Discourse%20Analysis

1
Discourse Analysis

• Applying DA to political translation
• 1. Defining discourse
• 2. Political discourse analysis applied to
  translation studies by Christina Schäffner
• 3. Discussion

2
Defining discourse

• Individually, jot down some ideas about the
  following
• How would you define the term discourse?
• How might you identify a discourse?

Now, discuss your ideas with a partner, and
together, think of examples of political
discourse.
3
Defining discourse

• Hatim Mason (1990)
• Discourses are ... modes of thinking and
  talking which, like genres, can become
  ritualized. (1990 71)

4
Defining discourse

• Johnstone (2002)
• The controlling theoretical idea behind
  Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is that
  texts, embedded in recurring discursive
  patterns for their production circulation, and
  reception which are themselves embedded in
  social practice are among the principal ways in
  which ideology is circulated and reproduced. ...
  Ways of talking produce and reproduce ways of
  thinking, and ways of thinking can be manipulated
  via choices about grammar, style, wording, and
  every other aspect of discourse.

5
Defining discourse

• Johnstone (2002 45-52)
• Discourse producers make choices about
• 1. How to represent actions, actors, events
• In 1997, the lives of at least 300,000 young
  children were saved by vitamin A supplementation
  programs.
• In 1997, vitamin A supplementation programs saved
  the lives of at least 300,000 young children.
• In 1997, the lives of at least 300,000 young
  children were saved.
• 2. How to represent knowledge status
• 3. How to name and refer to things
• 4. Which voices to incorporate/represent
• etc.

6
Defining discourse

• Some questions to consider
• In what ways do discourse and narrative
  differ?
• What similarities and differences do you see
  between Bakers approach from last week and the
  goals of discourse analysis outlined here?

7
Political Discourse Analysis TS

• PDA analyzes political texts
• Goals relate the fine grain of linguistic
  behaviour to politics or political behaviour
• Coercion
• Resistance, opposition, protest
• Dissimulation
• Legitimation/delegitimation
• Schaffner (2004 119)

8
Political Discourse Analysis TS

• Discursive aspects we can study
• Lexical choice
• Information selection/transfer
• Illusion of identity
• Schaffner (2004 126-132)

9
Applying discourse analysis

• With a partner, compare the introductions to the
  Liberal and Green 2011 platforms
• What evidence of coercion, resistance/opposition/p
  rotest, dissimulation and/or (de)legitimation do
  you see in each text?
• How do the lexical choices achieve political
  goals?
• How has information has been selected or
  transferred for readers?

10
Discussion related to the readings

• In what ways could you apply Côtés method of
  analyzing political texts (analysis of lexical
  frequency) to analyzing political translations?
• Would the results be valuable? Do you see any
  limitations to this approach? In what ways might
  your results differ from the results you would
  obtain via narrative analysis?

11
Links to previous weeks

• On a piece of paper, jot down three points of
  comparison between content analysis, narrative
  analysis, and discourse analysis as theoretical
  frameworks.
• What types of analysis would each theoretical
  approach be better suited for?
• What advantages/disadvantages do these methods
  pose?

12
References

• Côté, Jean-Roch. (2006). Une analyse discursive
  de trois énoncés québécois de politique
  internationale. Études internationales, 37(1)
  121-138.
• Hatim, Basil Ian Mason. (1990). Discourse and
  the Translator. London New York Longman.
• Johnstone, Barbara. (2002). Discourse Analysis.
  Oxford Blackstone Publishing.
• Schäffner, Christina. (2004). Political Discourse
  Analysis from the point of view of Translation
  Studies. Journal of Language and Politics 3(1)
  117-150.