On the instrumentality of Critical Discourse Analysis for Cultural Studies: the discursive construction of “neomasculinity”

Abstract

Though ‘discourse’ is a notion of central importance in cultural studies, it has often been conceived of in rather abstract terms. Consequently, attempts have hardly been made to disentangle the role of linguistic and discursive practices in the constitution of cultural phenomena and processes— in the form of detailed textual analyses. Drawing upon an area of cultural studies known as the construction of subject positions in actual discourses, this paper illustrates the useful role of critical discourse analysis (CDA) vis-à-vis cultural studies. First, I outline the similarities between cultural studies and CDAThen, I analyze a selection of texts that shed light on how instrumental the integration of CDA and cultural studies can be: exploring the discursive construction of such a subject position — or image of masculinity — as so-called ‘newmannism.’ The data is derived form the problem columns of a new generation of men’s lifestyle magazines that act as a vehicle of contemporary popular culture in the UK. This analysis also demonstrates the instrumentality of CDA models like Fairclough’s for examining identity construction processes in media discourse.