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253251

The Notion of Discourse as ‘Power’ and ‘Resistance’ Revisited

Article

Last updated: 05 Jan 2025

Subjects

-

Tags

Social Studies

Abstract

Studies in CDA focus exclusively on two major aspects or perspectives in the analysis of discourse: language as power and more recently language as resistance. This paper argues that unfortunately power struggle and power conflict end in capitulation or concession. Examples of discourse as power and discourse as resistance (Fairclough, 2001, 2003; Negm, 1997, 1998, 2015) can be found not only in political arguments but in other discursive manifestations such as doctor-patient interviews. This paper broadens the scope of the language and power relations. It examines a new area of study related to discourse as power: capitulation (or concession) in discourse. It investigates the notion of capitulation in three literary works: Animal farm, 1984 and A passage to India. In Animal Farm by Orwell, the novella ends in despair and bewilderment on the part of the oppressed powerless animals. At the end of the novella, the animals feel powerless, bewildered and frustrated. The notion of ‘capitulation' is pursued in 1984 since the main characters` final choice is loss, surrender and betrayal. Similarly, a Passage to India by Forster ends in capitulation due to the fact that the Indian and the English people fail to integrate and be friends. Then, the paper proceeds to discuss the implications of the aforementioned analysis for discourse analysis and applied linguistics. Yet foremost, it postulates the roots of capitulation in literary genres in which power and power-resistance are not the only conceived concepts. In this regard, discourse should be seen and examined from a multiplicity of domains and perspectives, not only power and power-resistance but also in terms of surrender and capitulation

DOI

10.21608/ijahr.2022.253251

Keywords

Critical Discourse Analysis, power, resistance, capitulation

Authors

First Name

Mohamed

Last Name

Negm

MiddleName

Said

Affiliation

English Department, Faculty of Arts, Tanta University ,Egypt

Email

mohamed.negm1@art.tanta.edu.eg

City

-

Orcid

-

Volume

1

Article Issue

2

Related Issue

36024

Issue Date

2021-12-01

Receive Date

2022-08-06

Publish Date

2021-12-01

Page Start

1

Page End

8

Online ISSN

2812-5940

Link

https://ijahr.journals.ekb.eg/article_253251.html

Detail API

https://ijahr.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=253251

Order

253,251

Type

Original Article

Type Code

2,413

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

International Journal of Advanced Humanities Research

Publication Link

https://ijahr.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

The Notion of Discourse as ‘Power’ and ‘Resistance’ Revisited

Details

Type

Article

Created At

23 Jan 2023