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The role of language in communication
The importance of discourse analysis
The importance of discourse analysis
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Power use is around us whether noticed or not. Power in Discourse Analysis is a medium to achieve an end. The end is for stronger of the two sides of the discourse. Power in discourse analysis is the use of language in a discourse allowing the person who acquires knowledge and high status in the discourse takes control of the discourse thus having the higher power. In the following paragraphs, I will discuss nature of power argued in Discourse Analysis, attempts made to define ‘power’ in social research and discuss the different types of power. First, nature of power argued in Discourse Analysis is related to the nature of language. Using language in life is accompanied by using its power. Different conditions vary the power and the language. Language functions change and maintain power relationship. How to negotiate, resist or change that relationship is case study in itself. Whenever power is an issue, there are two sides. Those sides never come to an equal position. There is a reason why we say what we speak or write; there is always a reason behind spoken or written text. People need to be aware on language use and never underestimate the condition of language use. “Discussing the categories of definitions for discourse and discourse analysis, the author is careful to distinguish between formal and functional approaches to the topic” (Stoehr 53-54) by that language is essential to choose appropriate linguistic rules. Each person is at some point the dominate side and at another point he is the weak link. Therefore, being aware of power of language and how the use of it can achieve your goal is essential to resist and change of others’ domination. Linguistics have no relation to the power of language, they only study language... ... middle of paper ... ... Fairclough, Norman. Language and Power. England: Pearson Education Limited, 2001 Stoehr, Louise E. “Perspectives on Discourse Analysis: Theory and Practice.” ebscohost.com. 20100825. Literary Reference Center. 20 December 2011. VAN DIJK, TEUN A. “18 Critical Discourse Analysis”. discourses.org. Website Teun A. van Dijk. 20 December 2011. Zanón, Noa Talaván. “Perspectives on Discourse Analysis: Theory and Practice.” ebscohost.com. 20110713. Literary Reference Center. 20 December 2011.
Discourse communities are groups of people with a unique point of view. There are many discourse communities around your everyday life. These communities are part of the entire human environment. Many discourse communities are distinctly large due to all the societies wanting the same things. My discourse communities are mostly Facebook.
In this essay, I will be analyzing the Traditional method of rhetorical criticism and the Narrative method of rhetorical criticism.
Rice, Philip. and Patricia Waugh, eds. Modern Literary Theory. 4th ed. New York: Oxford UP,
Staton, Shirley F. Literary Theories In Praxis. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1987. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 10 Feb. 2014.
I will argue that the revised notion of power as a positive influence that is produced in communicative space, runs c...
Parker, Robert Dale. How to Interpret Literature: Critical Theory for Literary and Cultural Studies. New York: Oxford, 2011. Print.
The topics and concepts of proximal relations of power, distal relations of power and the historical aspects of colonialism will help demonstrate the reasons for studying the effects of power as well as showing how sociological imagination ties into the topic. The purpose of studying power is to help us better understand who and what has the control in the societies that we live in. By applying the concept of sociological imagination, people are given the ability to connect their own personal issues to the issues that society as a whole have to deal with. To better understand the power dynamic is a key reason why sociologists study the concept of power.
Pierre Bourdieu was a highly influential theorist. He provides a unique and fascinating definition or understanding of power as well as an explanation and analysis into how power works. This work serves to outline what is this specific concept of power means and contains, how it is created, what are the various forms it takes on and in general, how power works. Power is a difficult concept to define conclusively or definitively however, Bourdieu explains power to be a symbolic construct that is perpetuated through every day actions and behaviours of a society, that manipulate power relations to create, maintain and force the conforming of peoples to the given habitus of that society (Bourdieu, 1977). Power, is a force created through the social conventions of a specific community that dictate what is expected or accepted by the people while also determining how they understand the world in which they live (Bourdieu, 1977).
For my last article I chose to look at an article that just focused on explaining what critical analysis discourse is. I liked it because it provided me with a bit of information regarding where it began, who adopted it, how it has grown, and the goals of this type of analysis. By reading this article I learned a lot more about what to look for in other articles in order to get out what I want from them. Since the power of linguistics is a huge focus of this method, I need to make sure I am critical as the analysis describes on what I am looking for in my research. I also make sure I have direction, which I feel like a do. With the previously articles that I does to analyze seem to fulfill these goals.
A discourse community is a group of individuals all with relatively the same ending goal or original interest that all have their own way of participation and have different motives, it is easier to feel more included in a discourse community once literacy achieved. Discourse communities can be found in many different places; it is just a matter of what is being looked for. These communities can come from the entire population, all of the people who speak the English language, any place of education, restaurants, any home, or even at the gym/ recreation center. In order to become literate in the fitness discourse community the differences in basic motives, the values that are important, and the places available to work out at must be understood.
1. Rivkin, Julie and Ryan, Micheal. Literary Theory: An Anthology. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 1998.
Guerin, Wilfred L., et.al. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
It is noteworthy to be stated clearly at the outset of the present paper that literary theories are composed of a mere plethora of highly debatable ideas, concepts and assumptions. They are in other words, strikingly vague, opaque and of a typical flexibility. According to Wellek and Warren (1966, p. 30) }there are then, not only one or two but literally hundreds of independent, diverse, and mutually exclusive conceptions of literature, each of which is in some way right~. That is, the diversity of literary theories and even the contradiction between them sometimes, is something natural.
Raman Selden, Peter Widdowson, and Peter Brooker. A Reader's Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory. 4th ed. London: Prentice Hall and Harvester Wheatrsheaf. 1997.
McKee, Alan (2001) “A Beginner’s Guide to Textual Analysis” in Metro Magazine, No.127/128, 2001, pp.138-149.