Language is not a mere means of communication; it is a form of “social practice” that reflects the ideology and the socio-political ambitions of the person or the social group using that language (Fairclough, 1989). This study aims at exploring the relationships between language and ideology and how such relationships are represented in the talk of an Islamist Egyptian thinker; the analysis of the latter’s talk was done according to Fairclough’s model of Critical Discourse Analysis (1989). Critical Discourse Analysis is defined by van Dijk as a linguistic discipline which studies the relationships between discourse and social power. More specifically, Critical Discourse Analysis describes and explains “how power abuse is enacted, reproduced or legitimized by the text and talk of dominant groups or institutions” (1996: 84).
CDA (Critical Discourse Analysis) aims at analyzing hegemonic and manipulative discourses in society to uncover the mechanisms that have made those discourses hegemonic and manipulative. The ultimate purpose of any CDA study is to unravel the underlying hidden agenda which is left implicit in the discourse and to criticize it.
The data base of this study is 26 excerpts taken from the talk of an Egyptian Islamist thinker who has been invited to a religious TV talk show to give his opinions about secularism in the Arab World. The excerpts have been analyzed within the framework of CDA. More specifically, the excerpts have been analyzed at two major levels: the rhetorical level and the argumentative level. The analysis of the former has been done in terms of the rhetorical elements that construct the majority of discourses such as transitivity, modality, agency, nominalization, passivization, lexicalization, intertextuality, and figures of speech. On the other hand, the analysis of the argumentative aspect has been done in terms of the types of premises and logical arguments that are used in the Islamist thinker’s discourse.
Table of Contents
EPIGRAPHS
ABSTRACT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
1.2 PROBLEM OF THE STUDY
1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
1.4 OVERVIEW OF THE THESIS
CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
0. INTRODUCTION
2.1. WHAT IS CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS?
2.2 WHAT DOES A CDA-ANALYST DO?
2.3 WHAT IS DISCOURSE?
2.4 WHAT IS IDEOLOGY?
2.5. WHAT IS POWER?
2.6 MAJOR APPROACHES TO CDA
2.7 HOW DOES A CDA-ANALYST CONDUCT CRITICAL ANALYSIS?
2.8 MULTIDISCIPLINARITY IN CDA
2.9 DERRIDA’S DECONSTRUCTION
2.10 CDA’S ANALYTIC TOOLS
CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN
3.3 DATA AND DATA SOURCES
3.4 RATIONALE
3.5 METHOD OF ANALYSIS
CHAPTER IV: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 RESEARCH FINDINGS
4.2 DISCUSSION
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION
Research Objectives and Thematic Focus
This study aims to investigate the linguistic strategies used in the Egyptian religious TV talk show "al-Bayyena" to explore the relationship between language, ideology, and power. Specifically, it analyzes how the Islamist thinker Mohamed Emara linguistically represents secularists to maintain ideological hegemony and exercise social exclusion, utilizing Fairclough’s model of Critical Discourse Analysis.
- Exploration of the dialectical relationship between language and ideology within Islamist discourse.
- Analysis of rhetorical strategies such as metaphor, nominalization, and passivization to establish power and dominance.
- Investigation of the discursive construction of the "secularist other" through dehumanizing metaphors and "poisoning the well" fallacies.
- Deconstruction of how religious media institutions exert influence over the mental models of their audience.
- Evaluation of the moral authority and intellectual superiority projected by the guest speaker to discredit alternative political standpoints.
Excerpt from the Book
Quarry load-shedding problem
Unsheeted lorries from Middlebarrow Quarry were still causing problems by shedding stones on their journey through Warton Village, members of the parish council heard at their September meeting. The council’s observations have been sent to the quarry management and members are hoping to see an improvement.
(Lancaster Guardian, Sept.12th, 1986, cited in Fairclough, 1989:50)
As reported in this newspaper article, in the mid-1980s, the locals in a Lancashire village were not very happy about driving along stony roads, and the source of this problem was the lorries from a nearby quarry. From a descriptive perspective, one can see that the title of the article, “Quarry load-shedding problem,” is ‘nominalised,’ the verb is expressed in the form of a noun, as if it were an ‘entity’. Fairclough remarks that this grammatical form; that is putting a verb in the form of a noun gives an effect of blurring the matter, hiding the agent in shedding loads to be shed. One cannot tell from this nominalised title who or what is making the shedding of stones, causality is unspecified (Fairclough, 1989: 51).
