Lynne Young recently retired as Associate Professor in the School of Linguistics and Language Study at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. She plans to continue her research in Systemic Functional Linguistics and Critical Discourse Analysis as well as in new areas of Discourse Analysis. Michael Fitzgerald has a doctorate in the philosophy of international development from the National University of Singapore, and has worked on development projects in Southeast Asia and East Africa. He is a writing and research consultant and a data analyst.Saira Fitzgerald is currently pursuing her doctorate in Applied Linguistics and Discourse Studies at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. She has worked in educational development in East Africa, Asia, the Middle East and North America.
The power of language: How discourse influences society is a well-scaffolded introduction to the study of ‘the role of language in producing and maintaining powerful relations’ (p.1), combining a CDA perspective with SFL based analysis. Targeting a novice audience in a tertiary educational setting, the volume gradually builds on SFL concepts extending beyond the frequently used nominalisation and agent deletion to include mood and modality, lexical cohesion, Theme, and parataxis, among many others. The grammatical analysis is used to inform the answers to CDA analytical questions such as power relations between participants, their feelings and intentions. Language, Context and Text In our current times, in which old ideological battles are being replayed across traditional print media, finding new forms and new modes of confrontation on social media platforms and passing from discourse to action in our streets, The Power of Language: How Discourse Influences Society is a pertinent and relevant textbook of interest to advanced undergraduates, postgraduates and researchers within the fields of language and linguistics. Journal of Language & Discrimination, Vo. 5.1, 2021