Critical Discourse Analysis and the Rational Faculty

Abstract

In this age, the constant desire to be the best, to achieve the highest, to attain the most power, seems to be making us compromise our moral standards. The endeavor to strive and go to the next level may not always be practiced in a healthy manner. The present era poses its own problems, issues and challenges; complexities are part and parcel of social existence. In such an environment taking thing at face value could lead one to be beguiled, influenced or manipulated. Critical discourse analysis (CDA) offers a window of opportunities to make apparent the not so apparent issues of a society. Its objective is to empower people by making them conscious of the hidden structures that exist in the social makeup of a community. Once an individual or members of a community and or a society becomes aware of the issues that may have escaped them, they will be in a position to choose what to believe and what not to believe, what is authentic and what is doubtful or questionable. This paper aims to give a brief introduction to CDA and suggests how it can make the rational faculty more inquisitive outside and inside the academia.