Naturalization of Ideology Essay example -- Social Change, Power Relat

Introduction CDA adopts an interdisciplinary approach, different methodologies, and varying perspectives for the analysis of data which is predominantly obtained from social topics such as â€Å"racism, identity, social change† (Wodak: 2006). Power relationships between the dominant and the dominated social class are the foci of CDA, and considers language use or discourse as a defining characteristic in understanding varied social patterns that emerge as a result of the discursive practices, naturalization of ideology, and orders of discourse. It blends the historical context with the contemporary contexts to interpret the element of social change. CDA believes in the practice, application, and availability of results to the experts so that select discursive and social practices could be both interpreted and transformed. How does the naturalization of ideology come about? Ideologies are mental systems that organize socially shared attitudes, and these mental systems are social representations that function as â€Å"models which control how people act, speak or write or how they understand the social practices of others† (van Dijk, 1995: 2). Naturalization can be understood as an unconscious process whereby beliefs, values, ideas, perceptions, and modes of thinking of a society and a class are internalized at a certain point in time (Yewah: 1993). Naturalization gives to particular ideological representations the status of common sense, and thereby makes them opaque and no longer visible as ideologies (Fairclough, 1995a: 42). A certain discourse type dominates other discourses to the extent that it is no longer arbitrary and is viewed as natural. However, the ‘balance of forces’ in social struggle determine the extent of naturaliza... ...iwanese press. Discourse and Society, 16(3): 393-418. Lefevere, A. (1992b). Translation/ History /Culture: A Sourcebook. New York: Routledge. Martinez-Roland, C. M. & Malave, G. (2004). Language Ideologies Mediating Literacy and Identity in Bilingual Contexts. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 4(2): 155-180. van Dijk, T. (1993) Discourse and Elite Racism, London: Sage. Wodak, R. (1996) Disorders of Discourse, London: Longman. Wodak, R. (1997) ‘Critical discourse analysis’, in T. van Dijk (ed.) Discourse as Social Interaction, London: Sage. Wodak, R. (2006). Critical linguistics and critical discourse analysis in Verschueren, J. and Ãâ€"stman, J. (eds) Handbook of Pragmatics John Benjamins Publishing Company, Amsterdam. Emmanuel Yewah, E. (1993). Ideology and the de/naturalization of meaning in the Cameroonian novel, Afrika Focus, Vol. 9, Nr. 3-4, pp. 179-192.