discourse
Sign in to saveDiscourse is a generalization of the notion of a conversation to any form of communication. Discourse is a major topic in social theory, with work spanning fields such as sociology, anthropology, continental philosophy, and discourse analysis. Following work by Michel Foucault, these fields view discourse as a system of thought, knowledge, or communication that constructs our world experience. Since control of discourse amounts to control of how the world is perceived, social theory often studies discourse as a window into power. Within theoretical linguistics, discourse is understood more nar
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Discourse is a broad concept referring to any form of communication—from conversations to larger systems of thought and knowledge—that shapes how we understand the world around us. It matters because whoever controls the dominant forms of discourse essentially influences how people perceive reality, which is why social scientists and theorists study it as a crucial window into understanding power and society.
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Article
11 sectionsContents
- Social theory
- Modernism
- Structuralism (Saussure and Lacan)
- Poststructuralism (Foucault)
- Foucault<!--'Discursive formation' redirects here-->
- Discourse analysis
- Formal semantics and pragmatics
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
Discourse is a generalization of the notion of a conversation to any form of communication. Discourse is a major topic in social theory, with work spanning fields such as sociology, anthropology, continental philosophy, and discourse analysis. Following work by Michel Foucault, these fields view discourse as a system of thought, knowledge, or communication that constructs our world experience. Since control of discourse amounts to control of how the world is perceived, social theory often studies discourse as a window into power. Within theoretical linguistics, discourse is understood more narrowly as linguistic information exchange and was one of the major motivations for the framework of dynamic semantics. In these expressions, denotations are equated with their ability to update a discourse context.
== Social theory== In the humanities and social sciences, discourse describes a formal way of thinking that can be expressed through language. Discourse is a social boundary that defines what statements can be said about a topic. Many definitions of discourse are primarily derived from the work of French philosopher Michel Foucault. In sociology, discourse is defined as "any practice (found in a wide range of forms) by which individuals imbue reality with meaning".