STRATEGIES FOR REPRESENTING SOCIAL ACTORS: A CASE STUDY
Main Article Content
Abstract
The study explored the strategies used for representing the two social actors, Donald
Trump and Hillary Clinton as a case-study. Data was the transcript of the speech delivered at the 2016
Democratic National Convention (DNC) by President Obama. Grounded in the view that an actor is
defined in terms of who he is and what he does, the study adopted a combined approach drawn on van
Leeuwen’s social actor representation framework (SAR) and Halliday’s transitivity analysis. Findings
reveal the speaker deployed selected strategies to support, to identify with Clinton, and to other Trump
at the same time. The use of van Dijk’s ideological square showed how the Us vs. Them characterization
functioned as a strategy to further legitimation or de-legitimation of social actors. The study suggests
that representations are potentially biased. However, it implicitly recognizes a more powerful role of
non-discursive social practices. Implications and suggestions for future research are offered.
Article Details
Keywords
representation, social actor, transitivity, legitimation, ideological square
References
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polarization in the online news media: A
social actor analysis of Megawati
Soekarnoputri. Discourse and Society,
32(1), 64-80.
https://doi.org/10.1177/095792650961634
Alias, A. B., & Nasir, N. M. (2019). Social actor
representation of the missing Malaysia
Airlines flight MH370 in the Malaysian and
foreign news reports: A critical discourse
analysis. International Journal of Applied
Linguistics & English Literature, 6(1), 84.
https://doi.org/10.5296ijl.6i1.4892
Bernard, T. (2018). The discursive representation of
social actors in the corporate social
responsibility (CSA) and integrated annual
(IA) reports of two South African mining
companies. Critical Approaches to
Discourse Analysis across Disciplines,
10(1), 81-97.
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/fass/journals/cadaa
d/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/05-Bernard.pdf
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history, and the challenge of difference.
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native English speaker and English language
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Conti, B. (2016). Islam as a new social actor in Italian
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https://doi.org/10.1080/09637494.2016.122
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Danziger, R. (2021). The democratic king: The role
of ritualized flattery in political discourse.
Discourse and Society, 32(6), 645-665.
https://doi.org/10.1177/09579265211023224
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Exploring the language of politics and the
politics of language. Language and
Linguistics Compass, 6(12), 735-751.
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textual representation and cognitive
conceptualization of businesswomen in
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J. Sunderland (Eds.), Gender and language
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Palgrave.
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https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190514000087
Lin, U., Chen, M., & Flowerdew, J. (2021). ‘Same,
same but different’: Representations of
Chinese mainland and Hong Kong people in
the press in post-1997 Hong Kong. Critical
Discourse Studies.
https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2021.190
5015
Machin, D., & Mayr, A. (2012). How to do critical
discourse analysis. Sage.
Mohamad Jamil, S. N. (2020). ‘Malaysia belongs to
the Malays’ (Malaysia ni Melayu Punya!):
Categorising ‘us’ and ‘them’ in Malaysia’s
mainstream Malay-language newspapers.
Critical Discourse Studies, 18(6), 671-687.
https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2020.183
4419
Morgan, M. (2020). Why meaning-making matters:
The case of the UK Government’s COVID-
19 response. American Journal of Cultural
Sociology, 8, 270-323.
https://doi.org/10.1057/s41290-020-00121-y
Obama, B. (2016). President Obama’s DNC speech
[Speech transcript]. Politico.
https://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/dn
c-2016-obama-prepared-remarks-226345
Potter, J. (1996). Representing reality. Sage.
Power, K., Rak, l., & Kim, M. (2020). Women in
business media: A critical discourse analysis
of representations of women in Forbes,
Fortune and Bloomberg Business Week,
2015-2017. Critical Approaches to
Discourse Analysis across Disciplines,
11(2), 1-26.
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/fass/journals/ca
daad/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Vol11.2-
1-Power-Rak-Kim.pdf
Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G., & Svartvik, J.
(1972). A grammar of contemporary
English. Longman.
Rampton, B. (1995). Politics and change in research
in applied linguistics. Applied Linguistics,
16(2), 233-54.
Rath, T., & Conchie, B. (2008). Strengths based
leadership: Great leaders, teams, and why
people follow. Gallup Press.
Silaški, N., & Đurović, T. (2019). The Great Wall of
Europe: Verbal and
multimodal potrayals of Europe’s migrant
crisis in Serbian media discourse.
In L. Viola & A. Musolff (Eds.), Migration
and media: Discourses about
identities in crisis (pp. 83-202). John
Benjamins Publishing Company.
Teo, P. (2000). Racism in the news: A critical
discourse analysis of news reporting in two
Australian newspapers. Discourse and
Society, 11(1), 7-49.
