ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses two critical discursive approaches that share important features with physical cultural studies, including the mutually constitutive relationships between language and culture, the concern with power and ideology, and an orientation towards social justice. Critical discourse analysis (CDA) and cultural studies textual analysis (TA) each emerged from a range of theoretical and methodological traditions and practices, making them difficult to summarize easily. The chapter focuses on understanding of the dialectical, and mutually constitutive, relationships between language, culture and social realities, which researchers explore by connecting specific texts to their wider socio-cultural contexts. It also focuses on issues of power and ideology. The chapter discusses a social justice orientation towards emancipation and political engagement. It then investigates ways to use the strategy of conscientization or consciousness-raising more effectively. Perhaps representing a nuance in approaches to conscientization, McKee (2003) argues that teaching is seen as an important domain of the strong cultural studies desire to intervene in sense-making practices.
