Discourse Analysis

Overview

Framework

IRON LAW: Language Constructs Reality, Not Just Describes It

The choice of words is never neutral. "Restructuring" vs "layoffs",
"enhanced interrogation" vs "torture", "undocumented workers" vs
"illegal aliens" — same events, different realities constructed.

Discourse analysis examines WHAT language does, not just what it says.

Key Analytical Dimensions

1. Framing: How is the issue defined? What metaphors are used? What's included/excluded?
2. Subject positions: Who is positioned as agent (active doer) vs patient (passive receiver)?
3. Presupposition: What is taken for granted without being stated?
4. Intertextuality: What other texts/discourses does this reference or draw upon?
5. Power relations: Whose voice is amplified? Whose is silenced?

Analysis Steps

1. Select the text: What specific communication are you analyzing?
2. Context: Who produced it? For whom? In what setting? What's the purpose?
3. Lexical analysis: What word choices are notable? What alternatives were available?
4. Structural analysis: How is the text organized? What comes first? What's emphasized?
5. What's absent: What is NOT said? Who is NOT represented?
6. Power mapping: Who benefits from this particular framing?

Output Format

# Discourse Analysis: {Text/Document}

## Context
- Producer: {who created this text}
- Audience: {intended recipients}
- Purpose: {stated and unstated goals}
- Genre: {press release / policy doc / speech / ad}

## Framing Analysis
| Element | In the Text | Alternative Framing | Effect |
|---------|------------|-------------------|--------|
| {key term} | "{actual language}" | "{what could have been said}" | {how this shapes perception} |

## Subject Positions
- Agent (active): {who does things}
- Patient (passive): {who has things done to them}
- Absent: {who is not mentioned}

## Presuppositions
- {what the text assumes without stating}

## Power Analysis
- This framing benefits: {who}
- This framing disadvantages: {who}

## Key Findings
{What the discourse analysis reveals that a surface reading misses}

Examples

Correct Application

Incorrect Application

• "This press release is biased" → Too vague. Which words? What framing? Bias toward what? Discourse analysis requires specific textual evidence. Violates Iron Law: analyze what language DOES.

Gotchas

• All language is "constructed": Discourse analysis doesn't mean the text is "lying." Even honest communication makes framing choices. The question is what those choices reveal and conceal.
• Analyst's own discourse: Your analysis is also a discourse with its own framing and assumptions. Be reflexive about your own position.
• Context is everything: The same words mean different things in different contexts. "We need to move fast" in a startup vs in a hospital has very different implications.
• Don't over-read: Not every word choice is strategic. Sometimes "right-size" is just corporate jargon the writer learned, not a deliberate framing strategy. Consider intentionality.
• Discourse analysis is not fact-checking: It examines how meaning is constructed, not whether claims are true. Pair with evidence-based analysis for a complete picture.

References

• For Fairclough's Critical Discourse Analysis framework, see

  references/cda-framework.md