Critiques of CDA/CDS and Responses

Chapter 5 addresses various critiques of CDA/CDS along with the responses to them, including recent changes in focus and direction. We begin with a discussion of Widdowson’s well-known critique of CDA and Fairclough’s (and later, Wodak’s) response to it, followed by critiques of what ‘critical’ in ‘critical discourse analysis/studies’ means, as well as the need for reflexivity within the field, particularly in terms of what it actually accomplishes in the world. Additionally, we address methodological and theoretical shortcomings, the need for more contextually oriented analyses that attend to cultural influences, relationships between readers, text producers, researchers and texts, and the need to pay attention to other fields and modalities. In response to this, we discuss Positive Discourse Analysis (PDA) and the move toward generative critique, more attention to culture in the construction of discourse, researcher reflexivity, and how the field is continually redefining itself.