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The Discourse Studies Reader
Main currents in theory and analysis
Discourse Studies is an interdisciplinary field studying the social production of meaning across the entire spectrum of the social sciences and humanities. The Discourse Studies Reader brings together 40 key readings from discourse researchers in Europe and North America, some of which are now translated into English for the first time. Divided into seven sections – ‘Theoretical Inspirations: Structuralism versus Pragmatics’, ‘From Structuralism to Poststructuralism’, ‘Enunciative Pragmatics’, ‘Interactionism’, ‘Sociopragmatics’, ‘Historical Knowledge’ and ‘Critical Approaches’ – The Discourse Studies Reader offers a comprehensive overview of the main currents in discourse studies, both discourse theory and discourse analysis. With short introductions elaborating the broader context, the sections present key selections from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds by placing them into their respective epistemological traditions. The Discourse Studies Reader is an indispensable textbook for students and scholars alike who are interested in discourse theoretical questions and working with discourse analytical methods.
[Not in series, 184] 2014. ix, 417 pp.
Publishing status: Available
Published online on 20 June 2014
Published online on 20 June 2014
© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Table of Contents
- Preface | pp. ix–9
- The Discourse Studies Reader. An IntroductionJohannes Angermuller, Dominique Maingueneau and Ruth Wodak | pp. 1–14
- 1. Theoretical Inspirations: Structuralism versus Pragmatics
- Introduction | pp. 17–20
- Ferdinand de Saussure: The value of the sign | p. 21
- 1959[1906-1911]. Course in General Linguistics, translated by Wade Baskin, selected 114–117, 120–122. New York: Philosophical LibraryFerdinand de Saussure | pp. 22–26
- Mikhail Bakhtin: Polyphonic discourse in the novel | p. 27
- 1981[1934-1935]. ‘Discourse in the Novel’. In The Dialogic Imagination. Four Essays, 259–422, selected 261–265, 268–275. Austin: University of Texas PressMikhail Bakhtin | pp. 28–35
- Zellig S. Harris: Towards a distributionalist method | p. 36
- 1952. Language, 28 (1): 1–30, selected 1–3, 29–30Zellig S. Harris | pp. 37–40
- George Herbert Mead: Thought, communication, and the significant symbol | p. 41
- 1934. Mind, Self, and Society from the Standpoint of a Social Behaviorist, edited by Charles W. Morris. Chicago: University of Chicago, selected 68-75George Herbert Mead | pp. 42–47
- Ludwig Wittgenstein: Communication as a language game | p. 48
- 1997[1953]: Philosophische Untersuchungen / Philosophical Investigations, selected remarks (Bemerkungen) 1-6, 10, 11, 23-26, 29, 30, 43. Oxford: BlackwellLudwig Wittgenstein | pp. 49–53
- John L. Austin: Performing speech | p. 54
- 1979[1961]. ‘The Meaning of a Word.’ In Philosophical Papers, 3rd edition, 55-75, selected 56–62, 72–75. Oxford: Oxford University PressJohn L. Austin | pp. 55–59
- H. Paul Grice: Using language to mean something | p. 60
- 1957. ‘Meaning.’ Philosophical Review 66: 377–388, presently published by Duke University PressH. Paul Grice | pp. 61–68
- 2. From Structuralism to Poststructuralism
- Introduction | pp. 71–76
- Jacques Lacan: The divided subject | p. 77
- 1970–1971. Seminar XVIII. On a discourse that might not be a semblance. selected 1–8. Online source, translated by Cormac GallagherJacques Lacan | pp. 78–82
- Louis Althusser: The subjectivity effect of discourse | p. 83
- 2003[1966]. ‘Three Notes on the Theory of Discourses.’ In The Humanist Controversy and Other Writings (1966-67), 33-84, selected 47–53. London, New York: Verso.Louis Althusser | pp. 84–88
- Michel Pêcheux: From ideology to discourse | p. 89
- 1975. ‘Mises au point et perspectives à propos de l’analyse automappptique du discours.’ Langages 37: 7–80, selected 7–16, 20–22. Anonymous translatorMichel Pêcheux and Catherine Fuchs | pp. 90–97
- Michel Foucault: An archaeology of discourse | p. 98
