Representing the Marxian Dialectic Through Discourse: A Socio-Cognitive Linguistic Analysis of Claude Brown’s Manchild in the Promised Land
Abstract
In the Marxian perspective, all ideological abstractions stand corollary to materialism. In a world polarised by socioeconomic disparity, the socially powerful group claims its primacy in the means of production and social resources. Their hegemony over the underprivileged establishes and sustains itself through manipulative strategies that are discursive. However, this hegemony may provoke a strong resistance and subsequent endeavors by the oppressed ameliorate their socioeconomic status. This process of resistance by the deprived to the established hegemony of the few needs the same manipulative tactics to be employed by them as has been used against them by the privileged. This research paper aims at ascertaining this reciprocity of the Marxian approach and critical discourse analysis. It analyses Claude Brown’s Manchild in the Promised Land to investigate the Marxian concept of social dialectic the way this dialectic is reflected linguistically. This qualitative research establishes its ontological premise on Marx’s philosophy of Dialectical Materialism and uses Teun A. van Dijk’s socio-cognitive approach in Critical Discourse Analysis as a linguistic perspective for its textual analysis. The study applies this socio-cognitive approach as a model as well. The analysis reflects that the socioeconomic monopolization by the ruling class owes to the discourse strategies of this class and that the unprivileged individuals also use the same manipulative tactics to counter the socioeconomic hegemony of the ruling elites to improve their status. The study beckons towards the unexplored research dimensions to synthesize the reciprocity of the Marxian dialectic and critical discourse analysis.
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