What CDA is about – a summary of its history, important concepts and its developments

Abstract

This article presents an overview of the studies in the area of Critical Discourse Analysis (ACD). To begin with, I explain the meaning of the terms CDA and CL (Critical Linguistics), and how a ‘scientific peer group’ was formed, involving the pioneers in CDA. Next, I outline a brief history of CL and CDA as a new area of discourse studies, and move on to define some key terms in the field, such as ‘critical’, ‘ideology’ and ‘power’. Finally, I point out some open questions and perspectives.