Abstract:
Through uncovering the underlying elements of language, this research aims
to reveal the hidden layers of meaning in press texts in the framework of a
critical discourse analysis. Having used socio-semantic features of Van
Leeuwen's model (1996), this paper has studied, qualitatively, 40 issues of four
Iranian Persian publications for a period of two months, from July 22 to
September 21, 2011. These publications were 'E'temad', 'Sharq', Resalat' and
Keyhan. The analyses included recognizing discursive structures in the texts,
determining the linguistic realizations of structures, and explaining along with
uncovering the hidden layers of meaning and the ideology behind the texts.
The research results out of the data analysis indicate that the ideology
dominating the minds of writers and groups is reflected in the texts using
discursive features as exclusion, activation, passivation, personalization and
impersonalization. Exclusion has been the most frequently used feature in
'E'temad and 'Sharq', whereas activation has had the highest frequency of
occurrences in 'Resalat' and 'Keyhan'. The discursive structures take place
using linguistic instruments like pre-modifiers, active vs. passive structures,
coordination and circumstantials, in the texts. Besides, the relationship
between discursive structures and ideology is dialectal, which can be
determined by studying these structures in the texts and social institutions.
Machine summary:
J. Humanities (2013) Vol. 22 (1): (29-52) The Relationship between Discursive Structures and Ideology in Press Texts Masoud Asadi1, Arsalan Golfam2, Ferdows Aghagolzadeh3 Received: 2013/7/18 Accepted: 2014/3/5 Abstract Through uncovering the underlying elements of language, this research aims to reveal the hidden layers of meaning in press texts in the framework of a critical discourse analysis.
The research results out of the data analysis indicate that the ideology dominating the minds of writers and groups is reflected in the texts using discursive features as exclusion, activation, passivation, personalization and impersonalization.
Keywords: Critical Discourse Analysis; Discursive Structures; Socio-Semantic Features; Social Actors; Ideology.
Applying Van Leeuwen's model (1996) to analyze the press texts, this paper aims to show how writers use socio-semantic features to represent social actors in a way they intend to.
In an article entitled "The representation of social actors", Van Leeuwen, putting forward a list of methods of representing social actors and defining and explaining each of them, argued that studying the socio-semantic features of the discourse would yield to a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the text than the linguistic features alone.
Indeed, Van Leeuwen believes that in critical discourse analysis, the discursive justification of the presence or absence of socio-semantic features should first be determined, then, the linguistic realization of them in text or utterance should be specified.
3. Data Analysis This section deals with the methods of representation of social actors via extracting socio-semantic features from the texts, accompanied by determination of their linguistic realizations, as well as their analyses and interpretations.