Critical discourse analysis: Martial Law on Social Media (Problems posed by dichotomies)

In light of today’s heated debates about Martial Law, the role of social media as a medium of discourse provides evidence for how textual data presented here is related to social structures. This paper aims to employ a critical discourse analysis (CDA) on Martial Law and the problem posed by social dichotomies - that entirely polarizes political opinions thereby limiting the discourse by whose pro or anti-Marcos, by which taking a definite stance would necessarily have to associate one with being, viz being pro-Marcos with being pro-Duterte or a Dutertard while being anti-Marcos makes one a pro-Aquino or a Yellowtard who belongs to the Yellow Army.Social media is a discursive system where social issues are enacted through textual discourse. This newly-emerging frontier where social practices develop offers possibilities as a field of study where linguistic techniques can be employed to analyse such data. In this paper, we set the context in the Philippines where reportedly 93% adult Filipinos are active online while being pegged as the top users of social media in the world as of 2015 (Pew Research Center report). Its accessibility makes the Philippines the world’s social media capital as it is one of the primary media of political discourse. A properly-conducted research approach in this medium would bring to light the exhibited behavioral patterns that reflect the population’s stance on an issue such as Martial Law. Employing CDA grounded in Norman Fairclough’s assumptions as a research approach, this paper will analyse the underpinnings behind the relevance of social media to today’s historically-undermined discourse on Martial Law by exploring the problems posed by these set dichotomies.