Field: English Linguistics
Code: 60 22 15
HANOI - 2010

A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS ON ENGLISH
POLITICAL CARTOONS
(PHÂN TÍCH DIỄN NGÔN PHÊ PHÁN VỀ TRANH
BIẾM HỌA CHÍNH TRỊ TIẾNG ANH) Minor thesis

Field: English Linguistics
Code: 60 22 15
Supervisor: Prof. Nguyễn Hòa

HANOI - 2010 iv
LIST OF ABBREVIATION


CHAPTER 2. METHODOLOGY 16
2.1. Data Collection Methods 16

2
2.2. Data Analysis Procedures 17
CHAPTER 3. PRESENTATION AND DISCUSION OF THE RESULTS 20
3.1. Data Analysis 20
3.2. Discussion 40
PART C. CONCLUSION 44
1. CONCLUSION ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
2. LIMITATIONS 46
3. RECOMMENDATIONS 46
REFERENCES
APPENDIX 1
PART A. INTRODUCTION

1. Rationale

There is one question that has particularly fascinated people for thousands of years, whether
our languages can reflect or reinforce our ways of looking at the world and if so, how? It is
usually taken for granted that there exits the purely objective language and differs from our
experience and attitude. However, it is well-known now that language use is an inherently
social phenomenon. How we speak depends on such factors as where we grew up, our racial
and ethnic identity, whether we are women or men, and our education.

And we now also understand that successful reading of journalistic discourse as well as
graphics remains at a much higher level than just how language is used. For second language

psychological reflection, cartoons appear to be a very potential and appealing source of
material because in cartoons people have a freedom to employ pragmatic strategies that allow
them play to with words and drawings to achieve various communicative effects. Most
dictionary definitions tend to use the word “humorous” when describing cartoons, but this
does not always have to be the case. Certain cartoons, especially for political cartoons are not
humorous at all, but are making serious messages about certain issues that the artist finds
important. Obviously, cartoons can supply people with a very rich of information about the
native countries, people‟s lifestyles and culture differences.

Having these in mind, I choose to carry out a case study on English political cartoons in the
light of Critical Discourse Analysis in an attempt to find out hidden political opinions in
cartoons. This paper also hopefully examines to what extent Vietnamese readers of English are
able to interpret English cartoons and the way in which they differ from native readers of
English in their interpretation of the cartoons. Then, it draws some causes of misunderstanding
and gives some suggestions for better communication.
3
2. Scope of the Study

The study of CDA on English Political Cartoons is confined to linguistic devices and
symbolism of the cartoons under study and their conversational implicatures in relation to
everyday life or political context although the author is well aware that the global context at
the time cartoons were published and the gender of cartoons writer are certain important.

3. Aims of the Study

The objectives of the study on English Political Cartoons from CDA standpoint include:
- To provide a theoretical background of CDA- its concepts, its analysis procedures as


6. Organization of the Study

The study includes three parts as follows:
Part A: Introduction, presents the rationale, the aims, the scope and the methods of the study
as well as the organization of the study.
Part B: Development, the main part of the thesis and consists of three chapters:
- Chapter 1: Literature review
This chapter discusses the theoretical background related to Critical Discourse Analysis.
Of course, it focuses on definition of CDA, its characteristics, principles and aims of CDA.
Later part deals with the concepts of discourse and power. Then, coming to the
background knowledge about cartoons, in general and political cartoons, in particular.
Some general characteristics and purpose of political cartoons are mentioned in the last
part of this chapter.
- Chapter 2: Methodology
This chapter first restates the three research questions then gives the detailed description of
the study, which includes data collection instrument, subjects and data collection
procedure.
- Chapter 3: Presentation and Discussion of the results
This is the main part of the thesis with the data analysis which presents the results and in-
depth discussions, and then an overall picture is given by synthesizing all the major
findings and discussing them.

5
Part C: Conclusion, summarizes the major findings and also deals with the limitation of the
study as well as suggests the further study.

Apart from the three main parts, the two survey questionnaires (one for native readers and one
for non-native readers) are also included as appendix.



7
discursive sources of power, dominance, inequality, and bias and how these sources are
initiated, maintained, reproduced, and transformed within specific social, economic, political
and historical contexts”.

Fairclough (1997) also provided us with an useful definition that encapsulated most other
definition of CDA: “CDA is the study of often opaque relationship of causality and
determination between (a) discursive practices, events and texts, and (b) wider social and
cultural structures, relations and processes, to investigate how such practices, events and texts
arise out of and are ideologically shaped by relations of power and struggles over power, and
to explore how the opacity of these relationships between discourse and society is itself a
factor securing power”.

In general, the answer to such (critical) questions as “What is critical discourse analysis?”,
“How is it different from other types of discourse analysis?”, “What are its aims, special
methods?” and especially “What is its theoretical foundation?” require a study of the relations
between discourses, power, dominance, social inequality and the position of the discourse
analyst in such social relationships.

