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Discourse Theory and Practice
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Discourse Theory and Practice
A Reader

First Edition
Edited by:

Other Titles in:
Discourse Analysis

April 2001 | 416 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd
`A highly effective introduction to the range of approaches found in discourse analysis… a lively and intellectually stimulating Reader' - David Silverman, Goldsmith College, University of London

Discourse Theory and Practice is much more than a collection of key classic articles and papers in the field of discourse analysis. The aim of the book is to introduce students to the major figures in the field, and to some of their writings which, combined with the interspersed editorial commentaries, should allow students to understand the key epistemological and methodological issues of discourse theory and practice.

The Reader is organized into four coherent parts, namely: Foundations and Building Blocks; Social Interaction; Minds, Selves and Sense-Making; and Culture and Social Relations. Key readings include works by Stuart Hall, Jonathan Potter, David Silverman, Erving Goffman, Teun van Dijk, Derek Edwards and Michael Billig. Chapters introduce the student to each individual and their reading, contextualizing each in terms of their contribution to the field, theoretical standpoint and individual method of doing discourse analysis. The many didactic elements of the book make it ideal as an introduction to the study of discourse for all students of psychology, sociology, linguistics or cultural studies.

This book is a course reader for The Open University course Discourse Analysis (D843).

 
PART ONE: FOUNDATIONS AND BUILDING BLOCKS
Margaret Wetherell
Themes in Discourse Research
The Case of Diana

 
Gunther Kress
From Saussure to Critical Sociolinguistics
The Turn towards a Social View of Language

 
Jonathan Potter
Wittgenstein and Austin
John Heritage
Goffman, Garfinkel and Conversation Analysis
Kristine Fitch
The Ethnography of Speaking
Sapir-Whorf, Hymes and Moerman

 
Janet Maybin
Language, Struggle and Voice
The Bakhtin/Voloshinov Writings

 
Stuart Hall
Foucault
Power, Knowledge and Discourse

 
 
PART TWO: SOCIAL INTERACTION
Simeon J Yates
Editors' Introduction
Erving Goffman
Footing
Harvey Sacks
Lecture One
Rules of Conversational Sequence

 
David Silverman
The Construction of `Delicate' Objects in Counselling
John Gumperz
Interethnic Communication
Deborah Tannen
The Relativity of Linguistic Strategies
Rethinking Power and Solidarity in Gender and Dominance

 
Celia Kitzinger and Hannah Frith
Just Say No? The Use of Conversation Analysis in Developing a Feminist Perspective of Sexual Refusal
 
PART THREE: MIND, SELVES AND SENSE-MAKING
Margaret Wetherell
Editors' Introduction
Jonathan Potter and Margaret Wetherell
Unfolding Discourse Analysis
Michael Billig
Discursive, Rhetorical and Ideological Messages
James Wertsch
The Multivoicedness of Meaning
Derek Edwards
Emotion
Kenneth Gergen
Self-Narration in Social Life
Bronwyn Davies and Rom Har{ac}re
Positioning
The Discursive Production of Selves

 
Wendy Hollway
Gender Difference and the Production of Subjectivity
 
PART FOUR: CULTURE AND SOCIAL RELATIONS
Margaret Wetherell
Editors' Introduction
Robert Hodge and Gunther Kress
Social Semiotics
Teun van Dijk
Principals of Critical Discourse Analysis
Michael Shapiro
Textualizing Global Politics
Stuart Hall
The Spectacle of the Other
Hugh Mehan
The Construction of an LD Student
A Case Study in the Politics of Representation

 
Peter Miller and Nikolas Rose
The Tavistock Programme
The Government of Subjectivity and Social Life

 
Margaret Wetherell
Debates in Discourse Research

`A highly effective introduction to the range of approaches found in discourse analysis… a lively and intellectually stimulating Reader' - David Silverman, Goldsmith College, University of London


This book is incredibly comprehensive, with very clear and helpful explanations of different discourse analytic approaches.

Dr Julia V Bailey
e-Health Unit, University College London
April 24, 2024

All-encompassing, accessible while retaining depth, this is a useful resource for anyone interested in the history and application of discourse analysis

Professor Pedro Neto
School of Sociology and Public Policies, ISCTE - Inst of Soc Sci And Bus Studies
April 26, 2020

A must have text for all students (undergraduate and postgraduate) wishing to pursue discourse analysis research.

Mr Michael Harrison
Faculty of Sport Business & Enterprise, Southampton Solent University
February 3, 2015

This book contains the texts that are used as examples in the "parent" book "Discourse as Data". However, the collection stands in its own right as a fascinating insight into the range of discursive representations that often pass us by as sources of meta-information on a text and its speaker. I also value the information on notation and how to markup, and indeed identify, linguistic and paralinguistic cues.

Professor Michael Biggs
School of Creative Arts, University of Hertfordshire
February 3, 2014

An excellent text for those looking to understand more of the theory and history behind contemporary approaches to qualitative analysis. Highly recommended to my Doctoral students, particularly alongside the companion volume "Discourse as Data: A guide for analysis".

Wendy Solomons
Psychology , Hertfordshire University
July 23, 2012

This is a wide ranging review of issues related to discourse theory. I may point PG students who are exploring more interpretive methods of research to this book, but it is quite specialised, and presumes some prior knowledge about discourse theory.

Mr Grenville Lannon
School of Computing and Informatics, Nottingham Trent University
October 26, 2011

Very useful and comprehensive guide to discourse analysis. I will be recommending it on the course

Ms Sarah Metcalfe
Department of Sociology, York University
May 25, 2011

It is a very comprehensive book. The selection of articles is well done.

Dr Carlos Moreno-Leguizamon
Health Development, University of Greenwich
January 24, 2011

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