Discourse analysis (original) (raw)
Discourse analysis as theory and method
2002
Contents Preface vii 1. The field of discourse analysis 1 2. Laclau and Mouffe's discourse theory 24 3. Critical discourse analysis 60 4. Discursive psychology 96 5. Across the approaches 138 6. Critical social constructionist research 175 References 213 Index 223
In this essay, we will make a reflection about what is discourse analyzes and its many different definitions and approaches. Discourse is such a disputed concept that it may sound an attitude of hybris that a simple Ph.D. student write a text with such title. One day, in an academic event at USP, when we were beginning our graduation, we heard from the most brilliant Brazilian discourse analyst two things. This linguist and discourse analyst is Professor José Luis Fiorin, who also lived in a socialist country, in Romania, as a lecturer, like we lived in China, and ten years later after coming back from Romania, he published a book about the concept of enunciation, that, if it had been written in English, it would be one of the most important book of the world about the concept of enunciation. It was written based on Émile Benveniste theory of enunciation, Greimas's semiotics and Van Dijk theory of discourse. That is, he was able to transcend all the barriers and do a remarkable work. He also quoted examples from Brazilian literature in order to present the effects of the three categories of enunciation, doing an herculean job. Nevertheless, let us come back to his discourse at the event. He said that discourse is very difficult and that the bibliographic field is a complex area, because it has such a multitude of theories, with different names referring to the same phenomenon, which makes the student of this topic feel frequently lost. In this context, let us start this text by the dictionary definition of discourse. According to the Macmillan Dictionary, discourse is an uncountable name. Second, discourse is defined as "linguistics written or spoken language, especially when it is studied in order of how people use language". So, from the point of view of the lexicologist of this dictionary, discourse is part of linguistics and it is this area of linguistics that study the language in use. Here at USP, the linguists that work with the other levels of analyzes of the language usually say that discourse is the icing on the cake of linguistics.
An Introduction to Discourse Analysis
An Introduction to Discourse Analysis "If you only read one book on discourse analysis, this is the one to read. If you're a specialist, you'll find much to enjoy here as well. Gee's book shows us that discourse analysis is about a lot more than linguistic study; it will help us all to see how to keep from, as he says, 'getting physically, socially, culturally, or morally "bitten" by the world'."