9. Discourse Analysis

Discourse is ‘language use relative to social, political and cultural formations; it is language reflecting social order but also language shaping social order, and shaping individuals’ interaction with society’ (Jaworski and Coupland, The Discourse Reader, 1999; Thomas, Journal of Management Studies, 40, 4, 2003). This definition focuses on language as the object of analysis, thus encouraging a linguistic analytical perspective. However, if we take the assumption that all facets of human experience and activity are socially constructed, it is to say that there can be no totally objective science, history and literary scholarship, as they are all influenced by the society in which they are created. Those who argue for the existence of a ‘discourse theory’ argue that historical accounts are socially constructed and that they are a product of the era and society within which the researcher is living (Marwick 1989). Assumptions behind the methodology of Discourse analysis (DA) recognize the role of ‘text’ or ‘discourse’ in our everyday lives and its contribution to the construction of our social and organizational realities. But before DA is summarized as a methodology, it is important to make clear what will be meant in this chapter by the terms text and discourse.