Discourse Analysis Archives - Page 2 of 2

Discourse Analysis of Biblical Literature, ed. by Walter Bodine

November 9, 2013

Walter Bodine opens the work with an essay on a brief history of discourse analysis and why biblical scholars should be interested in it. In conclusion, Bodine says the “purpose of the volume is to encourage biblical scholars to join in welcoming into their circle this now established and rapidly growing field (11).

In chapter 1, Robert Longacre examines Exodus 25:1-30:10 with the intention to “delineate clearly instruction as a discourse type and to present in some detail the structure and discourse-effectiveness of this passage” (23). He examines both the macrostructure of each section, as well as microstructures within each section, explains the discourse features of the Hebrew….

Discourse Analysis (Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics), by Gillian Brown and George Yule

November 8, 2013

Todd Scacewater

Brown and Yule survey the work done thus far on discourse analysis and the various components of what have been included in such work. They deal both with written and with oral texts, sometimes more with oral in order to see language-in-use more effectively. They appreciate the work done by Chomsky and other structural linguists to analyze grammar…

The Semantic Structure of Written Communication, by John Beekman, John Callow, and Michael Kopesec

November 8, 2013

Todd Scacewater

The “assumption underlying this work is that meaning is also structured, and that this structure is amenable to linguistic analysis and theory. Indeed, the purpose of this presentation is to set forth a theory of the structure of meaning—to give it a technical title, semantic structure” (14). The semantic structure that the authors lay out is hierarchical….

Review: Introduction to Discourse Analysis by Gee

November 5, 2013

Todd Scacewater

Gee, James Paul, An Introduction to Discourse Analysis: Theory and Method. 3rd ed. New York: Routledge, 2011. 224 pp. This work provides a methodology for doing discourse analysis in terms of critically analyzing the use of language as saying, doing, and being (3). The author utilizes speech act theory as well as later Wittgenstein’s “language game” theory. Language games have rules that produce winners and losers; winners receive “social goods,” which are “anything some people in a society want and value”…

Review: Analyzing Discourse by Dooley & Levinsohn

November 2, 2013

Todd Scacewater

This work is brief and introductory, with most chapters spanning only 4-10 pages. It covers various concepts utilized in discourse analysis and uses language that is, for the most part, accessible for most readers. Chapters 1-4 cover respectively the four different dimensions of a text: (1) number of speakers (monologue or dialogue)….