What is DiscourseAnalysis?
Discourse is a term becoming increasinglycommon in a wide range of academic and non-academic contexts. Sometimes it canseem as if each time it is used, it means something different.
First, what is discourse, and what relation does ithave to language? Within linguistics, discourse is often described as“language-in-use” or “socially situated text and talk”, i.e., analysts ask howwritten, oral and visual texts are used in specific contexts to make meanings,as opposed to analysing language-as-an-abstract-system. Other disciplines(philosophy, history, sociology, anthropology, political science, mediastudies) tend to use the term to mean what is ‘sayable’ or ‘thinkable’ about atopic in any given political, social, historical, cultural context.
source:http://www.discourse-analysis.de/
