This doctoral research is a multi-disciplinary study which draws from
discourse theory, linguistics and European Union studies. It aims to explore
the meaning, and linguistic representations of the European Union (EU) in the
context of its relations with the Pacific Region, while taking into account
contributing ideological and political factors. This study contributes to several
academic fields, and specifically to the practice of Critical Discourse Analysis
(CDA) and to the continuum of study on the linguistics-politics interface.
CDA research observes the structure and function of signifiers. Discourse
analysis provides means to critically observe elements of social and political
power, identities and issues through both contextual and linguistic features of
discourse. It offers a unique approach to analysing international relations with
the application of tools that can decipher meaning and ideologies in discursive
structures. This approach stems for the post-structural outlook that linguistic
features reflect ideologies and power relations that condition interpretation of
political and social issues. Through a critical observation, the role and
influence of the EU in the Pacific region is examined and evaluated. A wider
grouping of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries is relevant to the
discussion of the EU’s development action and French territories are also
taken into account as they are located in the Pacific region and have
aspirations to become more integrated to the Pacific community. This study
reveals how the EU is defined and how the EU influences the developing
world. It also reveals how the Pacific countries are responding to the EU’s
interests and values such as regional integration and trade liberalisation. The
discourse formation of EU-Pacific relations articulates and reinforces
ideologies of identity and power behind the entirety of EU-Pacific relations.
The nature of EU identity and role in relation to an ‘Other’ is thus explored in
this thesis.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:canterbury.ac.nz/oai:ir.canterbury.ac.nz:10092/5203 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Choi, YoonAh |
| Publisher | University of Canterbury. National Centre for Research on Europe |
| Source Sets | University of Canterbury |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic thesis or dissertation, Text |
| Rights | Copyright YoonAh Choi, http://library.canterbury.ac.nz/thesis/etheses_copyright.shtml |
| Relation | NZCU |
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