Bio
Muhammad Anisur Rahman Akanda is a researcher in Critical Discourse Analysis, currently affiliated with Shanghai University in China. He holds a Ph.D. in Critical Discourse Analysis from Shanghai University. His research focuses on the intersection of language, ideology, and power, as exemplified in his work 'Ideology and Power in the Headlines: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Bangladesh-China Relations'. With 3 publications and 5 citations, his h-index stands at 1. He is also a fellow of an academic organization, contributing to the field of science and discourse analysis.
Educational Journey
Shanghai University
Ph.D • Critical Discourse Analysis
Experience
Grants and Awards
Fellow
Research
Ideology and Power in the Headlines: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Bangladesh-China Relations
Using the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), this study aims to explore how Bangladesh’s news agency BSS (1975-2016) represents the relationship between Bangladesh and China. Within this framework, three methods are employed to collect data: (i) content analysis of the 41- year media coverage, (ii) interviews, and (iii) observations at the newsrooms. By examining 140 news headlines, this article shows how the BSS under government control represents China and Bangladesh-China relations. The news headline falls into macro and micro levels of analysis. The macro-level analysis focuses on the ownership and control factors of the BSS, while the micro-level analysis deals with the content analysis. The findings show that the BSS editor has concentrated more on diplomatic news items occurring in Dhaka than in Beijing, highly reported with government officials. Then this paper adopts the framework of CDA, which is mainly concerned with the relationship between language, ideology, and power. Utilizing Halliday's Systemic Functional Grammar as a tool for CDA, this study aims to explore the ideological meanings in the news headline termed as a ‘micro story’: A pair of questions will answer how the subjects are historically represented through the BSS media discourse on the topic. Therefore, CDA has promoted the diplomatic relation between Bangladesh and China, established in 1975. This paper clearly explains how CDA generally reflects social practice, ideology, and power relations between Bangladesh and China at the time of reporting.
