Discourse

Discourse is not just a means of expressing thought; it is also an autonomous body, an act through which we aim to achieve a certain effect. Modern linguistics proposes a broader definition of discourse, as a discrete and unique enunciative process, where the speaker or author makes language concrete through speech (in the Saussurian sense), and describes the various acts (oral, illocutionary, perlocutionary) that discourse performs.
This book examines discourse, an object of analysis and criticism, from a wide range of perspectives. Among the concepts explored are the contributions of rhetoric in the art of discourse, the evolution of multiple approaches and the main methods of discourse analysis conducted by a variety of researchers. The book deepens our knowledge and understanding of discourse, a concept on which any research related to information and communication can be based.

Preface ixIntroduction xiiiPart 1. Epistemological Foundations 1Introduction to Part 1 3Chapter 1. The Art of Discourse: Rhetoric 71.1. Thinking, Speaking Out, Persuading 71.2. Ethos, Pathos, Logos 91.3. The Rhetorical System 101.3.1. Invention 111.3.2. The Disposition 141.3.3. Elocution 171.3.4. The Action 191.3.5. The Memory 201.4. Contemporary Rhetoric 21Chapter 2. Discourse Analysis 252.1. What Do We Mean By Discourse? 252.2. A Diversity of Points of View 272.3. The Different Approaches in Discourse Analysis 302.3.1. The Enunciative Approach 302.3.2. The Communication Approach 352.3.3. The Sociolinguistic Approach 382.3.4. Interactionist and Conversational Approaches 462.3.5. The Pragmatic Approach 522.3.6. The Semiological Approach 55Chapter 3. Interdiscourse 613.1. Bakhtin and Foucault 613.2. Verbal Interaction 643.2.1. Dialogism and Polyphony 643.2.2. Further Developments 663.3. Sociohistorical Approach 703.3.1. The Statement 703.3.2. Discursive Formation 713.3.3. Discourse Control Procedures 763.3.4. The Method of Analysis 84Chapter 4. Discourse and Communication 914.1. The Problem of Communication 914.2. Linguistics and Discourse 944.3. The Communicability of Sense and Reference 964.4. The Communicability of the Force of Discourse 994.5. The Communicability of Noetic Intention 101Part 2. Discourse Analyses Developed in the Information and Communication Sciences 105Introduction to Part 2 107Chapter 5. Sociolinguistic Analysis 1095.1. A Brief History of Discourse Analysis 1095.2. The Interdisciplinarity of Discourse Analysis 1125.3. Discourse Analysis and Comprehensive Sociology 1165.4. Other Approaches to Discourse Analysis 117Chapter 6. Content Analysis 1196.1. Production Conditions for Statements 1206.2. Empirical Description of Attitudes and Opinions 1226.3. More Linguistic Methods 1256.4. Taxonomic Analysis 1316.5. Systematic Analysis 1356.6. Observation or Experimentation 136Chapter 7. Documentary Analysis 1397.1. Representation of the Content 1397.2. Index and Concordances 1417.3. Documentary Interpretation 1427.4. The Syntol System 1477.5. Metalanguage 1487.5.1. The Three Components of Metalanguage 1487.5.2. The Basic Relational Unit 1507.5.3. The Calculation of Relationships 1517.5.4. The Procedure for Interpreting a Text 151Chapter 8. Logometry 1538.1. What Is Logometry? 1548.1.1. The Question of the Corpus 1548.1.2. The Units of the Text 1588.1.3. Quantitative and Qualitative Tools 1608.2. The Logometric Approach 1648.2.1. Logometry, Between Reading and Interpretation 1658.2.2. The Descriptive and Heuristic Capacity of Logometry 1658.2.3. Going Beyond the Hypothetical-Deductive Method 1678.3. Logometric Software 1688.3.1. Morphosyntax Lemmatizers and Analysers 1698.3.2. Logometry Software 1708.3.3. The TXM Platform 1718.4. Conclusion 1728.4.1. Number Has Meaning 1728.4.2. Meaning Comes From Context 1728.4.3. An Alphanumeric Study of Texts 173Conclusion 175References 177Index of Names 191Index of Common Terms 195