Hegemonic Narratives and the Discursive Construction of American Power: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Clint Eastwood's American Sniper (2014)

Abstract

Contemporary cinema functions as a potent ideological apparatus through which state power and national identity are discursively constructed and disseminated to global audiences. This study examines the discursive strategies employed in Clint Eastwood's American Sniper (2014) to construct and legitimize American hegemonic power within the context of the Iraq War. Drawing upon Norman Fairclough's three-dimensional framework of critical discourse analysis, this research investigates how textual, discursive, and sociocultural dimensions interact to produce ideologically loaded representations of American military intervention. The analysis reveals that the film systematically deploys binary oppositions, visual spectacle, and narrative framing to position the United States as a civilizing force confronting barbaric adversaries, thereby naturalizing the Jacksonian philosophy of national security and preemptive military action. The findings demonstrate that cinematic discourse operates as a mechanism of soft power, encoding imperial narratives within entertainment formats that render ideological content imperceptible to mainstream audiences. This study contributes to the growing body of scholarship on media discourse and political ideology by illustrating how Hollywood war films function as instruments of cultural hegemony in the post-9/11 era.