Tussyadiah, I. P. (2014). Social actor attribution to
mobile phones: The case of
tourists. Information Technology &
Tourism, 14(1), 21-47.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40558-013-0002-4
Van Dijk, T. A. (1998). Ideology and discourse. Sage.
Van Dijk, T. A. (2001). Multidisciplinary CDA: A
plea for diversity. In R. Wodak & M. Meyer
(Eds.), Methods of discourse analysis
(pp. 95-120). Sage.
van Leeuwen, T. (1996). The representation of social
actors. In C. R. Caldas-Coulthard & M.
Coulthard (Eds.), Texts and practices:
Readings in critical discourse analysis
(pp. 32-71). Routledge.
van Leeuwen, T. (2008). Discourse and practice:
New tools for discourse analysis. Oxford
University Press.
Voloshinov, V. (1973). Marxism and the philosophy
of language. Harvard University Press.
Wodak, R., & Meyer, M. (Eds.). (2009). Methods of
critical discourse analysis (2nd ed.). Sage.
Woodffitt, R. (2005). Conversation analysis and
discourse analysis: A comparative and
critical introduction. Sage.
OUP.
Ahlstrand, J. L. (2020). Strategies of ideological
polarization in the online news media: A
social actor analysis of Megawati
Soekarnoputri. Discourse and Society,
32(1), 64-80.
https://doi.org/10.1177/095792650961634
Alias, A. B., & Nasir, N. M. (2019). Social actor
representation of the missing Malaysia
Airlines flight MH370 in the Malaysian and
foreign news reports: A critical discourse
analysis. International Journal of Applied
Linguistics & English Literature, 6(1), 84.
https://doi.org/10.5296ijl.6i1.4892
Bernard, T. (2018). The discursive representation of
social actors in the corporate social
responsibility (CSA) and integrated annual
(IA) reports of two South African mining
companies. Critical Approaches to
Discourse Analysis across Disciplines,
10(1), 81-97.
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/fass/journals/cadaa
d/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/05-Bernard.pdf
Bernstein, B. (1981). Codes, modalities and the
process of cultural reproduction: A model.
Language and Society, 19, 327-363.
Blommaert, J. (2005). Discourse: A critical
introduction. Cambridge University Press.
Calhoun, C. (1995). Critical social theory: Culture,
history, and the challenge of difference.
Blackwell Publishing.
Charles, Q. D. (2019). Black teachers of English in
South Korea: Constructing identities as a
native English speaker and English language
teaching professional. TESOL Journal,
10(4), Article e478.
https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.478
Clinton, H. R. (2017). What happened. Simon &
Schuster.
Conti, B. (2016). Islam as a new social actor in Italian
cities: Mosque controversies as sites of
inclusion and separation. Religion, State and
Society, 44(3), 238-257.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09637494.2016.122
0770
Danziger, R. (2021). The democratic king: The role
of ritualized flattery in political discourse.
Discourse and Society, 32(6), 645-665.
https://doi.org/10.1177/09579265211023224
Dunmire, P. L. (2012). Political discourse analysis:
Exploring the language of politics and the
politics of language. Language and
Linguistics Compass, 6(12), 735-751.
Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse and social change.
Routledge.
Fairclough, N. (2015). Language and power. Pearson
Education Limited.
Fairclough, N., & Wodak, R. (1997). Critical
discourse analysis. In T. van Dijk (Ed.),
Discourse as social interaction: Discourse
studies: A multidisciplinary introduction
(pp. 258-284). Sage.
Fowler, R., Hodge, R., Kress, G., & Trew, T. (1979).
Language and control. Routledge & Kegan
Paul.
Gal, S. (1989). Language and political economy.
Annual Review of Anthropology, 18(1), 345-
367.
Garcia, D. (2019, August 14). Presidential traits in
American society. Vida Aventura.
https://vidaaventura.net/commonpresidential-leadership-qualities/
Goffman E. (1959). The presentation of self in
everyday life. Penguin Books.
Gramsci, A. (1971). Selections from prison
notebooks. Lawrence and Wishart.
Habermas, J. (1975). Legitimation crisis. Beacon
Press.
Hall, D. (2003). The work of representation. In S.
Hall (Ed.), Representation: Cultural
representations and signifying practices
(pp. 15-30). Sage.
https://culturetechnologypolitics.files.word
press.com/2015/09/stuart-hall-onrepresentation-1.pdf
Halliday, M. A. K. (1978). Language as social
semiotic: The social interpretation of
language and meaning. Arnold.
Halliday, M. A. K., & Matthiessen, C. M. I. M.
(2004). An introduction to functional
grammar. Edward Arnold.
Hart, C. (2014). Discourse, grammar and ideology:
Functional and cognitive perspectives.
