Discourse and Practice : New Tools for Critical Analysis

Theo Van Leeuwen

ISBN 10: 0195323300 / ISBN 13: 9780195323306

Published by Oxford University Press, 2008

About this Item

nach der Bestellung gedruckt Neuware - Printed after ordering - This book presents a new theory of discourse, arguing that our understanding of texts ultimately rests on our practices and on what we do. It will be welcomed by students and researchers looking for a form of discourse analysis that is explicit and methodical as well as socially and critically relevant.

Seller Inventory # 9780195323306

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Discourse and Practice : New Tools for Critical Analysis
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication Date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0195323300
• ISBN 13: 9780195323306
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 240W x 161H x 15D millimeters 240 millimeters width by 161 millimeters height by 15 millimeters depth
• Weight: 452 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Adding a new introduction and two previously unpublished papers, Discourse and Practice: New Tools for Critical Discourse Analysis brings together van Leeuwen's methodological work on discourse analysis of the last 15 years. Discourse, van Leeuwen argues, is a resource for representation, a knowledge about some aspect of reality which can be drawn upon when that aspect of reality has to be represented, a framework for making sense of things. And they are plural. There can be different discourses, different ways of making sense of the same aspect of reality that serve different interests and will therefore be used in different social contexts.

However abstract some discourses are, discourses ultimately always represent doings, van Leeuwen argues. Doing is the foundation of knowing, and social practices are the foundation of discourses. Studying children's books, newspaper reports, brochures and other texts, as well as photographs and children's toys, van Leeuwen investigates what can happen when practices are transformed into discourses and provides analytical tools for reconstructing discourses from texts.

Throughout the book, van Leeuwen makes connections between sociological and linguistic or semiotic concepts and methods to ensure the social and critical relevance of his analytical categories. van Leeuwen's work has already been widely used by critical discourse analysts across the world. This volume will be a welcome guide for anyone looking for a form of discourse analysis that is both explicit and methodical, and critically incisive.

About the Author

Theo van Leeuwen has worked as a film and television producer and scriptwriter in Holland and Australia. He then studied linguistics and combined the methods of linguistic analysis with his knowledge of visual communication in developing his approach to social semiotics.