Critical Discourse Analysis

Abstract

This article offers an updated revision of the research field commonly known as Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). First, some sensitive aspects related to its multidisciplinary and dissident nature are clarified. Then a triangulated theoretical framework, which is based on the relationship among discourse, cognition, and society is presented. The ways in which hegemonic groups control text and context and, consequently, people's minds, and the macro and micro dimensions of social structures where such discursive control is embodied -being its most prominent forms of domination power abuse and social inequality- are addressed through this theoretical framework. Later, some researches of CDA on discourse and gender, discourse and racism, discourse and media, political, professional and institutional power are revised. The article concludes pointing to certain theoretical and methodological pending issues, which highlight the necessity to count on a manifest cognitive interface, and a suitable integration between linguistic and sociopolitical approaches, and a more explicit analysis of counter hegemonic or resistance discourses, among others.