Discourse analysis

About: Discourse analysis is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 16055 publications have been published within this topic receiving 515384 citations. The topic is also known as: DA & discourse studies.

Logics of conversation

Abstract: Preface Acknowledgements 1 Motivations 2 Semantic models of discourse interpretation 3 Pragmatic models of discourse interpretation 4 The logical form of discourse 5 Building logical forms for discourse 6 The lexicon and discourse structure 7 Discourse relations for dialogue 8 Disputes in dialogue 9 Cognitive modelling 10 Some concluding remarks: A Objections and replies B Notation index C The semantics of DRT D Glossary of discourse relations E Summary of discourse update F Some proofs in the glue logic References Indexes

Elite discourse and racism

Abstract: Introduction Theoretical Framework Political Discourse Corporate Discourse Academic Discourse Educational Discourse Media Discourse Conclusions

The Discursive Construction of National Identity

Abstract: How do we construct national identities in discourse? Which topics, which discursive strategies and which linguistic devices are employed to construct national sameness and uniqueness on the one hand, and differences to other national collectives on the other hand? The Discursive Construction of National Identity analyses discourses of national identity in Europe with particular attention to Austria. In the tradition of critical discourse analysis, the authors analyse current and on-going transformations in the self-and other definition of national identities using an innovative interdisciplinary approach which combines discourse-historical theory and methodology and political science perspectives. Thus, the rhetorical promotion of national identification and the discursive construction and reproduction of national difference on public, semi-public and semi-private levels within a nation state are analysed in much detail and illustrated with a huge amount of examples taken from many genres (speeches, focus-groups, interviews, media, and so forth). In addition to the critical discourse analysis of multiple genres accompanying various commemorative and celebratory events in 1995, this extended and revised edition is able to draw comparisons with similar events in 2005. The impact of socio-political changes in Austria and in the European Union is also made transparent in the attempts of constructing hegemonic national identities. Key Features: *Discourse-historical approach. *Interdisciplinarity (cultural studies, discourse analysis, history, political science). *Multi-method, multi-genre. *Qualitative case studies.

Writing and identity

Abstract: Writing is not just about conveying ‘content’ but also about the representation of self. (One of the reasons people find writing difficult is that they do not feel comfortable with the ‘me’ they are portraying in their writing. Academic writing in particular often poses a conflict of identity for students in higher education, because the ‘self’ which is inscribed in academic discourse feels alien to them.) The main claim of this book is that writing is an act of identity in which people align themselves with socio-culturally shaped subject positions, and thereby play their part in reproducing or challenging dominant practices and discourses, and the values, beliefs and interests which they embody. The first part of the book reviews recent understandings of social identity, of the discoursal construction of identity, of literacy and identity, and of issues of identity in research on academic writing. The main part of the book is based on a collaborative research project about writing and identity with mature-age students, providing: • a case study of one writer’s dilemmas over the presentation of self; • a discussion of the way in which writers’ life histories shape their presentation of self in writing; • an interview-based study of issues of ownership, and of accommodation and resistance to conventions for the presentation of self; • linguistic analysis of the ways in which multiple, often contradictory, interests, values, beliefs and practices are inscribed in discourse conventions, which set up a range of possibilities for self-hood for writers. The book ends with implications of the study for research on writing and identity, and for the learning and teaching of academic writing. The book will be of interest to students and researchers in the fields of social identity, literacy, discourse analysis, rhetoric and composition studies, and to all those concerned to understand what is involved in academic writing in order to provide wider access to higher education.

On actor-network theory : A few clarifications

Abstract: Three resources have been developed over the ages to deal with agency. The first one is to attribute to them naturality and to link them with nature. The second one is to grant them sociality and to tie them to the social fabric. The third one is to consider them as a semiotic construction and to relate agency with building of meaning. The originality of science studies comes from the impossibility of clearly differentiating between these three resources. Microbes, neutrinos of DNA are at the same time natural, social and discourse. They are real, human and semiotic entities in the same breath. The article explores the consequences of this peculiar situation which has not been underlined before science studies forced us to retie the links between these three resources. The actor-network theory as developed by M. Callon and his colleagues is an attempt to invent a vocabulary to deal with this new situation. The article reviews those difficulties and tries to overcome them by showing how they may be used to account for the construction of entities, that is for the attribution of nature, society and meaning