- 2001[1968]. ‘Réponse à une question.’ In Dits et écrits, I, 701–723, selected 702–715. Paris: Gallimard. Anonymous translator.Michel Foucault | pp. 99–110
- Stuart Hall: Encoding and decoding the message | p. 111
- 1980[1973]. ‘Encoding, decoding.’ In Culture, Media, Language. Working Papers in Cultural Studies, 1972-1979, ed. by Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, 128-138. London: RoutledgeStuart Hall | pp. 112–121
- Ernesto Laclau: The impossibility of society | p. 122
- 1990. ‘The Impossibility of Society.’ In New Reflections on the Revolution of Our Time, 89–92. London, New York: VersoErnesto Laclau | pp. 123–126
- Judith Butler: Speaking to the postcolonial Other | p. 127
- 2008. ‘Violence, Nonviolence. Sartre on Fanon.’ In Race after Sartre, ed. by Jonathan Judaken, 211–232, selected 211–215. Albany: SUNY PressJudith Butler | pp. 128–132
- 3. Enunciative Pragmatics
- Introduction | pp. 135–139
- Émile Benveniste: The formal apparatus of enunciation | p. 140
- 1970. ‘L’appareil formel de l’énonciation.’ Langages 17 (5): 12–18, selected 12–18. Anonymous translator.Émile Benveniste | pp. 141–145
- Dominique Maingueneau: The scene of enunciation | p. 146
- 2003. ‘La situation d’énonciation entre langue et discours.’ In Dix ans de S.D.U., edited by the Association des chercheurs en linguistique française, 197–209, selected 198–206. Craiova: Editura Universitaria CraiovaDominique Maingueneau | pp. 147–154
- Jacqueline Authier-Revuz: Enunciative heterogeneity | p. 155
- 1984. ‘Hétérogénéité(s) énonciative(s).’ Langages 73: 98-111, selected 99–107. Anonymous translatorJacqueline Authier-Revuz | pp. 156–165
- Oswald Ducrot: Enunciative polyphony | p. 166
- 1984. Le Dire et le dit. Paris, Minuit, selected 171, 189–192, 203–210. Anonymous translatorOswald Ducrot | pp. 167–175
- Johannes Angermuller: Subject positions in polyphonic discourse | p. 176
- 2014. Poststructuralist Discourse Analysis. Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave.Johannes Angermuller | pp. 177–186
- 4. Interactionism
- Introduction | pp. 189–193
- Harvey Sacks: Turn-taking in conversations | p. 194
- 1992[1964]. ‘Lecture 1. Rules of Conversational Sequence.’ In Lectures on Conversation. Vol. I, 3–11. Oxford, Cambridge, MA: BlackwellHarvey Sacks | pp. 195–203
- Erving Goffman: Tacit knowledge in interaction | p. 204
- 1983. ‘Felicity’s Condition.’ American Journal of Sociology 89 (1): 1–53, selected 1–9, 48–51.Erving Goffman | pp. 205–216
- John Gumperz: Intercultural encounters | p. 217
- 1982. Discourse Strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, selected 1-7.John J. Gumperz | pp. 218–223
- Aaron V. Cicourel: Maintaining one’s self | p. 224
- 2011. ‘The effect of neurodegenerative disease on representations of self in discourse.’ Neurocase: The Neural Basis of Cognition 17 (3): 251–259, selected 251-253, 254, 255-256, 257-259Aaron V. Cicourel | pp. 225–233
- James Paul Gee: Language as saying, doing and being | p. 234
- 2010. An Introduction to Discourse Analysis. Theory and Method. 3rd edition. New York, London: Routledge, selected 2–10.James Paul Gee | pp. 235–243
- Jonathan Potter: Discourse and social psychology | p. 244
- 2012. ‘Re-reading Discourse and Social Psychology: Transforming social psychology’ British Journal of Social Psychology 51(3): 436-455, selected 436-438, 442, 443-444, 446-447, 448-450.Jonathan Potter | pp. 245–256
- 5. Sociopragmatics
- Introduction | pp. 259–262
- Michael A.K. Halliday: Language as social semiotic | p. 263
- 1993[1975]. ‘Language as Social Semiotic.’ In Language and Literacy, ed. by Janet Maybin, 23-43, selected 23–29. Clevedon: Open UniversityM.A.K. Halliday | pp. 264–271
- Theo van Leeuwen: The representation of actors | p. 272
- 1996. ‘The Representation of Social Actors.’ In Texts and Practices: Readings in Critical Discourse Analysis, ed. by Carmen Rosa Caldas-Coulthard & Malcolm Coulthard, 32–70, selected 32-36, 36-42. London: RoutledgeTheo van Leeuwen | pp. 273–281
- Konrad Ehlich: Text and discourse | p. 282
- 1987. ‘Text and Discourse: A plea for clarity in analysis and terminology.’ In Proceedings of the 14th International Congress of Linguistics, ed. by Bahner, Schildt, and Viehweger, 2050–2052. Berlin: Akademie Verlag.Konrad Ehlich | pp. 283–285
