Cognitive linguistic critical discourse studies:connecting language and image

Abstract

In this chapter, I introduce one cognitive school of Critical Discourse Studies (CDS) in the form of Cognitive Linguistic approaches. Cognitive Linguistic CDS (CL-CDS) is characterised by an emphasis on the conceptual dimensions of semiosis. Specifically, it addresses the conceptualisations invoked by language and the ideological or legitimating potentials that those conceptualisations might realise in political contexts of communication. I begin the chapter by providing an overview of the different frameworks in CL-CDS before focussing specifically on image schema analysis, illustrated with examples from discourse on political protests. I then go on to make a connection between Cognitive Linguistic and multimodal approaches to CDS. The claim made is that understanding language involves fully modal rather than amodal mental representations. I therefore argue that existing research on the social semiotics of multimodal representation is an important source in considering the meanings of language in use. I illustrate this claim relating linguistic instances of discourse on political protests to visual instances.