CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF EDGAR ALLAN POE’S

POEM A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM

1. Introduction. Since the beginning of time, literature has

been accessible to interpretation, and readers have used

it to put literary, political, critical, and social ideas

into effect. Language is crucial since it is used to

prepare, accompany, influence, and perform every artistic

action. This paper analyzes discourse of literary

writing, namely the “A Dream Within A Dream” by Edgar

Allan Poe. Given the poem's great stylistic and literary

importance, it would be ridiculous to rely on a single

interpretation in these times of critical turbulence.

Discourse Analysis approaches are used to improve the

poem's title and overall significance. The purpose of

this paper is to look at discourse analysis methodologies

as well as their literary and critical significance.

2. Theoretical Underpinnings.

2.1. Discourse

Discourse is concerned with the “... structure of

language above the sentence or above the clause, and so...

bigger linguistic units such as conversational exchanges and

written texts,” according to Stubbs (19:1). This means that

discourse is primarily concerned with linguistic structures

larger than the confines of a sentence or utterance (e.g.,

conversations and tales) and can be given in two main forms:

spoken and written, each of which have distinct

communicative functions. This suggests that it also includes

the interactive use of language in society, which includes

the speaker and listener on the one hand, and the writer and

reader on the other. The key point is that in both cases, we

can only interpret the communicant's intended meaning from

many varied sentences.

2.2 Critical Discourse Analysis

Critical discourse analysis is an approach that allows

for a thorough examination of what is meant when words are

used to describe and explain things. Within critical

discourse analysis, there is a proliferation of words, which

reflects the diverse influences on the methodology's growth.

In these investigations, however, there is a largely agreed-

upon agenda; 'to investigate how discursive practices,

events, and texts emerge from and are ideologically shaped

by relations of power and struggles over power; to

systematically explore often opaque relationships of

causality and determination between (a) discursive

practices, events, and texts and (b) wider social and

cultural structures, relations, and processes; to

investigate how such practices, events, and texts arise

(Fairclough 1995: 132).

Texts, language, and communication should always be

considered in the context of their social context, as they

both shape and are shaped by larger societal processes.

Texts, in this way, do more than simply report on the world;

they imbue it with meaning, fabricate it, shape

perspectives, and call it into existence. In these

situations, the broad term discourse can be used to refer to

the various methods of human communication. Discourse can be

thought of as an "active relationship with reality"

(Fairclough 1992: 41). As 'part of the action,' Fairclough

(2003: 26) has identified three characteristics of discourse

that describe how it operates in social life.' These are

Genres (ways of acting) Discourses; (ways of representing);

Styles (ways of being)

Church sermons, interviews, and political speeches are

examples of 'genres,' which relate to a certain method of

managing and shaping language. Genres are important because

they give a framework for an audience to understand

discourse, but they may also be a source of power,

dominance, and resistance because of this feature.

'Discussions/representation' is critical in determining how

diverse viewpoints or attitudes may appreciate and

understand seemingly identical features of the universe.

Finally, 'styles' refer to the ways in which discourse is

employed to create a sense of self and identity, as well as

how identification is established via the application and

manner of specific discourses.

As a result, critical discourse analysis looks at the

form, structure, and content of discourse, from the grammar

and phrasing used in its development to how it is received

and interpreted by a larger audience. The use of verbs,

pronouns, and nouns in speech, as well as the substance and

tone of the speech, are all part of this analysis. The

process aids in the evaluation. The technique allows for an

evaluation based on more than just quotations, but also on

what the discourse is doing and being requested to do in its

creation, diffusion, and consumption.

CDA is a qualitative analytical methodology for critically

characterizing, interpreting, and explaining how discourses

build, perpetuate, and legitimate social inequalities. CDA

is based on the idea that the way we use language is

deliberate, whether conscious or unconscious discursive

decisions are made. CDA employs a range of procedures and

procedures, which are dependent on the study aims and

theoretical views. This methodological guide introduces a

generic CDA analytic framework and shows how to use it to

conduct a systematic literature review of CDA research in

education. CDA research studies, like other types of

academic research, are just as liable to perpetuate

ideological assumptions; qualitative rigor and

trustworthiness are explored.

