The Use of Power and Ideology in Guantanamo: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Andy Worthington’s The Guantanamo Files

Abstract

The research deals with the use of power and ideology in Andy Worthington’s The Guantanamo Files (2007) as the narratives (generally called Gitmo narratives) of the detainees show the betrayal of American ideals, U.S. constitution and international laws about human rights. Since its inception, Guantanamo Bay Camp is an icon of American military power, hegemony and legal exceptionalism in the ‘Global War on Terror’. In order to the analyze the selected text, the ‘discourse as social practices’ with special reference to power and ideology which is the third dimension of the tripartite framework proposed by Norman Fairclough (1995), is applied comprehensively as a theoretical framework for this research. The research reveals the truth and reality of the power structure and hegemonic designs of American ideology to discriminate and to stereotype the male Muslims as terrorists in Guantanamo. The discourse of these Gitmo narratives is also related with the issue of closing this notorious camp which has gained a great attention for the international media, lawyers, human rights activists and civil society.