Discourse and Ideologies (Current Issues in Language and Society Monographs, 2) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1853593672 ISBN 13: 9781853593673

Publisher: Multilingual Matters, 1996

Synopsis

This book discusses the relationship between ideology and language, especially such questions as: What are ideologies? How can they be described? and, How can they be related to the processes involved in the production or interpretation of discourse? In the main contribution, Teun van Dijk develops new theoretical notions and analytical distinctions to link explicitly structures of society, cognition and discourse. Ideologies are defined as socially shared belief systems of groups with social and cognitive functions. Their main social function is to sustain the interests of a group: they monitor group-related social practices. Cognitively, ideologies are assumed to assign an overall orientation, coherence and organisation to a cluster of attitudes. Ideologies and their structures have to be inferred from more directly observable structures of cognition, interaction and society. Therefore, the notion of 'opinion' and its complex relations to the structures of discourse and ideology are examined. Opinions are typically expressed, acquired and changed by discourse in interactional contexts. This implies that specific grammatical or other verbal means are typically associated with the expression of opinions. An analysis of a sample text illustrates how argumentation structures reflect preexisting, underlying structures of social cognition. In this way, discourse analysts can contribute to the development of a critical language awareness. Contributors to the debates include Michael Billig, Paul Chilton, David Graddol, Ulrike Meinhof and Kay Richardson.

About this title

About the Authors

Christina Schäffner is Professor Emerita at Aston University, Birmingham. Until her retirement in September 2015 she was the Head of Translation Studies at Aston, teaching courses in translation studies, interpreting, and supervising Master dissertations and PhD students.  Her main research interests are: political discourse in translation, news translation, metaphor in translation, and translation didactics, and she has published widely on these topics. Major publications include Political Discourse, Media and Translation (edited with S. Bassnett 2010), Translation research and Interpreting research: Traditions, gaps and synergies (2004) and Politics as Text and Talk. Analytic Approaches to Political Discourse (edited with P. Chilton, 2002).

Helen Kelly-Holmes is Professor of Applied Languages at Ollscoil Luimnigh/University of Limerick. Helen’s work focuses on the interrelationship between media, markets, technologies and languages and the management of these relationships. She is particularly interested in the economic aspects of multilingualism in relation to minority languages and the global political economy of English, and she has published widely on these topics.  Recent books include: Language, Global Mobilities, Blue-Collar Workers and Blue-collar Workplaces (Edited with K. Gonçalves, Routledge, 2020); Sociolinguistics from the Periphery: Small Languages in New Circumstances (with S. Pietikainen, A. Jaffe & N. Coupland - Cambridge University Press, 2016).

Edition details

• Publisher: Multilingual Matters
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1853593672
• ISBN 13: 9781853593673
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 72
• Editor: Schäffner Dr. Christina, Kelly-Holmes Dr. Helen