Discourses of Domination

Discourses of Domination explores the issue of racial bias in the Canadian English-language press. Applying critical discourse analysis as their principal methodology, Frances Henry and Carol Tator investigate the way in which the media produce, reproduce, and disseminate racist thinking through language and discourse.

The core of the text consists of a series of case studies, including several high-profile cases involving the alleged criminality of persons of colour. Using these case studies as a springboard, Henry and Tator demonstrate how the media construct people of colour, immigrants, refugees, and First Nations peoples as 'others' – those who live outside the 'imagined community' of Canada. Their analysis ultimately points to the tension between democratic liberalism as a defining characteristic of Canadian society and the collective racist ideology that is embedded in the dominant culture. Discourses of Domination thus provides a greater understanding of newer forms of racism, located within systems of cultural production and representation.