- Patrick Charaudeau: Discourse strategies and the constraints of communication | p. 286
- 2002. ‘A communicative conception of discourse.’ Discourse studies 4 (3): 301–318, selected 301-302, 309–316Patrick Charaudeau | pp. 287–296
- Ruth Amossy: Argumentation and discourse analysis | p. 297
- 2008. ‘Argumentation et Analyse du discours: perspectives théoriques et découpages disciplinaires.’ Argumentation et Analyse du discours [online], 1, selected paragraphs 1-18. Access 6.9.2008, http://aad.revues.org/200. Anonymous translator.Ruth Amossy | pp. 298–304
- John Swales: Genre and discourse community | p. 305
- 1990. Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, selected 45–47, 52–60John M. Swales | pp. 306–316
- 6. Historical Knowledge
- Introduction | pp. 319–323
- Régine Robin: History and linguistics | p. 324
- 1973. Histoire et linguistique. Paris: Armand Colin, selected 21–26. Anonymous translatorRégine Robin | pp. 325–331
- Reinhart Koselleck: Conceptual history | p. 332
- 1994. ‘Some Reflections on the Temporal Structure of Conceptual Change.’ In Main Trends in Cultural History. Ten Essays, ed. by Willem Melching & Wyger Velema, 7-16, selected 7-8, 10-16. Amsterdam: RodopiReinhart Koselleck | pp. 333–339
- Dietrich Busse and Wolfgang Teubert: Using corpora for historical semantics | p. 340
- 1994. ‘Ist Diskurs ein sprachwissenschaftliches Objekt? Zur Methodenfrage der historischen Semantik.’ In Begriffsgeschichte und Diskursgeschichte, ed. by Dietrich Busse, Fritz Hermanns, and Wolfgang Teubert, 10–28, selected 10–19. Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag. Translated by Chris Newton and Johannes Angermuller.Dietrich Busse and Wolfgang Teubert | pp. 341–349
- Thomas Luckmann: Communicative genres | p. 350
- 1985. ‘Grundformen der gesellschaftlichen Vermittlung des Wissens: Kommunikative Gattungen.’ In Kultur und Gesellschaft, ed. by Friedhelm Neidhardt, M. Rainer Lepsius, and Johannes Weiss, 191–211, selected 200–211. Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag. Translated and adapted by Chris Newton and Johannes AngermullerThomas Luckmann | pp. 351–356
- 7. Critical approaches
- Introduction | pp. 359–364
- Jürgen Habermas: A normative conception of discourse | p. 365
- 2001. ‘Reflections on the Linguistic Foundation of Sociology: The Christian Gauss Lecture, Princeton University, February-March 1971.’ In On the Pragmatics of Social Interaction. Preliminary Studies in the Theory of Communicative Action, 1-105, selected 100-105. Cambridge: Polity/Oxford: BlackwellJürgen Habermas | pp. 366–368
- Jan Blommaert and Jef Verschueren: A pragmatics of the cultural other | p. 369
- 1998. Debating Diversity. Analysing the Discourse of Tolerance. London: Routledge, selected 32-38Jan Blommaert and Jef Verschueren | pp. 370–377
- Norman Fairclough: A critical agenda for education | p. 378
- 2004. ‘Semiotic aspects of social transformation and learning.’ In An Introduction to Critical Discourse Analysis in Education, ed. by R. Rogers, 225–235. Lawrence ErlbaumNorman Fairclough | pp. 379–387
- Teun A. van Dijk: Discourse, cognition, society | p. 388
- 2009. ‘Critical Discourse Studies: A Sociocognitive Approach.’ In Methods for Critical Discourse Analysis, ed. by Ruth Wodak & Michael Meyer, 62-86, selected 62-67, 75-80. London: Sage.Teun A. van Dijk | pp. 389–399
- Ruth Wodak: Discourses of exclusion: Xenophobia, eacism and anti-Semitism | p. 400
- 2007. ‘Pragmatics and Critical Discourse Analysis. A cross-disciplinary Analysis.’ Pragmatics and Cognition, 15 (1): 203–225, selected 203–207, 215–218Ruth Wodak | pp. 401–410
- Index | pp. 411–417
“Year after year, I had huge difficulties in guiding students through the diversity of theories and traditions in discourse studies. Now I have found the book we all need, and not only our students. For the first time in my life I read a book with such an inspiring selection of classic articles. I am really impressed. And thanks to the editors, all ‘text’ is presented in ‘co-text’, with seven insightful overviews of the sections and forty introductory notes to the articles. If I could start my study again…”
