Towards a social and ethnographic Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis

Andrea Mayr, Zayed University

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

Handbook on Critical Discourse Studies

Publication Date

1-15-2026

Abstract

Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA) has probably made the most comprehensive attempt to develop a theory and method of analysing the inter-connectedness of language and the visual and of the role of (visual) discourses in creating, maintaining and legitimising inequalities. Over the past decade, multimodality has expanded into various sub-fields, some of which have remained committed to the idea of a grammar of visual communication in the fashion of linguistics, while others have argued for an affordance-based approach that is driven by fundamentally social questions. This chapter first takes stock of these approaches and then makes a case for a social and ethnographic-based MCDA. Through an analysis of case studies, the chapter illustrates how a combination of ethnography with close textual and/or visual analysis and macro-social theory as practiced by (M)CDA can provide additional important insights into the world as perceived by actors, which would not be possible without attention to detail in the form of qualitative analysis. Here it is important to not just focus on top-down relations of dominance, but also on the strategies of resistance and the counter-discourses that people put in place to contribute to meaningful social change. Therefore, bringing together critical social science, ethnography and linguistics/multimodality in a theoretical and analytical framework contributes to one of the principles of Critical Discourse Studies (CDS), its interdisciplinary orientation and approach. It also means CDS stays true to its other stated principle of an engaged and socially committed paradigm.

ISBN

[9781035319756, 9781035319763]

Publisher

Edward Elgar Publishing

First Page

142

Last Page

159

Disciplines

Communication

Keywords

Critical Discourse Studies, Ethnography, Favelas, Insurgent citizenship, Popular photojournalism, Urban militarism

Scopus ID

105033305909

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

no

Link to Full Text

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