الفهرس 
A Survey of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)Only 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
”I am tired of fighting it out here. I don’t have much idea of what it is to be Arab, but that’s
what the family is always saying we are” (Arabian Jazz, p.307-8).
This statement from Arabian Jazz seems to summarize Arab-American’s feelings and
the prominence the question of identity has reached for them. In the beginning of the
twenty first century, the status of Arabs in the Unites states became a big issue. Indeed,
they have a role in the evolution of the American community. However, since the terrorist
attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Sep.2001, the world‟s attention has
turned to the presence of Arabs in the United States. In fact, September 11 put Arabs in the
spotlight; the term „Arab‟ draws out more hostility than individual Arab identities such as
Lebanese or Egyptian. In an attempt to break with such misperceptions, Arab descents
inform many works by Arab American writers. These works generally function as countervoices
as they represent the Arab presence in the United States from the inside, and thus
create a completely different view and examination of the Arab peoples. The presence of
such mistaken image has contributed to a sense of social marginality among Arab
Americans that has been addressed in several ways. While some Arab-Americans have
made complete breaks with their home cultures and have adopted American life styles and
values, others stress their uniqueness in order to distance themselves from being associated
with a particular Arab nation. A third response has been to confront stereotypes directly by
stressing points of commonality and harmony between the Arabic and American culture.
Since CDA is concerned with uncovering ideological disguises and demystifying power
relations in discourse within socio-political context, and based on the hypothesis that
language plays an important role in manifesting the hidden ideologies and justifying social
actions, the present thesis attempts to explore the discourse used by Arab-Americans and
Arabs in exile to express their own identity and at the same time to unravel ideologies
encoded in their discourses. The novels which are tackled in this thesis are Arabian Jazz
(1993) and Crescent (2003) written by the Arab-American writer Diana Abu-Jaber.
The analysis conducted in the present thesis has drawn social and political conclusion
on the discursive construction and representation of Arabs. It has targeted two main goals.
First, the discursive strategies employed by Arab-Americans to express their identity
confusion and their struggle to assimilate. Second, the discursive strategies used by some
Arabs and some Americans in the construction of the ”self” and the ”other” within the
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same context and their racist attitude. It reflects their ideological stance from hyphenated
people. For the purpose of this study, CDA has been chosen as a toolkit for conducting the
analysis based on Fairclough approach (1989) and Halliday and Matthiessen (2004). It is
evident from the analysis that the characters in both novels have made strategic linguistic
choices to express their message.
- Arabian Jazz
Based on the Critical discourse analysis of the meanings and forms of identity in the
first novel Arabian Jazz and the characters involved in the analysis, it becomes clear the
complexity and multilayered character of immigrants’ identity. The analysis highlights the
in-betweens and ambivalence which they encounter and exposed in their everyday lives.
Moreover, the search for new attachments and new belongings is discursively constructed
as troubled struggle for recognition. Immigrants’ identities therefore, are inherently
ambivalent and subject to continuous change.
The two daughters’ -Jemorah and Melvina- emotional aspects of attachments are
framed through a high degree of uncertainty and ambivalence about their status and social
position. This confusion reflects the insecurity of immigrants. In fact, the discursive
construction of identity and belonging are constructed by highlighting differences and
juxtapositions and by drawing borders between immigrants and other target communities.
These salient features are illustrated and highlighted in their discourse through the use of
linguistic devices. The most salient features that reflect the Arab-American confusion are
the use of mental processes to express their feelings of loss and their inner conflicting
thoughts. Semantically, they express actions and communicate information. Cognitively,
the choice of specific verbs encodes their ideological stance. Melvina uses in one text the
verb ”know” six times, and the verb ”want” four times. Jemorah also uses material
processes to convey actions and communicate information, while she resorts to relational
processes to express relation of identification and possession. In terms of tense choice,
they use present simple tense to state facts about their own feelings and their struggle to
assimilate, but in speaking about their mother, they resort to the past simple tense. Future
tense is also used to express their dreams and plans in the future. As for the voice, the texts
are mostly in the active voice to make the agency clear. The use of positive and negative
sentences is done skillfully to reflect their psychological state. The use of positive
sentences reflects their inner psychological suffering. On the other hand, the use of
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negative sentences reflects their confusion and their struggle to assimilate. Their sense of
confusion is also reflected in the use of hypotactic clause complex linked by
circumstantial element of condition three times in one text. It is also clear through the use
of circumstantial feature of place more than once. There are examples of paratactic clause
complex linked with the semantic relation of contrast to achieve the same purpose.
The two daughters also resort to the declarative mood to express their sadness at the
loss of their mother; however, there are some examples of interrogative mood, especially
the rhetorical ones to express their pain. Their discourse has neither modalization nor
modulation. This suggests absolute certainty and self evidence truth. However, Jemorah
resorts to modalization to express low degree of certainty. Reviewing choices relevant to
the textual meta-function, the choices are very instrumental in order to convey their
message. The two daughters have chosen topical themes to express their own identity
problems. Jemorah and Melvina mostly use the first person pronoun ”I” as a topical theme
as most of their discourse revolves around their own personal problems in assimilation.
