ABSTRACT
This chapter explores critical discourse analysis (CDA) as an accessible and potentially productive research method in the field of Event Studies. It presents facets of multimodal discourse analysis in the context of the textual and photographic representation of sporting events/personalities in the media. The chapter focuses on the work of Fairclough and in particular a three-dimensional approach like text, discourse practice and social practice to CDA which he proposed as 'a guide not a blueprint'. It reveals the work of Hall in order to illustrate how CDA might be used to highlight the continued deployment of discursive events in attempts to fix meaning in the service of ideologically determined relations of power. Wang has provided a example of the application of Fairclough's model of CDA in the context of photographic images. Discourse practice is regarded as mediating between textual practice and socio-cultural practice. Social practice is concerned with an analysis of the macro-structural context within which the text is embedded.