Jan Renkema, Tilburg University
“This Discourse Studies Reader provides a unique collection of theoretical readings from various strands of discourse research in Europe and North America, from various disciplines in the social sciences and the humanities (linguistics, sociology, philosophy, anthropology, history), and from various schools of structuralist and poststructuralist thought. Under the rubrics: enunciative pragmatics, interactionism, sociopragmatics and critical approaches to the study of discourse, it is the first collection of readings to represent discourse research as a transdisciplinary and transnational field of research, that includes, besides the usual canon of Anglo-Saxon research, such well-known French scholars as Benveniste, Pêcheux, Ducrot, and Maingueneau, and such German and Austrian scholars as Habermas, Ehlich, Luckmann, and Wodak. Discourse analysis cannot be separated from ethical or societal concerns. One of the most valuable characteristics of this Reader is its interest in the discursive dimensions of power and injustice, and in social and cultural change.”
Claire Kramsch, UC Berkeley
“The editors of this reader are to be congratulated for assembling in one place the most comprehensive and influential collection of papers in the field of discourse studies. Linked together by a compelling transdisciplinary view of discourse, the volume traces the main theoretical and methodological currents in the field since the 1960s, including an impressive array of authors and a fascinating range of viewpoints. This is a rich contribution to the intellectual history of discourse studies and an invaluable sourcebook for anyone interested in the study of language.”
Ken Hyland, The University of Hong Kong
“The volume is an ideal reading for graduate students and early career researchers who are looking forward to broadening their theoretical understandings of DS.”
Sibo Chen, Simon Fraser University, on Linguist List 26.2000 (April 2015)
“Der vorliegende Reader stellt eine gewichtige und in vielerlei Hinsicht sehr instruktive Sammlung von Texten aus dem heterogenen Forschungsfeld der Diskursforschung dar. Für Leserinnen und Leser, die das Feld noch nicht kennen, bietet er gebündelt eine ganze Reihe grundlegender Texte, die durch die narrative Struktur des Buchs und die begleitenden Texte der HerausgeberInnen auch gleich entsprechend vorsortiert und interpretativ gerahmt sind.”
Jürgen Spitzmüller, University of Vienna, in Zeitschrift für Diskursforschung Heft 1/2015
“The reader is a key contribution to the field of Discourse Studies. Not only does The Discourse Studies Reader include key readings, it also frames them and the areas they belong to. By thus facilitating the construction of a story about this field, and by stressing the interdisciplinary nature of Discourse Studies, presenting writings from a variety of disciplines side by side, the reader is an excellent source for all those interested in discourse.”
Bernhard Forchtner, University of Leicester, in Journal of Language and Politics, Vol. 15:6 (2016)
Cited by (93)
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Atzeni, Célia
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Herzog, Benno & Arturo Lance Porfillio
Longhi, Julien
Maciąg, Rafał
Serrano, María José
Weiland, Verena
2022. Linguistic Approaches to Discourse: A Multi-Layered Methodology Illustrated by the Example of the Discursive Construction and Deconstruction of EUROPE after the 2015 Paris Terror Attacks. In On the Discursive Deconstruction and Reconstruction of Europe [Linguistik in Empirie und Theorie/Empirical and Theoretical Linguistics, ], ► pp. 205 ff.
Adrian, Lin & Solfrid Mykland Fjell
Barbeta-Viñas, Marc
Beetz, Johannes
Dawood, Mahmoud A. & Dhiya Jassam Hameed
Gameel, Prof. Abd Al-Kareem Fadhel, Prof. Abd Al-Kareem Fadhel Gameel & Prof. Abd Al-Kareem Fadhel Gameel
Mackenzie, Jai
Ostrowicka, Helena
Sveinson, Katherine, Larena Hoeber & Caroline Heffernan
Catalano, Theresa & Linda R. Waugh
Furkó, Péter B.
