Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• Abbas Ali Ahangar ¹
• Amir Ali Khoshkhoonejad ²
• Soheila Khademi ³

¹ Professor of Linguistics, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Iran

² Ph.D. in Linguistics, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Iran

³ M.A. in Linguistics, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Iran

Abstract

Cinema represents political, social and cultural realities. Critical discourse analysis also signifies linguistic text realities based on features such as ideology, society, culture and policy. The purpose of the present research is to provide a study of sociol discourses of the movie Cow based on Laclau and Mouffe’s (2001) theory. To this end, the full text of the conversations of the movie Cow was examined. Then, th data were described and analyzed for the discourse features proposed in Laclau and Mouffe’s (2001) theory. The results of the study indicate that the discourse of the movie is articulated around the central signifier Cow’s death" and the floating signifiers such as "poverty", "being religious", "unemployment", "closed society", "lying", "dependency on Cow", "unity", "unawareness" and "metamorphosis". In addition, the dominant discourses of the movie are "religion, tradition and collectivism". Through the examination of the highlights and background  features of role of the actors and actresses in the movie Cow, it was found that the signifiers "lying", "metamorphosis" and "poverty" are highlighted in this movie whereas the floating signifier "being religious" is backgrounded.

Keywords

• Critical Discourse Analysis
• Social Discourse
• The Movie Cow
• Central Signifier
• Floating Signifier
• Articulation
• Sociolinguistics

Main Subjects

• Discourse Analysis