SOCIAL THEORY OF DISCOURSE,

MARXIST AND POST

FOUCAULDIAN DIALECTICAL
APPROACH
ASIA SHAHMIR
WHAT IS DISCOURSE

 The term discourse has several definitions. In the study of language, it often refers to the
speech patterns and usage of language, dialects, and acceptable statements, within a
community.
 It is a subject of study in peoples who live in secluded areas and share similar speech
conventions.
 Discourse theory refers to the idea that the terms in which we speak, write and think about
the world are a reflection of wider relations of power, and since they are also linked to
practice, are themselves important in maintaining that power structure (Michel Foucault)
 CONTINUED…

• Discourse covers all forms of communication more importantly discourse theorists argue
that communication shapes the world we live in when we communicate we draw from
assumptions and generally accepted knowledge to make statements that will make sense
to others but by doing so we either reinforce those assumptions or we challenge them
either way we are contributing to the flow of commonly accepted knowledge known as
discourse.
FAIRCLOUGH’S DIALECTICAL-RELATIONAL APPROACH TO CRITICAL
DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

• Norman Fairclough is considered as the most impressive and influential specialist in

CDA.
• In his earlier work (1989) he called his approach to language and discourse as Critical
Language Study.
• His main objective is "to help increase consciousness of how language contributes to the
domination of some people by others, because consciousness is the first step for
emancipation"
 CONTINUED…

• According to Fairclough (2013), Discourse is used in various senses:

meaning-making as an element of the social process.
The language associated with a particular social field or practice.
A way of construing aspects of the world associated with a particular social perspective.
• The meaning of discourse is clarified as “meaning-making as an element of the social
process”. Fairclough then goes a step further to say he prefers using ‘semiosis’ for this
discussion instead of discourse.
DIALECTICAL-RELATIONAL APPROACH

• The dialectical-relational approach is about the elements being analyzed, the point being that the elements
are different from one another but not completely separate.
• This allows the linguist to address both the semiotic elements, which represent parts of different social
processes, as well as the relations between the semiotic and other separate (non-semiotic) social processes.
• To be more specific, examples of these social processes are “social relations, power, institutions, beliefs
and cultural values”.
• According to Fairclough social practices are the things people have accepted and learned from the
environment, culture and society they live in.
• Discourse is therefore not only what is said, but also how something is said within a certain structure.
 CONTINUED…

• For example, although we should analyze political institutions or business organizations

as partly semiotic objects, it would be a mistake to treat them as purely semiotic, because
then we couldn’t ask the key question: what is the relationship between semiotic and
other elements? CDA focuses not just upon semiosis as such, but on relations between
semiotic and other social elements.
• The nature of this relationship varies between institutions and organizations, and
according to time and place, and it needs to be established through analysis
MARXIST’S THEORY

• Our place in the society determine our consciousness study the relationship between a text
and the society that reads it. focuses on class relations and societal conflict
• People’s experiences are responsible for shaping and developing an individual personal’s
consciousness
• Marx declares that “consciousness does not determine life: life determines consciousness.”
• Humans define themselves.
• He said that our ideas and concepts about ourselves fashioned in everyday discourse in the
language of real life.
DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM

• Marx believed that society had progressed from one economic system to another .
• As society progresses from a feudal system to a more market-based economy, the actual
process from producing, distributing, and consuming goods becomes more complex.
People’s functions within the economic system become differentiated.
• Two economic means of production within a society are:
• Base: Engenders and controls all human institutions and ideologies.
• Superstructure: All social and legal institutions, political and educational systems, religions,
and art
 FOUCAULT’S THEORY

• Discourse theory refers to the idea that the terms in which we speak, write and think about the world are a reflection
of wider relations of power, and since they are also linked to practice, are themselves important in maintaining that
power structure .
• Society’s Beliefs:
• We often talk about people as if they have particular attributes as 'things' inside themselves; we believe that people
have an identity. For example, society believes that at the heart of a person there is a fixed and true identity or
character (even though we may not always know exactly what someone’s character is, or even exactly what our
own character is).We assume that people have an inner spirit - qualities beneath the ‘surface’ of a person which
determine who that person really 'is'. We also say that some people have power, and different levels of it, which
means that they are more or less able to achieve what they want in their relationships with others, and within society
as a whole.
• Foucault didn’t agree with society’s view. For Foucault, people do not have a 'real'
identity within themselves; that's just a way of talking about the person - a discourse.
• An 'identity' is communicated to others in your interactions with them, but it can shift; it
is not fixed. It is a impermanent feature.
• He also said that people do not 'have' power completely; instead, power is a technique or
action which individuals can engage in.
• Power is not possessed; it is exercised. And where there is power, there is always also
resistance.