Introduction to Discourse Theory

Biljana Radi-Bojani, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad

radic.bojanic@gmail.com
What is discourse?
discourse = a conversation or text
discourse = collection of texts or conversations
discourse = a shared way of talking or creating texts
(code)

narrow and wide definitions of discourse
narrow
discourse as opposite to text: written, spoken, mediated
discourse (e.g. Internet), visual discourse
wide
discourse as a social practice

Introduction
language: often defined as a system of arbitrary
symbols used for human communication
knowing the grammar and lexicon of a language
does not imply that we will be able to use it correctly
these systems are used in social contexts
in other words, we need to look at how language is
used and what it is used for

Construction via language
when we speak or write, we craft what we have to
say to fit the situation or context in which we are
communicating
also, how we speak or write creates that very
situation or context
power of language creates a social reality and is
shaped by a social reality

vs.
Identity
when we speak or write, we use language resources
to project ourselves as a certain kind of person, who
is different in different circumstances
we also project ourselves as engaged in different
activities in different circumstances
Exercise
story:
Abigail wants to get across a river to see her true
love, Gregory. A river boat captain named Roger
says he will take her only if she agrees to sleep with
him. In desperation to see Gregory, Abigail agrees to
do so. But when she arrives and tells Gregory what
she had done, he disowns her and sends her away.
.....
group A: rewrite as a formal report
group B: rewrite as a Facebook status
group C: retell your friend
group D: retell your teacher
Discourse
discourse briefly defined as coherent spoken or
written language used in a context for the purposes
of communicating something
naturally occurring language
key words:
coherent/ cohesive
spoken
written
context
purpose
Coherence
ideas that are arranged in a clear and logical way
are coherent
when a text is unified and coherent, the reader can
easily understand the main points
cohesion: the links that hold a text together and give
it meaning; it is related to the broader concept of
coherence
Example A
One day her mother said to her, "Come, Little Red
Cap, take this piece of cake and bottle of wine and
bring them to your grandmother. She's sick and
weak, and this will strengthen her. Get an early
start []

Example B
And this will strengthen her. Take this piece of
cake. One day her mother said to her. She's sick.
Speaking vs. writing
Context
generally defined as a situation in which an act of
communication takes place
on the one hand, it narrows down the choice of
linguistic means (for the speaker)
on the other hand, it helps us predict what kind of
language will be used (for the hearer)
what influences the choices:
genre
purpose of communication
relationship between the speaker and hearer
message content
Purpose
no act of communication is devoid of purpose
it all happens for a reason
sometimes the reason is straighforward and obvious
sometimes it is hidden deep in the discourse
in the latter case, it usually hides an ideology or an
intention of the speaker/ writer
Discourse as a social practice
discourses of peace
discourses of food
medical discourse
...
A discourse is "a language or system of
representation that has developed socially in order to
make and circulate a coherent set of meanings
about an important topic area."
e.g. Discourses about Animals
1. Animals as living creatures, cute creatures, pets.
They have feelings (anti abuse of animals)
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Animals as pets Anti abuse of Animals
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Animals as delicious food
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How is reality shaped by/in discourse?
realities = social practices
action & experience
represented in discourse
construction of a reality
language mediates experiences
people behind messages (the sender) mediate
experiences through language
Socially constructed knowledge
knowledge developed in specific social contexts, and
in ways which are appropriate to the interests of
social actors in these contexts
contexts:
large (e.g. a company, the socialistic ideology)
small (e.g. family, between best friends)
institutionalized (e.g. mass media)
discourses are resources for representation,
knowledge about some aspect of reality, which can
be drawn upon when that aspect has to be
represented
Plurality of discourse
there can be several different ways of knowing and
hence also of representing the same object of
knowledge
different ways of making sense of the same aspect
of reality
can include or exclude different things, and serve
different interests
evidence for the existence of a given discourse
comes from texts, from what has been said or written
more specifically it comes from the similarity
between the things that are said and written in
different texts about the same aspect of reality
it is on the basis of such similar statements,
repeated or paraphrased in different texts and
dispersed among these texts in different ways, that
we can reconstruct the knowledge which they
represent
Examples
MPs rally to Ashdown
- - - -
ITS PADDY PANTSDOWN
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
TORY MP FOUND DEAD IN STOCKINGS AND
SUSPENSERS
- - - -
MPs death shocks Tories
Fear of fresh scandal after
senior party sources talk of murder
The Anatomy of Discourse (1)
Actions: the things people do, the activities that
make up the social practice and their chronological
order
Manner: the way in which (some of or all of) the
actions are performed. (e.g. slowly, energetically,
graciously, based on anger)
Actors: people (also animals) involved in the
practice, and then different roles in which they are
involved (for instance active and passive roles)
Presentation: the way in which actors are dressed
and groomed. All social pratices have their rules of
presentation, although they differ in kind and degree
of strictness

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The Anatomy of Discourse (2)
Resources: the tools and materials needed to enact
a social practice
Times: Inevitably social practices are timed, they
take place at certain times, and they last for certain
amounts of time
Spaces: the spaces where the social action takes
place, including the way they should be arranged to
make the practice possible
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in reality all these elements must be part of the way
a social practice is actually enacted
but texts/discourses may include only some of them,
and so do the discourses on which these texts draw
their content
knowledge is selective
what it selects depends on the interests and
purposes of the sender(s) (institutions) that foster the
knowledge
being critically literate is being aware of this fact!
Strategies of transformation of reality
1. Exclusion: discourses can exclude elements of social
practice
2. Rearrangement: discourses can rearrange the
elements of social practices, for instance when it
detemporalizes elements which in reality have a
specific order, or when it imposes a specific order on
actions which in reality do not need to take place in any
specific order
3. Addition: discourses can add elements to the
representation (purposes, evaluations, legitimations)
4. Substitution: discourse substitutes concepts with other
concepts

being critically literate is being aware of the strategies
that are applied in order to construct reality
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