The lexical choice of the two daughters is clearly expressive. Both resort to
overwording through the use of synonyms or near synonyms to highlight and transmit
their meaning. Moreover, Jemorah focuses on her ideological struggle and problems. This
is reflected in the use of some ideologically contested words. She has also resorted to the
Antonymy technique to draw an analogy between her stay in the United States and her life
in Jordan.
Another important topic which is tackled in the novel by Diana Abu-Jaber is the racist
ideological stance towards hyphenated people from some Arabs, reflected in the character
Fatima, and from some Americans, reflected in the character Portia. First, Fatima did not
accept the American mother. At the same time, she attaches negative traits to her in order
to achieve positive self-presentation and negative other-representation. This is obvious in
her discourse as she uses mainly material processes to express actions and communicate
information. She also resorts to the present simple tense to give an impression of stating
undisputable facts and consequently create an atmosphere of fear. In terms of transitivity,
she mainly uses transitive verbs to focus on the agent and the doer of the action. The voice
of the text is generally in the active voice. This is mainly intended to ensure that the
agency is clear as the aim of Fatima is to present to her nieces that their American mother
is responsible for her own death and is to be blamed. Fatima also uses negative sentences
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in a manipulative way to convince the reader that Norah is completely responsible for her
own destiny. Fatima resents Norah’s unwillingness to listen to common sense and her
reluctance to get the right shots before traveling to Jordan, but she frames her resentment
in a racial and hatred language. She also resorts to the declarative mood to enhance the
authoritative tone of the speech and to give the impression that everything stated is
undoubtedly true. Moreover, there is an example of interrogative mood, especially the
rhetorical one with its answer. She employs this technique to trigger the thoughts of the
hearers. Fatima’s discourse has neither modalization nor modulation which suggests
absolute certainty and self evident truth. The textual meta-functions are very instrumental
in conveying her message as she has chosen topical themes to express her stereotypical
stance from Norah, as she mainly thematizes the pronoun ”she” and the noun ”your
mother”. She intentionally ignores her name as a kind of ignorance.
The lexical choice of Fatima is clearly expressive. She resorts to rewording to express
her ideological stance. She focuses on her ideological struggle and problems by the use of
ideologically contested words.
It is worth highlighting that confused and troubled identity in immigrants can stem from
work place as Jemorah’s sense of homelessness and diaspora is further reflected when her
department manager, Portia Porschman, who is called the iron maiden, insulted her father.
After Portia’s conversation, Jemorah felt the pain of homesickness. In Fact, the majority
establishes laws and policies most favorable to themselves. Portia-the American
department manager- tends to establish the concept of a polarized world. She builds a
mental frame of the world as split into two camps: the civilized west that encourages the
notions of freedom, democracy and stability as opposed to the Arab world from which the
danger, death and threat come. Her racist stance is reflected in her linguistic choices. She
mainly uses mental processes to express her racist thoughts and feelings. She also resorts
to material processes to communicate information that reflects her ideological stance.
Portia uses different tenses skillfully to express her racist ideological stance from the
marriage of Norah to an Arab man. She uses the past simple tense and the present
simple tense to draw an analogy between Norah’s life before and after she met and
married the Arab. She also uses the present simple tense to show her assertive and
authoritative tone. In terms of transitivity, she mainly uses transitive verbs to focus on the
agent and the doer of the action. The voice of the text is generally in the active voice. She
also uses positive and negative sentences in a manipulative way. In speaking about the
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American mother, she uses positive sentences. However, in speaking about the Arabic
father, she shifts to negative sentences. Portia’s racist attitude towards Arabs is also
reflected in forming of the ”us” group and the ”other” group. Her text is also characterized
by a mixture of parataxis and hypotaxis clause complex to achieve her purpose.
She also resorts to the declarative mood to give an impression that her asserted
propositions are factual. However she resorts to the interrogative mood especially the
question/answer technique to deliver her intended message. There is also an instance of the
imperative mood that reflects her superior attitude. Portia’s discourse is characterized by
the excessive use of modalizaion to raise doubts and fear concerning the Arabic father.
However, she resorts once to modulation to express high degree of necessity and
obligation. The textual meta-functions are very instrumental and reflect her message as she
has chosen topical themes to express her nostalgia to the ugly part of the American
history when racial segregation was in every aspect of the American life.
The lexical choice of Portia is clearly expressive as she uses many techniques to deliver
her message. She resorts to rewording to express her ideological stance. She focuses on
her ideological struggle and problems by the use of ideologically contested words. She
elaborates her meaning through overwording.