Although there are many directions in the study and critique of social inequality, the way we
approach these questions and dimensions is by focusing on the role of discourse in the
reproduction and challenge of dominance. Dominance is defined here as the exercise of social
power by elites, institutions or groups, that results in social inequality, including political,
cultural, class, ethnic, racial and gender inequality. This reproduction process may involve
such different modes of discourse-power relations as the more or less direct or overt support,
enactment, representation, legitimation, denial, mitigation or concealment of dominance,
among others. More specially, critical discourse analysts want to know what structures,
strategies or other properties of text, talk, verbal interaction or communicative events play a
role in these modes of reproduction. Then, according to Van Dijk (1993), critical discourse

simply deterministic but evokes an idea of mediation. There is a difference between the
various approaches to discourse. Norman Faiclough defines the relationship in accordance

9
with Halliday‟s multifunctional linguistic theory and the concept of orders of discourse while
van Dijk introduces a sociocognitive level. This kind of mediation between language and
society is absent from many other linguistic approaches, such as, for example, conversation
analysis.

A further distinguish feature of CDA is the specific incorporation of linguistic categories into
its analysis. CDA in no way includes a very broad range of linguistic categories. It can be
assumed that a small range of linguistic devices is central for CDA studies. In principle,
categories like dexis and pronouns can be analyzed in any linguistic method but they are
crucial for CDA. Explicitly or implicitly, CDA makes use of a concept of the so-called
linguistic surface.

Another characteristic of CDA is its interdisciplinary claim and its description of the object of
investigation from widely differing perspective as well as its continuous feedback between
analysis and data collection. Compared with other linguistic methods of text analysis, CDA
seems to be closets to sociological and socio-psychological perspectives, although these
interfaces are not well defined everywhere.

To sum up, with a critical approach to problems under investigation and a multidisciplinary
approach to study, CDA takes into account different extra linguistic factors such as culture,
society and ideology. There is also kind of mediation in the relationship between language and
society in CDA‟s view. These features make CDA distinctive from other types of discourse
analysis.
1.1.3. Principles and Aims of CDA

Titscher et al. (2000), using the work of Wodak (1996), summarize the general principles of

between text, talk, social cognition, power, society and culture. Its adequacy criteria are not
merely observational, descriptive or even explanatory. Ultimately, its success is measured by
its effectiveness and relevance, that is, but its contribution to change. 11
In short, in seeking to accomplish these goals, CDA investigates, and aims at illustrating, “a
relationship between the text and its social conditions, ideologies and power-relations”.
1.1.4. Power and Dominance

Tischer et al. (2000:151) suggest that when tackling CDA, “questions of power are of central
interest” since “power and ideologies may have an effect on each of the contextual levels” of
production, consumption and understanding of discourse. CDA engages with, analyses and
critiques social power and how this is represented and, both explicitly and implicitly,
reproduced in the news. But what is social power?

Power is another incredibly slippery concept and the subject of seemingly endless academic
discussion about what it exactly is and what is exactly means. Indeed, along with discourse
and ideology, power is an essentially contestable concept- a concept whose meaning and
application is inherently a matter of dispute (Gallie, 1955). Social power is based on privileged
access to socially values resources, such as wealth, income, position, status, force, group
membership, education or knowledge. Power involves control, namely by (members of) one
group over (those of) other groups. Such control may pertain to action and cognition: that is, a
powerful group many limit the freedom of actions of others, but also influence their minds
(Van Dijk, 1997).

Besides the elementary resource to force to directly control action (as in police violence
against demonstrators, or male violence against women), modern and often more effective
power is mostly cognitive, and enacted by persuasion, dissimulation or manipulation, among
other strategic ways to change the mind of others in one‟s own interests. It is at this crucial


The concept of hegemony, and its associated concepts of consensus, acceptance and the
management of the mind, also suggests that a critical analysis of discourse and dominance is
far from straightforward, and does not always imply a clear picture of villains and victims.
Indeed, we have already suggested that many forms of dominance appear to be jointly

13
produced through intricate forms of social interaction, communication and discourse. It is
hoped that critical discourse analysis will be able to contribute to our understanding of such
intricacies.

