ABSTRACT

The Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) describes a broad approach to the analysis of discourse that employs a variety of methods in order to reveal ways in which discourse practices are closely involved in the exercise of power and control in society. Given the multiplicity of senses in which the term discourse is employed among specialists, it will be useful to make clear at the outset the senses in which the term is used in this chapter. In the discourse-historical approach of Wodak and colleagues, detailed case studies include quantitative as well as qualitative analysis. The perspectives that CDA offers have long been of interest to scholars of translation and interpreting. The main challenges posed by CDA critics were summarized as the need to avoid circularity, avoid imposing the analyst interpretation of text and talk as being that of actual participants, and avoid cherry-picking from the evidence to suit the argument being made.