Critical Discourse Analysis, Fairclough, Hodge and Kress, Language and Power

1. Summary of the PhD Dissertation
This study focuses on Arundhati Roy’s novel The God of Small Things to
reveal how elements of power and ideology are reflected in it through a
particular language use. The study is based on the premise that Roy’s novel
harbors a variety of discourses which include elements of power struggle,
ideology, and social injustice. This paves the way for the novel to be a rich
material for conducting a critical discourse analysis(CDA). It is an analysis
conducted by applying a particular CDA model namely Fairclough's (1995)
Three Dimensional Framework and Hodge and Kress’s (1993) Syntagmatic and
“Power Model” (p.94). This dissertation is divided into six chapters.
Chapter one is introductory and presents the background of the study, the
rationale, the problem, and the significance of the study. This chapter also
presents three research questions about the study, and the methodology used in
conducting the study.
Chapter two sheds light on some of the definitions of CDA, and focuses on
the notion of literary discourse, as it is the main interest of this study because
Roy’s work under analysis is a literary work. The chapter also hints at the idea
of why are literary texts sometimes difficult to analyze. Moreover, this chapter
notes some important pioneers and their works in the field of CDA. The studies
highlighted in this chapter are of importance because they form the background
for chapter three.
Chapter three presents the theoretical framework adopted in analyzing Roy's
novel The God of Small Things. The model is Fairclough's (1995) Three
Dimensional Framework of CDA, as well as Hodge and Kress’s (1993)
syntagmatic and authority models. Fairclough’s CDA framework together with
the analytical models of Hodge and Kress enable one to conduct a
comprehensive analysis of the various discourses present in The God of Small

2. Things. Thus, this chapter includes the design, material, instrument of the study,
and the procedure in conducting the study.
Chapter four forms the data of the study since the study adopts a qualitative
design. Chapter four includes significant quotations selected from the novel for
their importance as they are components of various discourses. This chapter
presents the various discourses in Arundhati Roy's novel for the purpose of
being critically analyzed in the next chapter. Roy's novel harbors a variety of
discourses which are: social discourse, gender discourse, religious discourse, the
discourse of the Caste system, police discourse, political discourse, colonial,
and post-colonial discourse.
Chapter five is the critical discourse analysis of the various discourses that
were highlighted in chapter four. The analysis is conducted according to the
designated frameworks highlighted in chapter four. The analysis of the various
discourses aims at revealing notions of social and gender injustice, power abuse,
and domination.
Chapter six is the concluding chapter of the study which provides a summary
of the findings and gives recommendations for further research. The study of
the dissertation sets out to examine the linguistic choices that Roy uses for a
particular purpose. Among the findings, there is for example the notion that Roy
has employed particular linguistic choices in certain social practices and
encounters between the characters in order to reveal power manipulation
embedded in the discourses and language use. As for the recommendations,
there is for example the need to further study post-colonial and Neo-colonial
texts to see how they serve as political statements projecting the world they
represent.