Analysing Queen Rania’s CNN Interview: A CDA Approach to Political Rhetoric on Gaza

Abstract

This study examines Queen Rania of Jordan's perspective on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, focusing on how her 2023 interview with CNN host Christiane Amanpour conveys humanitarian concern and political responsibility. The analysis centres on eight selected statements from the interview that illustrate the principal themes underpinning the framing of the Gaza conflict and the international responses it has elicited. Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) serves as the primary framework for examining the relationship between language, ideology, and power in the selected data. The findings show that Queen Rania’s discourse relies on humanitarian framing, rhetorical questioning, and moral positioning to construct meaning and challenge dominant conflict narratives. Together, these strategies help construct alternative interpretations of the events within international media discourse. The study contributes to CDA scholarship by demonstrating how linguistic and discursive choices in media interviews shape ideological representations of political conflicts.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Intellectual Discourse, 2026 · DOI ↗