This new and engaging introduction offers a critical approach to discourse, written by an expert uniquely placed to cover the subject for a variety of disciplines. Organised along thematic lines, the book begins with an outline of the basic principles, moving on to examine the methods and theory of CDA (critical discourse analysis). It covers topics such as text and context, language and inequality, choice and determination, history and process, ideology and identity. Blommaert focuses on how language can offer a crucial understanding of wider aspects of power relations, arguing that critical discourse analysis should specifically be an analysis of the 'effects' of power, what power does to people, groups and societies, and how this impact comes about. Clearly argued, this concise introduction will be welcomed by students and researchers in a variety of disciplines involved in the study of discourse, including linguistics, linguistic anthropology and the sociology of language. This engaging 2005 introduction offers a critical approach to discourse. Organised thematically, it begins by outlining the basic principles, and moves on to examine the methods and theory of CDA (critical discourse analysis). Topics covered include text and context, language and inequality, choice and determination, history and process, ideology and identity. Preface xi Acknowledgments xiii Introduction 1(20) What are we talking about? 1(4) The critical pool 5(8) Five principles 13(3) Central problems: the organisation of the book 16(5) Suggestions for further reading 20(1) Critical Discourse Analysis 21(18) Introduction 21(1) CDA: origins and programme 22(5) CDA and social theory 27(1) Theory and methodology: Norman Fairclough 28(3) The pros and cons of CDA 31(8) Suggestions for further reading 38(1) Text and context 39(29) Introduction: context is/as critique 39(1) Context: some general guidelines 40(10) Two critical conceptions of context 50(6) Forgotten contexts 56(10) Conclusions 66(2) Suggestions for further reading 67(1) Language and inequality 68(30) The problem: voice and mobility 68(2) Towards a theory of voice 70(8) Texts that do not travel well: inequality, literacy, and globalisation 78(5) Inequality and the narrative order 83(12) Conclusions 95(3) Suggestions for further reading 96(2) Choice and determination 98(27) Introduction: choice or voice? 98(1) The archive 99(5) Creative practice and determination 104(3) Creativity within constraints: hetero-graphy 107(15) Conclusions 122(3) Suggestions for further reading 123(2) History and process 125(33) Introduction 125(1) Times and consciousness: layered simultaneity 126(5) Continuities, discontinuities, and synchronisation 131(6) Speaking from and on history 1: `they don't like US-us' 137(5) Speaking from and on history 2: `let's analyse' 142(14) Conclusions 156(2) Suggestions for further reading 157(1) Ideology 158(45) Introduction 158(3) The terminological muddle of ideologies 161(10) Polycentric systems, layered ideologies 171(4) Socialism and the socialists 175(9) Slow shifts in orthodoxy 184(19) Suggestions for further reading 202(1) Identity 203(30) Introduction 203(4) Identities as semiotic potential 207(7) What is left of ethnolinguistic identity? 214(7) Space, place, and identity 221(3) The world system in action 224(9) Suggestions for further reading 232(1) Conclusion: Discourse and the social sciences 233(6) Notes 239(7) Appendix: English translations of the documents in chapter 5 246(5) Glossary 251(5) References 256(18) Index 274