Abstract:
Newspaper-editorials manufacture consent of influential groups of people (scholars, intellectuals,
policy makers, politicians and administrators) in a particular country (Rahman and Akhter,
2002). Though a newspaper’s uniqueness and stance is determined by its editorial in the market
and society, the language composed here indirectly disseminates its ideology to its target readers
(Van Dijk, 1996). This qualitative research elucidates some scarcely explored concerns of the
editorial section of a newspaper; such as - semantic structure of the designed language, exercise
of implicit power behind the language ( see Fairclough, 2001), holistic dimension of editors’
ideologies, validation of the title, techniques of presenting proposals, implications of key
terminologies and justification of editors’ presupposition (Van Dijk,1998). These issues will help
to find where editorials’ language is creating hegemony; while building peoples’ values, norms,
beliefs, and practices in a state. This research analyzes 48 pieces of editorials from four
newspapers (with the names) in Bangladesh. The study employs principles of Critical Discourse
Analysis (CDA) (see Fairclough and Wodak, 1997: 271-80), Van Dijk’s (1998) “Socio Cognitive
Approach” and model of linguistic analysis of newspapers’ editorials by Fowler (1991). This
study has also shown some basic ideas of various western schools of philosophies which exist in
the themes of Bangladeshi newspapers’ editorials.
This interdisciplinary research will benefit the people related to the field of English, Mass
Communication and Journalism, Bangla, Psychology, Philosophy, Political Science, Economics
and Social Science too.
The findings indicate newspapers’ editorials have still remained an unenthusiastic segment for
most of the readers who regularly read newspaper. Editorials’ language is diplomatically composed to satisfy every party for commercial success. In Bangladesh, mainstream readers of
newspapers somehow keep overlooking this segment whereas year after year writers of editorials
are claiming their superior status.
Description:
This thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MA in English Language and Literature of East West University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