Bloombury Academic.
Holborow, M. (2015). Neoliberalism and language.
Routledge.
Irwin, J. W. (1996). Empowering ourselves and
transforming schools: Educators making a
difference. SUNY Press.
Jorgensen, M., & Phillips, L. (2002). Discourse
analysis as theory and method. Sage.
Keating, J. (2021). Populist discourse and active
metaphors in the 2016 US presidential
elections. Intercultural Pragmatics, 18(4),
499-531. https://doi.org/10.1515/ip-2021-4004
KhosraviNik, M. (2010). Actor descriptions, action
attributions, and argumentation: Towards a
systematization of CDA analytical
categories in the representation of social
groups. Critical Discourse Studies, 7(1), 55-72.
https://doi.org/10.1080/17405900903453948
Koller, V. (2008). CEOs and “working gals”: The
textual representation and cognitive
conceptualization of businesswomen in
different discourse communities. In K.
Harrington, L. Litoselliti, H. Sauntson &
J. Sunderland (Eds.), Gender and language
research methodologies (pp. 211-226).
Palgrave.
Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live
by. The University of Chicago Press.
Lin, A. (2014). Critical discourse analysis in applied
linguistics: A methodological review.
Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 34,
213–232.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190514000087
Lin, U., Chen, M., & Flowerdew, J. (2021). ‘Same,
same but different’: Representations of
Chinese mainland and Hong Kong people in
the press in post-1997 Hong Kong. Critical
Discourse Studies.
https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2021.190
5015
Machin, D., & Mayr, A. (2012). How to do critical
discourse analysis. Sage.
Mohamad Jamil, S. N. (2020). ‘Malaysia belongs to
the Malays’ (Malaysia ni Melayu Punya!):
Categorising ‘us’ and ‘them’ in Malaysia’s
mainstream Malay-language newspapers.
Critical Discourse Studies, 18(6), 671-687.
https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2020.183
4419
Morgan, M. (2020). Why meaning-making matters:
The case of the UK Government’s COVID-
19 response. American Journal of Cultural
Sociology, 8, 270-323.
https://doi.org/10.1057/s41290-020-00121-y
Obama, B. (2016). President Obama’s DNC speech
[Speech transcript]. Politico.
https://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/dn
c-2016-obama-prepared-remarks-226345
Potter, J. (1996). Representing reality. Sage.
Power, K., Rak, l., & Kim, M. (2020). Women in
business media: A critical discourse analysis
of representations of women in Forbes,
Fortune and Bloomberg Business Week,
2015-2017. Critical Approaches to
Discourse Analysis across Disciplines,
11(2), 1-26.
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/fass/journals/ca
daad/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Vol11.2-
1-Power-Rak-Kim.pdf
Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G., & Svartvik, J.
(1972). A grammar of contemporary
English. Longman.
Rampton, B. (1995). Politics and change in research
in applied linguistics. Applied Linguistics,
16(2), 233-54.
Rath, T., & Conchie, B. (2008). Strengths based
leadership: Great leaders, teams, and why
people follow. Gallup Press.
Silaški, N., & Đurović, T. (2019). The Great Wall of
Europe: Verbal and
multimodal potrayals of Europe’s migrant
crisis in Serbian media discourse.
In L. Viola & A. Musolff (Eds.), Migration
and media: Discourses about
identities in crisis (pp. 83-202). John
Benjamins Publishing Company.
Teo, P. (2000). Racism in the news: A critical
discourse analysis of news reporting in two
Australian newspapers. Discourse and
Society, 11(1), 7-49.
Tussyadiah, I. P. (2014). Social actor attribution to
mobile phones: The case of
tourists. Information Technology &
Tourism, 14(1), 21-47.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40558-013-0002-4
Van Dijk, T. A. (1998). Ideology and discourse. Sage.
Van Dijk, T. A. (2001). Multidisciplinary CDA: A
plea for diversity. In R. Wodak & M. Meyer
(Eds.), Methods of discourse analysis
(pp. 95-120). Sage.
van Leeuwen, T. (1996). The representation of social
actors. In C. R. Caldas-Coulthard & M.
Coulthard (Eds.), Texts and practices:
Readings in critical discourse analysis
(pp. 32-71). Routledge.
van Leeuwen, T. (2008). Discourse and practice:
New tools for discourse analysis. Oxford
University Press.
Voloshinov, V. (1973). Marxism and the philosophy
of language. Harvard University Press.
Wodak, R., & Meyer, M. (Eds.). (2009). Methods of
critical discourse analysis (2nd ed.). Sage.
Woodffitt, R. (2005). Conversation analysis and
discourse analysis: A comparative and
critical introduction. Sage.