Critical Discourse Analysis of the Iraq War: Linguistic and Cultural Transformations

Abstract

The research adopts Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to investigate the Iraq War by examining political discourse transformations and changes in media communication language and culture. Using the CDA framework developed by Fairclough and van Dijk, together with Wodak, allows researchers to study how language usage and ideological control, combined with power, manipulate societal views to legitimize military operations while directing societal culture. The examination of 17 scholarly materials that included political addresses, war accounts, and news articles enabled researchers to detect essential discursive patterns that showed manipulative maneuvers, partisan ideological expression, and linguistic treatment of both insurgency and terrorism.
Western political leaders George W. Bush and Tony Blair achieved war legitimation through their positive self-portrayals and negative depictions of others during the conflict. Media outlets in European countries and America used their reporting to intensify religious conflicts in Iraq, which resulted in heightened war tensions. Media translations about war events modified public perceptions of the conflict. This study contributes to a new understanding of academic literature about propaganda in war, media influences, and discourse effects in global conflicts.