Islentyeva, Anna
Salamurović, Aleksandra
Berrocal, Martina & Aleksandra Salamurović
2019. Introduction. In Political discourse in Central, Eastern and Balkan Europe [Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture, 84], ► pp. 1 ff.
Bruch, Julia, Karina de la Garza-Gil, Ulf Christian Ewert, Benjamin Hitz, Ulla Kypta, Martin Kypta, Ulrich Müller, Niels Petersen, Kathrin Pindl, Tanja Skambraks & Sebastian Steinbach
Cap, Piotr
Cap, Piotr
2021. On the development of the social-linguistic nexus in discourse research. Pragmatics and Society 12:2 ► pp. 309 ff.
Furkó, Péter B., Ildikó Vaskó, Csilla Ilona Dér & Dorte Madsen
Liasidou, Sotiroula
Liasidou, Sotiroula
Lopez, Irene, Robin Quillivic, Hayley Evans & Rosa I. Arriaga
Madsen, Dorte
Roy, Mélissa
Zienkowski, Jan & Ruth Breeze
2019. Introduction. In Imagining the Peoples of Europe [Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture, 83], ► pp. 1 ff.
Beetz, Johannes & Veit Schwab
Bond, Carmel, Gemma Stacey, Sarah Field‐Richards, Patrick Callaghan, Philip Keeley, Joanne Lymn, Sarah Redsell & Helen Spiby
Catalano, Theresa & Grace E Fielder
Debras, Camille
Fleming, Aysha, Claire Mason & Gillian Paxton
Kranert, Michael & Geraldine Horan
2018. Introduction. In Doing Politics [Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture, 80], ► pp. 1 ff.
Maciag, Rafal
Maciag, Rafal
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Stone Tatum, Dillon
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Angermuller, Johannes
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Kyriacou, Chris, Beatrice Szczepek Reed, Fatma Said & Ian Davies
Maingueneau, Dominique
Maingueneau, Dominique
Mayaffre, Damon & Ronny Scholz
2017. Constructing ‘the French people’ – On Sarkozy’s populism. Journal of Language and Politics 16:5 ► pp. 683 ff.
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Wodak, Ruth & Silvia Nugara
Zienkowski, Jan
Zienkowski, Jan
2024. Poststructuralist discourse theory. In Handbook of Pragmatics [Handbook of Pragmatics, ], ► pp. 187 ff.
Husson, Anne-Charlotte
Knoblauch, Hubert
Singh, Jaspal Naveel
2016. Book review: Johannes Angermuller, Martin Nonhoff, Eva Herschinger, Felicitas Macgilchrist, Martin Reisigl, Juliette Wedl, Daniel Wrana and Alexander Ziem (eds), Diskursforschung: Ein interdisziplinäres Handbuch, Band 1: Theorien, Methodologien und Kontroversen [Discourse Studies: An Interdisciplinary Handbook, Volume 1: Theories, Methodologies and Controversies], Martin Nonhoff, Eva Herschinger, Johannes Angermuller, Felicitas Macgilchrist, Martin Reisigl, Juliette Wedl, Daniel Wrana and Alexander Ziem (eds), Diskursforschung: Ein interdisziplinäres Handbuch, Band 2: Methoden und Praxis der Diskursanalyse: Perspektiven auf Hochschulreformdiskurse [Discourse Studies: An Interdisciplinary Handbook, Volume 2: Methods and Practice of Discourse Analysis: Perspectives on the Discourses of University Reforms] and Daniel Wrana, Alexander Ziem, Martin Reisigl, Martin Nonhoff and Johannes Angermuller (eds), DiskursNetz: Wörterbuch der interdisziplinären Diskursforschung [DiscourseNet: Dictionary of Interdisciplinary Discourse Studies]. Discourse Studies 18:3 ► pp. 354 ff.
Truan, Naomi
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Wodak, Ruth
Maigret, Éric & Franck Rebillard
[no author supplied]
2019. Epilogue. In Political discourse in Central, Eastern and Balkan Europe [Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture, 84], ► pp. 265 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 25 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.