ABSTRACT
Ideological approaches to rhetorical criticism focus on how symbols (speech, text, images) function to legitimize and sustain power relations in social systems. Ideological analysis questions whose interests are being served through the exercise of public discourse wherein the interests of some (in terms of access to resources, economic advantage, presumption of competence, etc.) are privileged over the interests of others. This chapter provides you with a vocabulary to assist analysis of the discourse of social power and terms that help you examine the tools available to the advocates representing particular interests.
Since ideological analysis is a value-laden project, we demonstrate how to maintain a “balcony” perspective so you can amass the necessary evidence to expose how some groups dominate, exploit, or marginalize other groups and not compromise your own position as objective analyst.
In this chapter, we model application of ideological analysis to two seemingly innocent texts: the animated films Beauty and the Beast and Shrek.