- Crescent
The main character in the second novel; Hanif suffers acutely from exile and being
away from his homeland. His discourse contributes to the construction of a strong
attachment to one’s own group of origin. His discourse is very emotionally laden. The
metaphor of home, family and roots supports the idea of attachment and belonging.
Actually, it is well developed in many parts of the analyzed discourse. Throughout the
novel, he is trying to describe the pain of being in exile. The novel also tackles a very
important topic which is the sense of displacement. Throughout the novel, Hanif is trying
to find a new place in the new country. Hanif sees in Sirine the opportunity of feeling
closer to the American culture. It also shows that being American, no matter if hyphenated
or not, gives him the sense of protection against any danger. This is reflected in his
linguistic choices. He mainly uses mental processes to express his longing to his home
and his suffering from homesickness. He also resorts to material processes to encode his
ideological stance about his country Iraq. He also resorts to relational processes to
express relations of identification, attribution and possession. He also uses existential
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processes to refer to the location but not the representational meaning. He uses different
tenses skillfully to express his complicated psychological state. He uses the present
simple tense to state facts about the problems of being in exile and his inner psychological
conflict and pain. However, he shifts to the past simple tense to list the problems and
troubles he faced before and to narrate past events related to his homeland Iraq. In terms of
transitivity, he mainly uses a mixture of transitive verbs and intransitive verbs to focus
on the agent and the doer of the action. The voice of the text is generally in the active
voice. However, he opts to the passive voice and nominalization in some instances to blur
agency. He also uses positive and negative sentences to express his inner conflict. In
speaking about his feelings and thoughts towards the idea of exile, he uses positive
sentences. However, in speaking about his state of confusion and his incapability to
express his acute suffering, he shifts to the negative sentences. He is torn between his Iraqi
family and his life and love in the United States. His text is also characterized by a mixture
of parataxis and hypotaxis clause complex to achieve his purpose. It is also characterized
by the excessive use of circumstantial feature of place and time.
Most of Hanif’s texts are in the declarative mood to show that his asserted propositions
are factual. He is stating facts concerning his suffering and his homesickness. However, he
resorts to the interrogative mood especially the rhetorical one to express surprise from
what is said by Sirine. However, there is no instance of the imperative mood as his main
aim is to express his own feelings frankly. His discourse is characterized by the use of both
modalizaion and modulation to express his message clearly. The textual meta-functions
are very instrumental in conveying his message as he has chosen topical themes to
express his nostalgia to his homeland Iraq. The lexical choice of Hanif is clearly
expressive as he uses many techniques to deliver his message. He focuses on his struggle
and problems by the use of ideologically contested words. He elaborates his meaning
through overwording and antonymy. It is also characterized by the excessive use of
metaphors that reflects his emotionally laden discourse. It also reflects his profession as a
lecturer.
To conclude, despite the differences in the backgrounds of the characters, it is evident
from the analysis that the characters in both novels suffer from contested identity.
However, at the end of Arabian Jazz, Diana Abu-Jaber reached a compromise through the
voice of her character Nassir by stating that being an immigrant could be a privilege and
an opportunity that must be seized. Being an immigrant will provide him/her with a better
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look at the world, it will provide immigrants with a wider scope at the world. This is
shown in ”you’re torn in two you get two looks at a world. You may never have a perfect
fit, but you see far more than most ever do. Why not accept it?” (Arabian Jazz, p.330). In
the second novel Crescent, unfortunately, Hanif was not able to bear the burden of being in
exile. It seems that political and ideological problems affected him deeply. At the end, he
escaped to Iraq-where he belongs- despite the political threat there. He left a letter to Sirine
as he is not even capable of confrontation. Hanif’s confusion and suffering is deeper for
many reasons. Firstly, he is well educated as he works as a literature professor, so he
comprehends the problems of assimilation more deeply. Secondly, he tries to place himself
inside the new environment of the U.S. to find a new place, but at the same time he is
shocked to find that it is the main reason for the suffering of his people in Iraq because of
the sanctions and war directed towards them.
In fact, the present thesis offers a new piece of research that testifies to the usefulness
of applying the methodological tools and insights of CDA into the analysis of the
discursive construction of identity. Therefore, the Arab-American’s identity and Arabs in
exile and their struggle to assimilate have been approached from a new perspective; that is
critical discourse analysis. This study contributes and complements other pieces of
research concerning the discursive construction of identity. Another strength point of this
work is that it combines the analytical categories of Fairclough’s approach with SFL to
provide systemic analysis to avoid the criticism concerning ideological bias that CDA
work sometimes encounters.
Possibilities of further studies include, for instance, applying a basically similar method
of analysis to other contexts, or the analysis of different linguistic structures to the same
Arab-American context. Future works could also tend towards a reverse version of the
present thesis; the discursive construction of American identity in the eyes of Arab-
American writers, or in Middle- Eastern press. To sum up, this thesis contributes to
achieve a better understanding of people who suffer from identity confusion.