CDA is the technique that pays attention to content, accordi

ng to Gee (1999, p. 8). It examines how language and discour

ses are utilized to attain social goals, as well as how this 

affects social change (Bloor and Bloor, 2007, p. 2).

CDA, unlike discourse analysis and text linguistics,

focuses on spoken or written texts while theorizing and

describing the social processes and structures that lead to

text generation. Furthermore, it considers the social

structures and objectives within which groups or people

generate meaning via interaction with these texts (Fowler

and Kress, 1993, p. 2; Fowler and Kress, 1993, p. 2; Fowler

and Kress, 1993, p. 2; It's worth noting that the term

"critical" in CDA refers to "critique" (Bloor and Bloor,

2007, p. 5). This means that the analysis might be aimed

toward a positive conclusion in order to emphasize its

legitimacy and validity, as well as a negative evaluation in

order to characterize or figure out the bad in order to

fight it and, ultimately, change it. Bloor and Bloor (2007,

p. 12) state that the goal of CDA is to demonstrate how

"linguistic-discursive practices" are linked to "socio-

political frameworks of power and domination” (Kress, 1990,

p. 85). Language is the channel via which a speaker or

writer influences and controls the minds of the recipients,

generates, promotes, strengthens, and legitimizes an

ideology, or sustains political power, according to CD

analysis (Rogers, 2004, p. 7). Discourses, according to

Pennycook (2005, p. 575) are the result of ideology and

social strife.

2.3 Conceptual Basis

Our conceptual basis is adopted from Norman

Fairclough‟s ideas on discourse and power and discourse and

hegemony. We attempt to link social practice and linguistic

practice, as well as micro and macro analysis of discourse

(Fairclough 1989: 97). At the same time, analytical part of

this paper analyzes the possible interrelatedness of textual

properties and critical relations, which is also underpinned

in Fairclough‟s conceptual work. Furthermore, this paper

attempts to deconstruct covert ideology which is „hidden‟ in

the text, stemming from the theoretical conceptualization of

Batstone, who claims that “critical discourse analysis seeks

to reveal how texts are constructed so that particular (and

potentially indoctrinating) perspectives can be expressed

delicately and covertly; because they are covert, they are

elusive of direct challenge, facilitating what Kress calls

the „retreat into mystification and impersonality‟(Batstone,

1989: 57)” .

The main analytical tool of our paper reflects the

“three dimensional method of discourse analysis”, introduced

by Norman Fairclough, namely the “language text, spoken or

written, discourse practice (text production and text

interpretation), and the socio cultural practice”. This

notion of Fairclough transforms into an analytical method,

including the “linguistic description of the language text,

interpretation of the relationship between the discursive

processes and the text, and explanation of the relationship

between the discursive processes and the social processes”

(Fairclough 1989: 97).

References to the text

The poem "A Dream Within a Dream" (1849) by Edgar Allan

Poe dramatizes a man's misfortunes and his meditation on

whether his existence is real or not. The narrator muses on

the elusiveness of the things and people he values, as they

all seem to go. The poem's title, "A Dream Within a Dream,"

asks if reality is fantasy. Since this was published in the

year of Poe’s death, some assume that the narrator is

talking about the death of his loved ones, and the troubles

in his life. ‘A Dream Within a Dream' is a solely depressing

poetry. It's about man's general hope, hopelessness, and

helplessness. As the poet painstakingly argues, humans must

make concessions.

A human dream within a divine dream? Poe is implying

that though some of us may be accused of living life as if

it were a dream, that is, without a firm grasp on reality,

some of those dreamers may be visionaries. No matter how we

live, hope springs eternal and hope fades. “Yet if hope has

flown away. In a night, or in a day, In a vision, or in

none.” Here, we could infer that the dreamer has strong

feelings and emotions while he is in the dream. This point

is extremely important as in Freuds theory, the emotion

toward something can produce a distortion of a specific

dream. The distortion would take place depending weather if

the emotion is positive or negative.

 Furthermore, I want to highlight the principal idea: A

dream within a dream. In this case, the feelings and

emotions felt in the first dream would affect the second

dream in terms of the images (If the emotion is sad or

negative, the image would probably be dark or depressing).

This is evidenced when it says “I stand amid the roar. Of a

surf-tormented shore, And I hold within my hand. Grains of

the golden sand.”