1.2. Background knowledge about Cartoons
1.2.1. What are Cartoons and Political Cartoons?

The word cartoon has various meanings, based on several very different forms of visual art
and illustration. The term has evolved over time.
The original meaning was in fine art and there cartoon meant a preparatory drawing for a piece
of art such as a painting or tapestry.
The somewhat more modern meaning was that of humorous illustrations in magazines and
newspapers. Even more recently there are now several contemporary meanings, including
creative visual work for print media, for electronic media, and even animated films and
animated digital media.
When the word cartoon is applied to print media, it most often refers to a humorous single-
panel drawing or gag cartoon, most of which have captions and do not use speech balloons.
The word cartoon is not often used to refer to a comic strip.
Cartoons were not part of the daily news until the late nineteenth century, when technological
advances made reproduction faster, cheaper and easier. According to one account, the cartoon
that appeared on the front page of the New York World on October 30, 1884, by Walt
McDougall carried the trend forward. The cartoon ran across the full width of the paper‟s front
page, equal in space to the articles, but stronger in impact. Editorial cartoons, also referred to

(images, symbols, captions, and quotes), conventions (expectations about what a sign is meant
to signify), and rhetorical devices (caricature and analogies) used to convey satire, irony, and

15
ridicule. Third, allusions to historical events and personages, or to past cultural texts (e.g.,
poems, novels, famous quotations, art), are only successful as the reader is able to access the
allusionary base from which the analogies are drawn. And lastly, there is some understanding
of the broader discourse itself that distinguishes political cartoons from the comics, political or
commercial ads, and photojournalism. Lack of any aspect of this assumed shared memory
might render an image opaque. The fact that most readers experience difficulties with cartoons
raises questions about the status of this shared memory.
1.2.3. Purpose of Political Cartoons
Political cartoons are an easy and funny way to criticize current events without having to
resort to tedious activities such as research, reading, or comprehending said current events.
Political cartoons make criticism of difficult issues as easy as doodling on a napkin - why,
even words are optional! One might say political cartooning makes political commentary
available to the illiterate.
Political cartoons are widely used to express opinions about public issues and officials. They
may be found in the pages of every major newspaper in the world and appeal to all levels of
readers. Cartoonists possess a special art skill which often incorporates caricatures,
symbolism, satire and a well-rounded understanding of the issues about which they are
drawing cartoons. Often the full meaning of the cartoon is rather subtle and may be missed
entirely by casual reader.
In short, what has been done in this chapter is a review of CDA by different linguists. There
have been different ways of doing CDA; each individual method puts emphasis on dissimilar
levels of analysis. Therefore, the critical discourse analyst should decide on their own focus of
analysis in doing their own research. The author also would like to stress that this thesis uses
discourse approach to obtain the final aim of uncovering English political cartoons under
study and, at the same time, revealing the discursive power of language and graphic which
realize the social, political opinions of the cartoonist about certain issues.

cartoon? 17

- What do you think each symbol mean?

- Who would agree/disagree with the cartoon‟s message? Why?

- What might be the public‟s reaction to this cartoon? 2.2. Data Analysis Procedures

The sample cartoons were collected from popular English magazines, newspapers such as
Newsweek, The New Yorker, Times and reliable websites http://www.cartoonstocl.com and
http://www.cartoongallery.co.uk.
The selection of the cartoons under study was based on the following criteria:
- The cartoons must consist of drawings as well as words to serve the purpose of a
linguistics study.
- The cartoons look strange, interesting, and funny but not too challenging so that the
readers can understand them (especially for non-native readers).
- The cartoons must convey political issues such as power, dominance, prejudge
discrimination, and/or racism etc.
To execute this case study, it is necessary to find a group of readers who are at advanced
English proficiency level because this group are more likely to have motivation and
interest in a variety of English sources apart from others. They would be willing to spend
time and effort to fulfill such an uneasy task of interpreting English cartoons. It is decided
to select a group of 10 Vietnamese readers of English; five of them are now working for
Vietnam news, Life and Style Division and others are teachers of English at Faculties of

NNR. Three of them gave me answers directly and two people sent their emails. All the
responses were synthesized to become a benchmark for the study, in terms of the most
possible interpretations. It is remarkable that most of the NR‟s interpretations are quite
similar although they might make use of different cues in the cartoons.

19

Vietnamese readers of English were tested to determine the extent to which their
interpretation of English cartoons were the same as those of native readers who took the
same test. 10 copies of questionnaires were handed out, 10 responses were collected
directly or indirectly. The informants were to give the interpretation for each cartoon
without any suggestion in the survey. They were also asked to specify the language,
graphic features and events which help them derive the messages behind the cartoons. The
names and addresses of the informants were not presented in the study but were noted
down for further interviewing in case there were any details which need to be made clear.

The results attained from the two groups were then analyzed. A comparison was made
between the way Vietnamese readers and native readers exploit the language and graphics
in English cartoons to interpret in order to find out the cause of their misinterpretations.
Due to the limited sample size, the findings must be carefully interpreted. After that major
findings are drawn, giving an overview to the non-native readers as well as factors that
influence the extent of their understanding. 20
CHAPTER 3. PRESENTATION AND DISCUSION OF
THE RESULTS This chapter is aimed at discovering how the cartoonists‟ political viewpoints are embedded in