Abstract
What is Discourse Analysis? and Doing Discourse Research: An Introduction for Social Scientists are both introductory textbooks directed towards social scientists who want a closer understanding of discourse. They include a general introduction to discourse, and guidance for carrying out discourse research.
What is Discourse Analysis? by Stephanie Taylor is the most recent of the ‘What is?’ research method series, intended to provide ‘concise and accessible overviews to a range of frequently used research methods and of current issues in research methodology’ (p. vii). Taylor successfully fulfils this brief; the book is short, clear and interesting. Taylor begins by introducing the concept of ‘discourse analysis’, offering a definition which is refined as the book continues. In Chapter 2, ‘Theories and common concerns’, she introduces different approaches to discourse analysis and topics of interest to discourse analysts and uses practical examples to illustrate them. Rather than referring to different theories by their technical names, Taylor uses descriptive titles for subheadings such as ‘theorizing language as communication’ (p. 13). This gives the reader a good overall sense of a range of approaches to discourse.
Even students familiar with discourse analysis would be interested in the third chapter, ‘Four examples of discourse analysis’, which contains summaries of four recent research papers and an explanation of their particularities as examples of ‘discourse analysis’. This was an engaging way of demonstrating the range of current discourse analytic research. The later chapters evaluate discourse analysis as an approach, considering both advantages (Chapter 4) and criticisms (Chapter 6), and giving general guidance in response to probable challenges (Chapter 5). Rather than breaking up the narrative with references and definitions, the book concludes with a useful glossary of terms and a guide for further reading. What is Discourse Analysis? can easily be read cover to cover by students with no prior knowledge of discourse analysis. I was very impressed by the accessibility of this textbook. I would recommend it to students at any level who are unfamiliar with discourse analysis, whether for their own research or for general interest.
Doing Discourse Research: An Introduction for Social Scientists by Reiner Keller is also a short, introductory textbook for social scientists interested in research on discourse. Keller’s book is both longer and less entry-level than Taylor’s, and covers a much wider range of approaches to discourse. The longest and most useful chapter is the second, ‘Approaches in Discourse Research’, which places a range of different discourse traditions in their social and historical context, linking them to specific theorists and researchers. The international tone is set by the beginning of the chapter, which discusses the everyday meaning of ‘discourse’ in English, French and German. Keller draws on research in French, German and English language traditions throughout the book, both in describing the history of different approaches to discourse and in illustrating these approaches. These inclusions – such as a short ‘interlude’ on Habermas’s discourse ethics and its uses by discourse researchers – made the book unusually comprehensive for its length. The inclusion of Bourdieu’s work on symbolic struggle was surprising, but Keller was convincing in his argument for the relevance of Bourdieu to ‘culturalist’ discourse research.
However, coverage is uneven, with some topics given greater attention than others. The section on Foucault is useful, including guidelines on how to do Foucauldian research, and showing the development of Foucault’s archaeological and genealogical approaches. By contrast ‘Cultural studies, Feminist Theory, Post-colonialism’ are only given one paragraph each, which was insufficient to do any of them justice.
The latter half of the book is devoted to ‘Doing Discourse Research’ (Chapter 4), ‘The Detailed Analysis of Data’ (Chapter 5), and ‘From Detailed Analysis to Overall Results’ (Chapter 6). The examples of analysis taken from actual research projects are helpful illustrations in these chapters. However, throughout the book, I found the sections which covered material I am familiar with easier to follow than those introducing material which was new to me. The dry, formal prose made it difficult to take in the large volume of information in each section; probably, this is partially because the book is translated from German. For instance, describing the importance of the literature review stage of research, Keller writes that ‘In this early phase, and subsequently in parallel to the data collection, knowledge of the field of investigation is further expanded by means of a study of the relevant literature’ (pp. 92–3). This makes for difficult reading, particularly for less experienced researchers. I recommend that readers dip in and out of the book, using it to find specific information or as a guide to further reading. Overall, Doing Discourse Research is more successful as an advanced textbook than as an introduction to discourse.