The article gives some information about the problem, but there are many things that need clarification. The agency is attributed to ‘unsheeted lorries from Middlebarrow Quarry.’ This formulation itself makes causality unspecified. The expression ‘unsheeted’ suggests the failure of a process to happen- someone did not put sheets over the loads, when they ought to have been done so. The lorries in this context serve as one form of metaphor, standing for someone (or an inanimate instrument of someone) who are behind the scene and are actually responsible for the incident. Fairclough argues that the ‘hidden agents’ are presumably ‘the quarry management,’ who are, as found in the second paragraph of the article, the recipients of the council’s ‘observation.’ In other words, the inanimate lorries are strategically and ideologically used “to ‘impersonalise’ the hidden but real agents” (Yamamoto, 2006: 25).
Summary of Chapters
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION: This chapter establishes the theoretical background, research objectives, and the significance of studying Islamic fundamentalist discourse through the lens of Critical Discourse Analysis.
CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE: This section provides a comprehensive overview of CDA models by Fairclough, van Dijk, and Wodak, alongside concepts like ideology, power, intertextuality, and Derridean deconstruction.
CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: This chapter outlines the qualitative research design, detailing the data source selection from the "al-Bayyena" TV show and the analytical framework based on Faircloughian linguistic tools.
CHAPTER IV: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION: This chapter analyzes 26 excerpts from the show, identifying specific rhetorical strategies like metaphor, polarization, and fallacious argumentation used by Mohamed Emara to marginalize secularists.
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION: The final chapter summarizes the research findings, confirming that language in this context serves as a non-neutral tool for maintaining power and ideological dominance, and provides recommendations for future research.
Keywords
Critical Discourse Analysis, CDA, Language and Power, Ideology, Islamist Discourse, Mohamed Emara, Secularism, Rhetorical Strategies, Metaphor, Polarization, Social Exclusion, Media Discourse, Political Manipulation, Hegemony, Deconstruction.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fundamental focus of this thesis?
The thesis investigates how language is used as a tool for power and ideological domination in the discourse of an Egyptian Islamist thinker appearing on a religious TV talk show.
What are the primary themes analyzed in the research?
The core themes include the representation of secularism as an external threat, the use of dehumanizing metaphors (cancer, genealogy), social polarization, and the construction of moral authority by the guest speaker.
What is the main research objective?
The research aims to reveal the discursive strategies—such as lexical choices and logical fallacies—employed to discredit secularists and maintain ideological control over the Muslim audience.
Which methodology is employed in this study?
The study utilizes Norman Fairclough’s model of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), complemented by van Dijk’s cognitive approach, Wodak’s historical approach, and Derrida’s deconstruction techniques.
What does the main body of the work cover?
The main body involves an exhaustive linguistic and rhetorical analysis of 26 selected excerpts from the talk show, categorizing how the speaker misrepresents the "other" to enforce an Islamist worldview.
Which keywords characterize this work?
Key terms include Critical Discourse Analysis, Ideology, Islamist Discourse, Rhetorical Strategies, Polarization, Hegemony, and Social Exclusion.
How does Emara use metaphors to marginalize secularists?
Emara uses metaphors such as "cancerous dimensions" and "grandsons of Bonaparte" to depict secularists as physical threats or illegitimate outcasts, making compromise seem impossible.
What is the role of "poisoning the well" in this discourse?
It is a rhetorical tactic where the speaker introduces negative information about an opponent beforehand to ensure that the audience dismisses any future arguments made by that opponent.
Why are pronouns significant in this study?
Pronouns like "we" and "they" are used to establish binary oppositions, creating a social distance between the in-group (Islamists/believers) and the out-group (secularists/outsiders).
- Quote paper
- Brahim Hiba (Author), 2012, Language and Power in the Discourse of an Islamist Thinker, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/215775
