AbstractsCommunication

The Iraq war: Discourse analysis of Christopher Hitchens and Noam Chomsky

by Einar Logi Erlingsson 1988




Institution: University of Iceland
Department:
Year: 2015
Keywords: Enska
Record ID: 1221170
Full text PDF: http://hdl.handle.net/1946/20401


Abstract

The war in Iraq is a sensitive subject which divides people. The invasion in 2003 by the US was not well appreciated by the international community and caused controversy and rage all over the world. The main purpose of this discourse analysis is to examine how Christopher Hitchens and Noam Chomsky argue their opposing views on the war in Iraq. Articles by the authors were examined using methods of discourse analysis. This essay looked at how they argued their points and their argument was looked at more closely at the level of language. In all, six articles were examined. The main results show that the Iraq war is a lot more personal to Christopher Hitchens than it is to Noam Chomsky. This is evidenced by looking at the use of nouns and pronouns. Hitchens is overall more positive than Noam Chomsky. Chomsky also seems to want to make his readers fearful about the prospect of war.