Abstract
Discourse Analysis (DA) refers to the systematic study of both written text and talk and its role in constructing social reality. DA is much more than a qualitative methodology: it is theoretically and epistemologically informed by social constructionism and has been central to challenging the dominance of cognitive and perceptual theoretical models in psychology. Currently there are a diverse range of approaches to analysing discourse that differ markedly from each other so DA should not be treated as a unified approach. This chapter will consider this tradition of research, its intellectual influences, historical trajectory in psychology and the radical critique it has directed towards many of its taken-for-granted concepts. It will also outline some core principles in DA and demonstrate how they are examined in the analysis of discourse.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
ABC. (2010). Transcript of Tony Abbott, MP, ABC television interview on Q&A. Retrieved 6 April, 2011, from http://www.electionblackout.com/tony-abbottsdismissal-of-gay-marriage
Augoustinos, M. (2013). Discourse analysis in psychology: What’s in a name? Qualitative Research in Psychology, 10, 244–248. doi:10.1080/14780887.2012.741511.
Augoustinos, M., & Tileagă, C. (2012). Twenty-five years of discursive psychology. British Journal of Social Psychology, 51, 405–412.
Austin, J. L. (1962). How to do things with words. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Billig, M. (1987). Arguing and thinking: A rhetorical approach to social psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Billig, M. (1991). Ideology, rhetoric and opinions. London: Sage.
Billig, M. (1999). Whose terms? Whose ordinariness? Rhetoric and ideology in conversation analysis. Discourse and Society, 10, 543–582.
Billig, M. (2012). Undisciplined beginnings, academic success and discursive psychology. British Journal of Social Psychology, 51, 413–424.
Davies, B., & Harré, R. (1990). Positioning: The discursive production of selves. Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior, 20, 43–64.
Drew, P., & Holt, E. (1989). Complainable matters: The use of idiomatic expressions in making complaints. Social Problems, 35, 398–417.
Edley, N. (2001). Unravelling social constructionism. Theory and Psychology, 11, 433–441.
Edley, N., & Wetherell, M. (1995). Imagined futures: Young men’s talk about fatherhood and domestic life. British Journal of Social Psychology, 38, 181–194.
Edwards, D. (1997). Discourse and cognition. London: Sage.
Edwards, D. (2012). Discursive and scientific psychology. British Journal of Social Psychology, 51, 425–435.
Edwards, D., Ashmore, M., & Potter, J. (1995). Death and furniture: The rhetoric, politics and theology of bottom line arguments against relativism. History of the Human Sciences, 8, 25–49.
Edwards, D., & Potter, J. (1992). Discursive psychology. London: Sage.
Foucault, M. (1972). The archaeology of knowledge. London: Tavistock.
Harding, R., & Peel, E. (2006). “We Do”? International perspectives on equality, legality and same sex relationships. Lesbian & Gay Psychology Review, 7, 123–140.
Henriques, J., Hollway, W., Urwin, C., Venn, C., & Walkerdine, V. (1984). Changing the subject: Psychology, social regulation and subjectivity. London: Methuen.
Henriques, J., Hollway, W., Urwin, C., Venn, C., & Walkerdine, V. (1998). Changing the subject: Psychology, social regulation and subjectivity (2nd ed.). London: Routledge.
Hepburn, A. (2003). An introduction to critical social psychology. London: Sage.
Holtgraves, T. M., & Kashima, Y. (2008). Language, meaning and social cognition. Personality & Social Psychology Review, 12, 73–94.
Manstead, A. S. R. (2008). Research methods in social psychology. In M. Hewstone, W. Stroebe, & K. Jones (Eds.), Introduction to social psychology: A European perspective (4th ed.). Oxford: Blackwell.
Matthews, N., & Augoustinos, M. (2012). ‘I don’t believe in discrimination … but this is just too far’: Political discourse in the Australian marriage equality debate. Gay and Lesbian Issues and Psychology Review, 8, 128–141.
Moscovici, S. (1982). The coming era of representations. In J.-P. Codol & J.-P. Leyens (Eds.), Cognitive analysis of social behaviour. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.
Parker, I. (1990). Discourse: Definitions and contradictions. Philosophical Psychology, 3, 189–204.
Parker, I. (Ed.). (2002). Critical discursive psychology. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Parker, I. (2012). Discursive social psychology now. British Journal of Social Psychology, 51, 471–477.
Pomerantz, A. (1984). Agreeing and disagreeing with assessments: Some features of preferred/dispreferred turn shapes. In J. M. Atkinson & J. Heritage (Eds.), Structures of social action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Potter, J. (1996). Representing reality. London: Sage.
Potter, J. (1998). Discursive social psychology: From attitudes to evaluations. European Review of Social Psychology, 9, 233–266.
Potter, J. (2000). Post-cognitive psychology. Theory and Psychology, 10, 31–37.
Potter, J. (2012). Re-reading Discourse and Social Psychology: Transforming social psychology. British Journal of Social Psychology, 51, 436–455.
Potter, J., & Hepburn, A. (2005). Qualitative interviews in psychology: Problems and possibilities. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 2, 281–307.
Potter, J., & Wetherell, M. (1987). Discourse and social psychology: Beyond attitudes and behaviour. London: Sage.
Rose, N. (1989). Governing the soul: The shaping of the private self. New York: Routledge.
Sacks, H. (1995). Lectures on conversation (Vols. I and II, G. Jefferson, Ed.). Oxford: Blackwell.
Sacks, H., Schegloff, E. A., & Jefferson, G. (1974). A simplest systematics for the organization of turn-taking for conversation. Language, 50, 696–735.
Schegloff, E. A. (1997). Whose text? Whose context? Discourse and Society, 8, 165–187.
Smith, J. A., Hollway, W., & Mishler, E. G. (2005). Commentaries on Potter and Hepburn, ‘Qualitative interviews in psychology: Problems and possibilities’. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 2, 309–325.
Wetherell, M. (1998). Positioning interpretive repertoires: Conversation analysis and post-structuralism in dialogue. Discourse and Society, 9, 387–412.
Wetherell, M. (2001). Debates in discourse research. In M. Wetherell, S. Taylor, & S. J. Yates (Eds.), Discourse theory and practice: A reader. London: Sage.
Wetherell, M., Stiven, H., & Potter, J. (1987). Unequal egalitarianism: A preliminary study of discourses concerning gender and employment opportunities. British Journal of Social Psychology, 26, 59–71.
Willig, C. (1999). Beyond appearances: A critical realist approach to social constructionist work in psychology. In D. Nightingale & J. Cromby (Eds.), Psychology and social constructionism: A critical analysis of theory and practice. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Willig, C. (2001). Introducing qualitative research in psychology: Adventures in theory and method. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Wittgenstein, L. (1953). Philosophical investigations. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Woolgar, S., & Pawluch, D. (1985). Ontological gerrymandering: The anatomy of social problems explanations. Social Problems, 32, 214–227.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2017 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Augoustinos, M. (2017). Discourse Analysis. In: Gough, B. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Social Psychology. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51018-1_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51018-1_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-51017-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-51018-1
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)