,

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and perhaps it wasn't, emphasized as much, but,

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but has an, a critique of itself embedded within it.

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Um, and so of, of, you know, the, the potential,

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the, the potential limitations, okay?

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So had, has a critique embedded within it.

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And, and so critical discourse studies takes up this

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critique and wants to,

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my understanding is that it, it wants to,

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focus on the tensions

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between doing this work isn't acknowledgement

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of the analytical tensions in an examination of,

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of, of discourse.

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And, I, in, in, in this paper,

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I noticed the tensions, you know, I, I I wanted

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to call myself accountable

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or make myself accountable to these tensions of,

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of a unilateral and analyst led critique,

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because when, when, you know, we, we, assume power

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and we assume ideology going into an analysis,

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we will find it.

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So this is, the, the reflexive move, on, on,

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analyzing our own practices of finding the very things,

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that, that we assume to be there.

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And it is very seductive,

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to perform this sort of analysis.

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I wouldn't say easy, because it is, you know, it, it,

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it is done very well and very carefully.

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But, there is once, once you presume power

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and ideology, hegemony

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and oppression, it will, will be,

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you'll be facilitated in a sense as an analyst

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to find it in the data

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and not let the data tell you something you don't know.

08:43.105 --> 08:47.005
What's interesting is that in, in creating suggestions, you,

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you run across or right, the, the very same problems

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that you have critiqued.

08:52.625 --> 08:54.605
Um, some suggestions

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Come from, from c critical discourse studies.

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For instance, a very radical suggestion is Bartlett's,

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proposal for a positive discourse analysis.

09:04.945 --> 09:08.085
So instead of a critical discourse analysis, let's move

09:08.105 --> 09:12.565
to look to look at how, how, the

09:13.165 --> 09:16.645
critique could be in fact, turned around to,

09:16.785 --> 09:18.885
to affect positive change.

09:19.225 --> 09:23.005
So, if we, if we take, if we take

09:23.005 --> 09:27.155
what we learn from a critique, where do we go from there?

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How can people actually use it

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and apply it in their own lives?

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So there is a, there is a, an effort

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to do research in, in applied settings, for instance,

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in organizations so that insights can be fed back

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to the people who would find these insights useful.

09:46.335 --> 09:50.355
So it is not a top-down analyst led analysis,

09:50.615 --> 09:54.115
but it is more, I would say it is more meaningful

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and collaborative with people who live in the setting,

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and are experiencing the, the, the,

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the asymmetries, right?

10:04.665 --> 10:08.585
The, the power asymmetries that, that we, we theorize about.

10:09.565 --> 10:13.745
So how can we make this firstly, one of the critiques

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of CDA is that its language, is, is,

10:19.485 --> 10:23.945
is is so specific that it, it is not necessarily meaningful

10:24.045 --> 10:28.585
to, to the people who it should be talking, who it talks,

10:28.645 --> 10:32.995
to the people who are theorized

10:33.295 --> 10:36.795
and, therefore subject, of this critique.

10:36.815 --> 10:39.395
So it should be understandable, and

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because it, it is understandable, it can,

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it is practical and it, it is usable.

10:46.295 --> 10:48.795
It is usable, and because it is usable,

10:49.145 --> 10:52.595
therefore it can lead to different sorts of action

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and different sorts of action are not just a matter

10:55.795 --> 10:57.755
of critique, but are a matter of doing.

10:58.735 --> 11:02.375
And, by changing action,

11:02.715 --> 11:06.375
you can aim toward emancipatory, purposes,

11:06.705 --> 11:09.295
which is in fact, the, the aim.

11:09.475 --> 11:13.975
So the, the move is from critique for the sake of critique.

11:13.995 --> 11:16.415
Of course, it's never for the sake of critique, but,

11:16.555 --> 11:20.255
but the, the stunning, virtuosity of, of a,

11:20.315 --> 11:25.175
of a critique to, the everyday, you know,

11:25.315 --> 11:27.375
the, the perhaps mundane, I don't know,

11:27.375 --> 11:31.215
more mundane practicality of what people can, can do with,

11:31.285 --> 11:33.255
with a, with critical reflection.

Challenges in Understanding Critical Discourse Analysis

00:00:00 - There is a proliferation of critical work. And so that the, the term critique as a, as a prefix to analysis has proliferated. And it's unclear what this actually should mean if we all understand critique the same way. and it, it seems, to me like work that is not, introduced as critical, then becomes less critical.
00:00:33 - because I always thought I was doing critical work. So what is the meaning of critique? Am I not doing critical work if I do not, say that I am doing, critical discourse analysis? So as a discourse analyst, this, this bothered me. there's, there's also, probably I confess a distaste with what I, understood to be the, the purpose of critical discourse analysis, the claims made of an emancipatory, effort
00:01:06 - And I wanted to make the idea of critical and the, the premises of critical discourse analysis, subject of empirical investigation themselves. So the, the topic, the topic of analysis, and also I wanted to undertake a reflexive move to understand my own understanding of what is critical and, and my own analysis. Critical discourse analysis is a project that evolved to,
00:01:40 - the leading chomsky and cesareans understanding of, of language that perhaps still prevail, but certainly prevailed, in, in the 1960s and and seventies. the assumptions of the Chomsky and cesarean approaches is that we should focus on, a sort of orthodoxy of how language should, should be as opposed to how language is actually practiced and used.
00:02:15 - of, of Fowler and Cress, also halladay, which which came as a response, to this was that language is shot ideologically through and through. There is no escaping, right from the ideological purpose of language. And so we we're looking at language, in its political context as a doing, as as action.
00:02:43 - and we're looking at language as grammar as not, an orthodoxy of how it should be or as a universal, universal structure as, as Tomsky would have it, but as, as competence and, And as a doing, and this doing is, is political. It it, it it is within a social context. So this is the, the premise of critical discourse analysis and,

