On American Presidential Debates In 2008 From Perspective Of Critical Discourse Analysis

As a brand-new method of discourse analysis, the function of Critical Discourse Analysis is to disclose the ideology hidden in the discourse and its influence on the discourse as well as the counteractive influence the discourse exerts on ideology. This thesis mainly employs Fairclough's three-dimensional theory to analyze 2008 American presidential debates between Barack Obama and John McCain by describing the text of the debate discourse from three perspectives of transitivity, classification and transformation, interpreting the relation between the text and the discursive practice and explaining the social practice of the discourse under historic and political context. The research indicates that both candidates have implicitly manipulated the ideological orientation of the target audience through specific choice of words, deliberately change of subjects, shift of responsibility to others and strategy of negative other-presentation. The underlying reason for such fierce battle at linguistic level is that the debater's eloquence and performance may have contributed to the outcome of presidential election to some degree. In this sense, language is considered both as a site and a stake for power struggle. Furthermore, the author points out the significance of cultivating critical awareness in perceiving political discourse.