Critical Discourse Analysis of Cancer Awareness Posters in Public Health Campaigns

Authors

  • م.د. علي محمد حسن .

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31185/bsj.Vol23.Iss47.1778

Keywords:

التحليل الخطابي النقدي؛ التوعية بالسرطان؛ النحو البصري؛ الأيديولوجيا؛ التواصل الصحي.

Abstract

Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), this paper investigates the linguistic and visual discourses of cancer awareness posters produced in 2020-2025 by major public health organizations, concentrating on campaigns for cancer of lungs. The analysis focuses on how these multimodal texts represent narratives of illness and subject positions among different populations. Using Fairclough's three-dimensional model of discourse and Kress and van Leeuwen's visual grammar, this analysis shows that posters reproduce neoliberal individualization, gender and racial normativity, and the marginalization of structurally vulnerable populations, but also empowerment versus blaming and the erasure of social determinants of health through behavioral solutions. The findings suggest the need for public health communication that is inclusive, critical of systemic inequities and reflexive from an ethical standpoint.

KeywordsHealthism

References

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Published

2026-09-01

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Articles