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‘Metaphoring’ people out of this world: A Critical Discourse Analysis of a chairman’s statement of a UK defence firm

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  • Doris M. Merkl-Davies
  • Veronika Koller

Abstract

We introduce Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), an interdisciplinary approach to analysing written and spoken texts, which provides accounting researchers with a range of resources to analyse corporate narrative documents more systematically and in more detail from a linguistic perspective. CDA addresses how the content and the linguistic features of texts influence, and are in turn influenced, by the contexts of text production, distribution, reception and adaptation, and by the wider socio-economic context in which texts are embedded. We apply Fairclough’s (2003, 2006) Dialectic-Relational approach to the analysis of a chairman’s statement of a UK defence firm. The focus of analysis is on the grammatical devices used to represent organisational activities and outcomes in ways which obfuscate social agency (impersonalisation) and to evaluate social actors, entities, and social events (evaluation). We find that impersonalisation and evaluation are used strategically to guide organisational audiences’ interpretations of financial performance and to legitimise and normalise violence and destruction by depicting it in an abstract and sanitised manner.

Suggested Citation

  • Doris M. Merkl-Davies & Veronika Koller, 2012. "‘Metaphoring’ people out of this world: A Critical Discourse Analysis of a chairman’s statement of a UK defence firm," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(3), pages 178-193, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:accfor:v:36:y:2012:i:3:p:178-193
    DOI: 10.1016/j.accfor.2012.02.005
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    Cited by:

    1. Yubin Qian & Ya Sun, 2021. "The Correlation Between Annual Reports’ Narratives and Business Performance: A Retrospective Analysis," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(3), pages 21582440211, July.
    2. Yubin Qian & Ya Sun, 2022. "Bibliometric analysis of literature on narrative discourse in corporate annual reports (1990–2019)," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 429-446, April.
    3. Huabin Wang, 2023. "Instrumentalisation of critical discourse studies: a linguistic analysis of public relations concepts in the CDS journal article abstracts (2000–2020)," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-11, December.
    4. Lorenzo Gelmini & Valentina Minutiello & Patrizia Tettamanzi & Maurizio Comoli, 2021. "Rhetoric, Accounting and Accountability: COVID-19 and the Case of Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-21, April.
    5. Ben-Amar, Walid & Bujaki, Merridee & McConomy, Bruce & McIlkenny, Philip, 2021. "Gendering merit: How the discourse of merit in diversity disclosures supports the gendered status quo on Canadian corporate boards," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    6. Ahmad, Nglaa & Haque, Shamima & Islam, Muhammad Azizul, 2024. "Modern slavery disclosure regulations in the global supply Chain: A world-systems perspective," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    7. Beattie, Vivien, 2014. "Accounting narratives and the narrative turn in accounting research: Issues, theory, methodology, methods and a research framework," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 111-134.
    8. Moreno, Alonso & Jones, Michael John, 2022. "Impression management in corporate annual reports during the global financial crisis," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 503-517.
    9. Agne Sneideriene & Renata Legenzova, 2025. "Uncovering Greenwashing: Investigating Impression Management Gap in Corporate Reporting," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-27, September.
    10. Paola Vola & Lorenzo Gelmini & Lucrezia Songini, 2021. "What does the Business Model tell us about Natural Capital? Insights from African Integrated Reports," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2021(suppl. 1), pages 75-96.
    11. Masibulele Phesa & Mabutho Sibanda & Zamanguni Hariatah Gumede, 2024. "Assuring the chairperson’s statement in the integrated report An auditing framework to curb the use of impression management in corporate reporting," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 13(5), pages 663-683, July.

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