The poems that Edgar Allan Poe wrote were examples of dark

romanticism. According to an analysis of what dark

romanticism is written by Abby Werlock, dark romanticism is

characterized by literature including magic, chivalry,

mystery, terror, the irrational, and the perverse. The poem

“A Dream Within a Dream” by Edgar Allan Poe does not include

many of these characteristics. It does include mystery in

it. A theme of this poem is the difference between dreams

and reality. This is mysterious because dreams are very

mysterious. In his poem, Poe ponders whether all of his

experience and pretty much his whole life has just been a

dream the whole time. It is a mystery to him whether he has

been living in reality for his whole life. I think that this

poem was an interesting one. If you think about this poem a

lot, you begin to convince yourself that maybe Poe was right

and how do you really know that all of your life experiences
have not just been created in your own mind? What if your

whole life has really just been a dream?

Text with in a context is another name for mind style of the

author.

Because this poetry is about dreams, the speaker begins by

describing a nightmare he had the night before. He had a

dream that his bliss was vanished. He is not afraid of this

nightmare since he understands that it will have no effect

on his existing miserable and dismal life. What matters most

to him is having positive dreams about a happy existence.

Later on, he confesses his inability to interact happily

with the real world. Everything around the speaker

transports him to a time when he may have suffered from

depression and severe agony.

Edgar Allan Poe's poem "A Dream Within a Dream" conveys a

speaker's feelings of despondency and sorrow. As the poem is

examined for assessing his mood, motive, and life's inherent

upheavals. The poet, traumatized by such occurrences, begins

this gloomy literary masterwork.

As the poem progresses, he remembers a holy dream he once 

had. It had led him and assisted him in escaping the realm

of misery. 

He makes a comparison between his dream world and the real r
eality. The speaker likewise believes that hislife's walking 

dreams are superior to his nighttime dreams.

3. Conclusions

The text of the poem A Dream Within A Dream is examined in

this study, and an attempt is made to characterize the

reality within the text using discourse analysis. It has

been observed that the text has its own reality, and that

things are produced within the text according to the

author's mental style. It is attempted to discern the

possible interpretations of numerous text references using

another Fairclough notion, namely that "meanings are formed

by interpretations." We were able to determine the structure

of Edgar Allan Poe ideological stance in the poem as a

result of this method.

The poem tells of a person’s thoughts about what is

real and unreal. Losing all the things he values makes him

think, out of sadness, and perhaps, denial, that his life is

just “a dream within a dream”.

The dream within a dream could be an allusion to the

narrator's ideas, which could also be a dream, so the poem

could be self-referential. There were no puns in this poem,

which is most likely owing to Edgar Allan Poe's serious

character.
 The reader can easily identify to it because we have

all experienced the anguish of losing a loved one. We may

feel as though things are slipping from our grasp, but we

are unable to stop them. The poet has beautifully depicted

this facet of human existence. Although there are certain

parts of the poem that are unclear as to what the poet is

trying to convey, the poem's overall effect on the reader is

enthralling.

Poe emphasized how the reality of existence is more

painful than his past in this poem. Because of how life's

abrasive effects have pounded and shaped him, he would

sooner dream than face truth. Poe eventually understands

that death is preferable to live without his love in this

poem, which effectively emphasizes the notion that life is

difficult.

References

[1] https://literarydevices.net/a-dream-within-a-dream/

[2] https://poemanalysis.com/edgar-allan-poe/a-dream-within-a-dream/

[3] https://www.gradesaver.com/poes-poetry/study-guide/summary-a-dream-within-a-

dream

[4] https://www.litcharts.com/poetry/edgar-allan-poe/a-dream-within-a-dream

[5] https://studymoose.com/a-dream-within-a-dream-a-critical-analysis-essay

[6] https://sites.google.com/site/eaglepoetry/edgar-allan-poe/a-dream-within-a-dream
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t=Critical%20discourse%20analysis%20is%20a,the%20development%20of%20the

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[8] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1932202X18758260?journalCode=joac

[9] https://poemanalysis.com/edgar-allan-poe/a-dream-within-a-dream/

[10] https://phdessay.com/edgar-allan-poes-a-dream-within-a-dream/

[11] https://eramirezsite.wordpress.com/2015/03/16/reflector-on-poem-a-dream-within-a-

dream-edgar-allan-poe/