A critical discourse approach to the analysis of values in political discourse: The example of freedom in President Bush’s State of the Union addresses (2001–2008)

Abstract

This article aims to show how critical discourse studies (CDS) can contribute to the analysis of values in political discourse. It is argued that although valuation is fundamental to CDS, the concept of value is often taken for granted by critical discourse practitioners. The article discusses the main assumptions relating to value and evaluation in CDS and introduces a number of pragmalinguistic tools for the exploration of values in political discourse: metaphor, assertion-based patterns and thesis–antithesis in the service of axiological proximisation. The analysis of the concept of freedom based on President Bush’s State of the Union addresses (2001–2008) demonstrates how the Bush administration exploited this fundamental value of the American nation.