Definition
of Discourse
-
Discourse
in context may consist of only one or two words as in stop or no
smoking. Alternatively, a piece of discourse can be hundreds of thousands
of words in length, as some novels are. A typical piece of discourse is
somewhere between these two extremes.
(Eli
Hinkel and Sandra Fotos, New Perspectives on Grammar Teaching in Second
Language Classrooms. Lawrence Erlbaum, 2002)
-
Discourse
is the way in which language is used socially to convey broad historical
meanings. It is language identified by the social conditions of its use, by who
is using it and under what conditions. Language can never be 'neutral' because
it bridges our personal and social worlds.
(Frances
Henry and Carol Tator, Discourses of Domination. University of Toronto
Press, 2002)
-
Discourse'
is sometimes used in contrast with 'text,'
where 'text' refers to actual written or spoken data, and 'discourse' refers
to the whole act of communication involving production and comprehension,
not necessarily entirely verbal. . . . The study of discourse, then, can
involve matters like context,
background information or knowledge shared between a speaker and hearer.
(Meriel Bloor and Thomas Bloor, The Practice of Critical Discourse Analysis: an Introduction. Routledge, 2013)
(Meriel Bloor and Thomas Bloor, The Practice of Critical Discourse Analysis: an Introduction. Routledge, 2013)
-
Discourse is more than a message
between sender
and receiver.
In fact sender and receiver are metaphors
that obfuscate what is really going on in communication. Specific illocutions
have to be linked to the message depending on the situation in which discourse
takes place. . . . [Psycholinguist Herbert] Clark compares language in use with
a business transaction, paddling together in a canoe, playing cards or
performing music in an orchestra.
A central notion in
Clark's study is common ground.
The joint activity is undertaken to accumulate the common ground of the
participants. With common ground is meant the sum of the joint and mutual
knowledge, beliefs and suppositions of the participants.
(Jan Renkeme, Introduction
to Discourse Studies. John Benjamins, 2004)
-
The term discourse is also used
to refer to meanings at the more macro level. This approach does not study the
individual words spoken by people but the language used to describe aspects of
the world, and has tended to be taken by those using a sociological
perspective."
(Jane
Ogden, Health and the Construction of the Individual. Psychology Press,
2002)
-
From a lecture by Graham R Gibbs (The University of
Huddersfield)
ü Discourse : a conversation or text (naturalism)
ü Discourse : collection of texts or conversations
ü Discourse : a shared way of talking or creating
texts (code)
ü Discourses : codes, languages, ways of speaking of
a topic
-
Discourses
A discourses is “a language or sysem of representation that has
developed socially in order to make and circulate a coherent set of meanings
about an important topic area.” - John Fiske (1987). Television Culture. New
York: Methuen.
Definition
of Analysis
-
Analysis
is the process of breaking a complex
topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain
a better understanding of it.
-
Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, 2nd ed., 1999, ed. Robert Audi
Analysis
is the
process of breaking up a concept, proposition, linguistic complex, or fact into
its simple or ultimate constituents. {§1.1}
-
Concise Oxford Dictionary, 1976, ed. J. B. Sykes
-
Analysis
is: 1.
Resolution into simpler elements by analysing (opp. synthesis);
statement of result of this; 2. (Math.) Use of algebra and calculus in
problem-solving.
-
Dictionary of Philosophy and Psychology, 1925, ed. James Mark Baldwin, Vol. I
The isolation of what
is more elementary from what is more complex by whatever method.
-
A Kant Dictionary, 1995, by Howard Caygill
Kant combines two
senses of analysis in his work, one derived from Greek geometry, the other from
modern physics and chemistry. Both remain close to the original Greek sense of
analysis as a ‘loosening up’ or ‘releasing’, but each proceed in different
ways. The former proceeds ‘lemmatically’ by assuming a proposition to be true
and searching for another known truth from which the proposition may be
deduced. The latter proceeds by resolving complex wholes into their elements.
-
Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, 1996, by Simon Blackburn
The process of
breaking a concept down into more simple parts, so that its logical structure
is displayed.
-
Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 1998, entry under ‘Analytical
Philosophy’ by Thomas Baldwin
Philosophical
analysis is a method of inquiry in which one seeks to assess complex systems of
thought by ‘analysing’ them into simpler elements whose relationships are
thereby brought into focus.
-
Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 1998, entry under ‘Conceptual
Analysis’ by Robert Hanna
The theory of
conceptual analysis holds that concepts – general meanings of linguistic
predicates – are the fundamental objects of philosophical inquiry, and that
insights into conceptual contents are expressed in necessary ‘conceptual
truths’ (analytic propositions).
Definition
of Discourse Analysis
- Discourse
analysis (DA), or discourse studies, is a
general term for a number of approaches to analyze written, vocal, or sign language
use, or any significant semiotic
event.
- Discourse
analysis is a broad term for the study of the
ways in which language
is used in texts
and contexts.
Also called discourse studies.
- Discourse
analysis is concerned with language use as a
social phenomenon and therefore necessarily goes beyond one speaker or
one newspaper article to find features which have a more generalized
relevance. This is a potentially confusing point because the publication of
research findings is generally presented through examples and the analyst may
choose a single example or case to exemplify the features to be discussed, but
those features are only of interest as a social, not individual, phenomenon. (Stephanie
Taylor, What is Discourse Analysis? Bloomsbury, 2013)
- Discourse
analysis is not only about method; it is also a perspective on the nature of
language and its relationship to the central issues of the social sciences.
More specifically, we see discourse analysis as a related collection of
approaches to discourse, approaches that entail not only practices of data
collection and analysis, but also a set of metatheoretical and theoretical
assumptions and a body of research claims and studies. (Linda Wood and Rolf
Kroger, Doing Discourse Analysis. Sage, 2000)
- Discourse
analysis is the study of well-established meanings or ideas around a topic
which shape how we can talk about it (Dr
Stephanie Taylor, The Open University)
- Discourse
analysis the study of how meanings are established, used, challenged and
changed (including in talk) (Dr Stephanie
Taylor, The Open University)
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