SC203 Discourse Analysis

1
SC203 Discourse Analysis

• Week 8, Lecture 7

2
Lecture overview

• Development of discourse analysis
• Key features of discourse analysis
• Case study
• Evaluate relative strengths and weaknesses

3
Introducing discourse analysis

• 1. A critical stance towards taken-for-granted
  knowledge, and a scepticism towards the view that
  our observations of the world unproblematically
  yield its true nature to us.2. A recognition
  that the ways in which we commonly understand the
  world are historically and culturally specific
  and relative.3. A conviction that knowledge
  is socially constructed-- that is, that our
  current ways of understanding the world are not
  determined by the nature of the world itself but
  by social processes.4. A commitment to
  exploring the ways that knowledges the social
  construction of people, phenomena or problems
  -are linked to actions/practices. (Burr, 1995)

4
Varieties of discourse analysis

• critical linguistics, social semiotics or
  critical language studies
• speech act theory, ethnomethodology and
  conversation analysis
• discourse analysis that is associated with
  post-structuralism (Gill, 2000)

5
Four main themes

• a concern with discourse itself
• a view of language as constructive and
  constructed
• an emphasis upon discourse as a form of action
• a conviction in the rhetorical organisation of
  discourse. (Gill, 2000)

6

• Discourse analysts are interested in texts in
  their own right, rather than seeing them as a
  means of getting at some reality which is
  deemed to lie behind the discourse - whether
  social or psychological or material. This focus
  clearly marks discourse analysts out from some
  other social scientists - whose concern with
  language is generally limited to finding out
  what really happened or what an individuals
  attitude to x, y or z really is. Instead of
  seeing discourse as a pathway to some other
  reality, discourse analysts are interested in the
  content and organization of texts. (Gill, 2000)

7
Features of discourse analysis

• Language is constructive departure from
  realist theorists
• Many ways to tell a story - any particular
  description will depend upon the perspective of
  the speaker or writer
• The action orientation or function
  orientation of discourse discourse analysts
  see all discourse as social practice. Language,
  then, is not viewed as a mere epiphenomenon, but
  as a practice in its own right. People use
  discourse to do things - to offer blame, to make
  excuses, to present themselves in a positive
  light, etc. (Gill, 2000)
• Discourse analysis treats talk and texts as
  organized rhetorically (Billig, 1987 1991).

8
Transcription

• Producing a transcript highlights the messiness
  of speech phrases such as like, you know,
  em, pauses, overlaps, interruptions

9

• If you read an article or book the usual goal is
  to produce a simple, unitary summary, and to
  ignore the nuance, contradictions and areas of
  vagueness. However, the discourse analyst is
  concerned with the detail of passages of
  discourse, however fragmented and contradictory,
  and with what is actually said or written, not
  some general idea that seems to be intended.
  (Potter Wetherell, 1987 168).

10
Coding

• In Gills study of accounts for the lack of women
  DJs, it became clear that many other aspects of
  the interview material, besides direct references
  to female broadcasters, were relevant to the
  analysis - for example, references to the
  qualities which all good DJs should possess
  turned out to contain a number of hidden
  assumptions about gender.

11
Analysing discourse

• As well as examining the way that language is
  used discourse analysts must also be attuned to
  what is not said, to silences. This in turn
  requires a sensitivity to the social, political
  and cultural contexts to which texts refer.
  Without this broader contextual understanding
• we would be unable to see the alternative
  version of events or phenomena that the discourse
  we were analysing had been designed to counter
  we would fail notice the (sometimes systematic)
  absence particular kinds of account in the texts
  that we were studying and we would not be able
  to recognise the significance of silences.
  (Gill, 1996 147)

12
Text extract

• To be honest, although Id always been attracted
  to the idea of becoming vegetarian, Id also
  thought it would be both unpopular with my family
  and impractical on a day-to-day basis. But then,
  in 1983, I watched a TV documentary narrated by
  Julie Christie which catalogued - in a totally
  unsensational way - mans inhumanity to animals.
  From abbatoirs through the fur trade to testing
  cosmetics on defenceless animals, the horrors
  unfolded. It presented such an appalling and
  unflinching picture of cruelty that I couldnt
  sleep indeed, I was so upset, so deeply moved, I
  wept and wept all that night. Id been shown a
  picture of hell on earth and I couldnt easily
  remove it from my mind. Up until that point, I
  have to admit my dietary intake had been pretty
  traditional. It was roast beef on Sunday, steak
  tartare as a treat in a restaurant, and bacon,
  eggs and sausages for breakfast -Id never known
  any different. But once you accept the inevitable
  truth of what youre doing, you cant pretend any
  more you cant pretend it doesnt matter, or
  that it has no effect on the planet or your
  consciousness. Theres no denying your actions.
  Very soon after I made my decision, I was working
  with Martin Shaw, whod been a vegetarian for
  years. We had to rehearse some scenes at a remand
  home and the boys were intrigued to have Martin
  in their midst because he was something of a hero
  to them through his television role in The
  Professionals - they saw him as a bit of a tough
  guy. One day, one of them suddenly said, I hear
  youre a vegetarian, Martin amongst much nudging
  of ribs, Whys that then? Martin didnt bat an
  eyelid. Simple, he said. Its because I cant
  think of one good reason to eat meat other than
  that I like the taste. That struck me as so
  true, so right. We do not need to tear into flesh
  with our teeth any more than we need to tear food
  with our hands. Its not difficult to serve
  any number of delicious dishes that dont use
  meat. But then its becoming increasingly easy to
  find vegetarian dishes in restaurants - and even
  at functions, as long as you tell them in
  advance. Invariably the people at the same table
  who are eating beef Wellington for the ninth time
  that month look rather wistfully at your
  delicious lasagne dish. Too many people still
  assume that your energy levels are somehow
  depleted when you become vegetarian, but it just
  isnt true. The body needs protein, but meat is
  not the only source you can also get it from
  milk and cheese and yoghurt and wheat and corn
  and nuts and beans and vegetables - the list goes
  on. What you dont get if you give up meat are
  all the drugs and chemicals and fear poisons
  that the animal releases just before its killed.
  I would say my energy levels are better now than
  they ever used to be. My weight is also constant,
  which it never was when I used to eat meat. I
  could never go back to eating meat, nor am I
  spurred on by sentimentality towards animals.
  Its just common-sense allied, I hope, to a more
  compassionate way of living. I believe totally
  that if we countenance the kind of cruelty that
  is perpetrated to animals, were more likely to
  countenance cruelty to each other. And
  vegetarianism is part and parcel of a kinder,
  gentler world.
• (Hayley Mills, taken from BBC Vegetarian Good
  Food, April 1995.)

13
Discursive strategies

• (1) The moral nature of vegetarianism, and its
  role in bringing about a more just society for
  people and animals.
• (2) The benefits of vegetarianism to health and
  well-being
• (3) The horror of peoples cruelty to animals
• (4) The delicious variety of food available for
  vegetarians (which make them the envy of
  carnivores)
• (5) An appeal to other well-known and well-liked
  vegetarians to warrant the decision. (Gill, 2000)

14
Contribution of discourse analysis

• Has made important contributions to ideological
  critique
• Significant in opening up questions about the
  practice of research in the social sciences, and
  the way it is written
• Encouraged the growth of reflexivity in research
  writing