Critical Discourse Analysis Theory by Van Dijk

The theory proposed by Teun A. Van Dijk is the most interesting and excessively used. He elaborates some elements of discourse so it could be used practically. According to Van Dijk (2004: 352) Critical discourse analysis (CDA) is: a type of discourse analytical research that primarily studies the way social power abuse, dominance, and inequality are enacted, reproduced, and resisted by text and talk in the social and political context. With such dissident research, critical discourse analysts take explicit position, and thus want to understand, expose, and ultimately resist social inequality.

The kinds of critical discourse analysis that he uses is often called as “Social Cognition”. He explains further that the study of discourse analysis is not adequate based on analysis on text since text is only the result of a production practice which must be perceived. Then, it also refers to see how the text is
produced, so the readers can understand why the products of a text as like that.

For example, there is a text that marginalized women, it is needed a research to see how the production’s process of text, why the text marginalized women.
The production’s process and approach that are used by Dijk involved in a process called with the social cognition in order to describe the structure and the process production of text. A text is marginalized toward women position caused by the mental cognition between the writers, even, the society consciousness that sees women in lowering down position. Here, text is only part of discursive practice that marginalized women position. Therefore, the study of discourse analysis does not exclusively see text in empties area, but it is part of the social structure. The approach, which is familiar with social cognition, helps us to show how the text production that engages the complex process, therefore; it can be analyzed.

According to Teun Van Dijk. There are three elements of critical discourse analysis as follows: macrostructure, superstructure and microstructure. To see them, please click here