Course information |
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Title |
Discourse as an Interdisciplinary Concept |
Lecturer |
Barát Erzsébet |
Course code |
YSE_BTK_011-ANG0001 |
Credit |
4 |
Location |
TBA |
Time |
TBA |
Course description |
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Short description |
The interdisciplinary concept of discourse plays a significant role in contemporary social science, social linguistics and cultural studies. Its prominence is evident in the growing number of studies that use the various concepts and methods of discourse analysis to define and explore problems in their respective fields. The aim of this lecture is partly to investigate the reasons for the explosion of this interest and partly to explore the consequences that the difference between language and discourse should involve for the actual analysis of “data”. The ultimate objective is to make students see that meaning is articulated in and through discourses that are emergent as the effect of particular relations of power. The focus of our discourse studies is on the three effects of discourse, that is, thematization, membership, and authority. We shall investigate the ways the ‘abstract’ concepts of discourse are meant to be applied to ‘empirical’ research questions, demonstrating the relative gains and losses of the proliferating ‘discourses of discourse’, ranging from the conflation of discourse with talk between two face-to-face interactants to seeing discourse as the only constitutive force of the entire social and cultural world.
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Schedule |
Week 1: Introduction: The concept of ‘discourse’ versus ’language’
Week 2: The difference between description and interpretation
Week 3: Language-in-Action
Week 4: Situated Meaning
Week 5-7: Language ideology and power
Week 8-12: Discourse and Identity
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Semester |
FALL |
Requirements |
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Requirements to get the grade |
Closed book written exam of two components. An essay question to be discussed in 250-300 words and the analysis of a short (one-paragraph-long) sample text guided by Instructor’s question.
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Reading list |
See the weekly topics above. |
Suggested reading list |
M Jorgensen and L. Phillips: Discourse Analysis as Theory and Method. Sage (2002) J. P. Gee: An Introduction to Discourse Analysis – Theory and Method. 2nd ed. Routledge (2004) |