Examining religious and ethical references in Candace Owens’ discourse : A Critical Discourse Analysis Study

Sammanfattning

The present research aims to examine the religious and ethical references in Candace Owens’ discourse. Owens is a far-right, conservative, Catholic Christian commentator in the USA. She was formerly a supporter of Donald Trump and an associate of Charlie Kirk. Her podcasts, social media posts, and interviews focus on political events, show business, and conspiracy theories. She also expresses views against, among others, the LGBTQ community, the feminist movement, Israel, and the Jewish community. For the examination of her discourse, three of her podcasts were analysed qualitatively through the Critical Discourse Analysis theoretical and methodological framework. More specifically, Fairclough’s three-dimensional model was selected, as it constitutes a clear methodological tool comprising three levels of analysis: a. text analysis (description), b. discursive practice (interpretation), and c. social practice (explanation) (Fairclough, 1995, p. 74). Following CDA’s aim to identify how ideologies, inequalities, and power relations are manifested in discourse (Wooffitt, 2005, p. 138), the podcasts were analysed to examine the interests, gender roles, and political views reproduced through Owens’ discourse.