Chouliaraki (2000)

[Linnea Micciulla]

Hi Noriko et al,

I think the authors you've read are a good foundation for social theory
- also Bourdieu, and maybe Gramsci. Thinking about it philosophically,
everyone "stands on the shoulders" of the great people who came before
them, so you can't always go back to all the original sources; it would
become a never-ending chain. I'd say Fairclough is a very good place to
start with CDA, though.

I think the key is to find a framework that makes sense for the type of
analysis you want to do, and then go with that. I'm not familiar with
Thompson's "The Media and Modernity” but I'm impressed with
Chouliaraki's work, and I am particularly interested in frameworks that
apply CDA to the media, so I've ordered it. You can borrow it from me
once it arrives!

I would be very interested to hear any recommendations people have,
though, as well - especially theorists that work with media.

In Chouliaraki's discussion of 'deliberative democracy' I couldn't help
but think of the internet and what an amazing tool is it for providing
access to diversity of perspectives and thus providing an alternative to
the hegemonic consensus that comes from mainstream media. With the
internet, I can easily read the NY Times or the Boston Globe, but then I
can also read The Guardian, The Independent, Haaretz, axisoflogic.com,
fair.org, and fill in the missing information that is not available in
mainstream US news. I know that on the one hand, the internet is not so
democratic because it is not available to everyone; one needs to be at
least priviledged enough to have access to a computer. But it certainly
seems like a step in the right direction, allowing voices that would
normally be silenced to emerge and be heard, and providing a large
portion of the citizenry with the means to access the information needed
to engage in informed and rational debate.

Linnea


杉森 典子 wrote:

>About Chouliaraki (2000)
>
>Based on analyses of extracts of actual news broadcasts,
>Chouliaraki attempted to see what forms constitute the
>media
>’s contribution to political discourse and democratic
>practices. Chouliaraki stated there is a need to relate
>abstract theory with empirical research.
>
>Because my understanding of social theories is still in
>its infancy, I was not sure whether my understanding is
>right of the social theories Chouliaraki explained in her
>article. Specifically, I was not certain whether my
>understanding of Thompson
>’s “deliberative democracy” is correct. Therefore I
>tried to locate Thompson
>’s book, “The Media and Modernity” (1995), but the book
>was not readily available.
>
>I know locating the original is always the right approach.
>I have read originals by Foucalt, Anderson, Giddens, and
>others. Still, Fairclough
>’s book, “Analyzing Discourse: Textual Analysis for
>Social Research
>” (2003) is also helpful because it contains a glossary
>of key theorists. Fairclough
>’s glossary listed key theorists, such as Bakhtin,
>Bourdieu, and Halliday, but J. Thompson is not one of
>them. I desperately need a book like
>“Social Theories 101.” Any recommendations?
>
>
>
>Noriko Sugimori
>20 Chestnut Street #204, Cambridge, MA 02139
>tel & fax 617-494-6497
>杉森典子
>〒939-8051 富山市大泉中部１２３　秋本方
>tel & fax 076-421-1337
>
>
>