THE FIELD OF DISCOURSE ANALYSIS MEETING 3 THE FIELD OF DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

DISCOURSE Fashionable term Language based on different patterns Medical discourse Political discourse a series of interdisciplinary approaches that can be used to explore many different social domains in many different types of studies. definition of a discourse as a particular way of talking about and understanding the world (or an aspect of the world).

Three approaches (social constructionism) Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe’s discourse theory, critical discourse analysis, and Discursive psychology.

The concept of discourse analysis usually begins with Power and Ideology. Disagreement : Scope of social discourses vary with respect to their focus of analysis. people’s discourse in everyday social interaction, others prefer a more abstract mapping of the discourses that circulate in society

Discourse Analysis All package (applicable areas of research) theoretical and methodological whole – a complete package : philosophical (ontological and epistemological) Theoretical models, methodological guidelines for how to approach a research domain, techniques for analysis

Key Premise A critical approach to taken-for-granted knowledge Historical and cultural specificity (Burr 1995: 3) Link between knowledge and social processes Link between knowledge and social action.

The Three Approaches Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe’s discourse theory, which is the ‘purest’ poststructuralist theory in our selection. The theory has its starting point in the poststructuralist idea that discourse constructs the social world in meaning, and that, owing to the fundamental instability of language, meaning can never be permanently fixed. (discursive struggle)

Critical Discourse Analysis Focus on Norman Fairclough’s approach, also places weight on the active role of discourse in constructing the social world. But, in contrast to Laclau and Mouffe, Fairclough insists that discourse is just one among many aspects of any social practice.

Discursive Psychology focus on specific instances of language use in social interaction. approach to social psychology set out the theoretical foundations and methodological guidelines for discourse analysis

FROM LANGUAGE SYSTEM TO DISCOURSE Language construct the reality Meaning and representation are real Physical objects also exist

Flood associated with a river overflowing its banks. Example independently of people’s thoughts and talk natural phenomena Meteorological discourse El Niño phenomenon Greenhouse effect political mismanagement God’s anger over a people’s sinful way of life Flood associated with a river overflowing its banks.

form (signifiant) and content (signifié) Saussure Thoughts word ‘dog’, has no natural connection to the image of a dog that appears in our head. For example, saying to a person, ‘you’re such a dog’ Parole, on the other hand, is situated language use, the signs actually used by people in specific situations. langue, for it is the structure of language that makes specific statements possible. form (signifiant) and content (signifié) Arbitrary langue and parole