Critique and Emancipation in Discourse Analysis

00:03:15 - to the, the work of Van D**e, AK and Faircloth. And they're all, European scholars. And a and a lot of cri critical discourse analysis is still European focused. perhaps because Europeans are more sensitized to the political and ideological, thrust of language than, than than the us.
00:03:43 - but I am a European, so, so there's more sensitization to, to what's going on in the world, perhaps, I don't know, but it is still, even to this day, mostly, you know, a, a European, practice enterprise. My critique of critical discourse analysis is that with this premise though, it has a premise of emancipate emancipation, right? the, a movement, an emancipatory, intent
00:04:18 - focusing on deconstruction and critique. If we believe that discourse constitutes our social world and is, is action within our social world focusing on critique, no matter how stunning, and well executed this critique is recreates the very conditions that we are trying to emancipate from. So, if we, so the, the critique of ideology in a sense has to work through,
00:04:54 - what I call an, an ontology of, of the critical and, implicit oppression. So, so deciding these things, so the analyst would, would, decide these things ahead of time in a sense, know what power is, and know where power lies and with the danger of replicating, the, these very, these very assumptions and therefore not liberating us at all.
00:05:26 - moves away, from, from the sort of the normative, practice of, of CDA, and in fact, moves away by saying that this is a practice, and in order for it to be a practice, it should be practical, it should make a difference, difference, in order for emancipation to actually happen. critique should be, a reconstruction
00:05:57 - Enact change in social practice. And, so not just for the deconstructive purpose, but for a reconstructive purpose and for this reason, takes up, different sorts of, approaches. not just a textual based approach, but a multimodal approach, and attention to, to bodies and, embodied experience.

Reflexivity in Critical Discourse Analysis

00:06:28 - and also a reflexive, a reflexive, sensibility toward our own assumptions, because in fact, we cannot escape as analysts from the very structures that we intend to dismantle. We are part of them, and academia is certainly part of them. What what is interesting is that CCDA already had, and perhaps it wasn't, emphasized as much, but,
00:07:01 - and so of, of, you know, the, the potential, the, the potential limitations, okay? So had, has a critique embedded within it. And, and so critical discourse studies takes up this critique and wants to, my understanding is that it, it wants to, focus on the tensions between doing this work isn't acknowledgement
00:07:32 - of, of discourse. And, I, in, in, in this paper, I noticed the tensions, you know, I, I I wanted to call myself accountable or make myself accountable to these tensions of, of a unilateral and analyst led critique, because when, when, you know, we, we, assume power and we assume ideology going into an analysis,
00:08:01 - So this is, the, the reflexive move, on, on, analyzing our own practices of finding the very things, that, that we assume to be there. And it is very seductive, to perform this sort of analysis. I wouldn't say easy, because it is, you know, it, it, it is done very well and very carefully. But, there is once, once you presume power and ideology, hegemony
00:08:34 - you'll be facilitated in a sense as an analyst to find it in the data and not let the data tell you something you don't know. What's interesting is that in, in creating suggestions, you, you run across or right, the, the very same problems that you have critiqued. some suggestions Come from, from c critical discourse studies. For instance, a very radical suggestion is Bartlett's,
00:09:04 - So instead of a critical discourse analysis, let's move to look to look at how, how, the critique could be in fact, turned around to, to affect positive change. So, if we, if we take, if we take what we learn from a critique, where do we go from there? How can people actually use it and apply it in their own lives? So there is a, there is a, an effort

Empowering Collaborative Insights for Practical Action

00:09:39 - in organizations so that insights can be fed back to the people who would find these insights useful. So it is not a top-down analyst led analysis, but it is more, I would say it is more meaningful and collaborative with people who live in the setting, and are experiencing the, the, the, the asymmetries, right? The, the power asymmetries that, that we, we theorize about.
00:10:13 - of CDA is that its language, is, is, is is so specific that it, it is not necessarily meaningful to, to the people who it should be talking, who it talks, to the people who are theorized and, therefore subject, of this critique. So it should be understandable, and because it, it is understandable, it can,
00:10:46 - It is usable, and because it is usable, therefore it can lead to different sorts of action and different sorts of action are not just a matter of critique, but are a matter of doing. And, by changing action, you can aim toward emancipatory, purposes, which is in fact, the, the aim. So the, the move is from critique for the sake of critique.
00:11:31 - but the, the stunning, virtuosity of, of a, of a critique to, the everyday, you know, the, the perhaps mundane, I don't know, more mundane practicality of what people can, can do with, with a, with critical reflection.

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