International Journal of Linguistics & Communication

A Corpus-assisted Critical Discourse Analysis of the Representation of Qaddafi in Media: Evidence from Asharq Al-Awsat and Al-Khaleej Newspapers
Ahmad S Haider

Abstract
This study combines two methodological strands, namely, Critical Discourse Analysis and Corpus Linguistics to identify the discursive practices relating to the construction of the former Libyan president, Qaddafi, before, during, and after the 2011 Libyan civil war. This is based on a new 19-million word corpus of two newspapers published in Arabic, namely Asharq Al-Awsat (a pan-Arab newspaper located in London, and mainly published in Saudi Arabia), and Al-Khaleej (a newspaper located and mainly published in the UAE) from 2009 to 2013. The analysis shows that Qaddafi was represented positively in the pre-uprisings period (2009/2010). During the Libyan uprisings (2011), the newspapers represented him negatively highlighting his violence against his own people. In the post-uprisings era (2012/2013), the newspapers tended also to describe him negatively by referring to the terrorist activities he was involved in, and criticizing his policies and behaviours during his 42 years in power. These results are connected to the political and social contexts of the particular investigated period. This study concludes that there is a wide range of discursive construction for Qaddafi based on the agenda of the investigated newspapers and the countries where they are based.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/ijlc.v4n2a2