Theories of Discourse

This is the first critical introduction to the theories of discourse advanced by Foucault, Althusser, PUcheux and Hindess and Hirst. Discourse theory proposes that in our daily activities the way we speak and write is shaped by the structures of power in our society, and that because our society is defined by struggle and conflict our discourses reflect and create conflicts. The words, expressions and forms of knowledge in institutions (schools and universities, the church and the media) become political as they are traversed and rearranged by the pressure of forces. Diane Macdonell reveals the various lines of thought in recent work on discourse, showing how the central conception of discourse as a political and social tool could diversify into several different critical theories and ideologies.

This book is of particular interest as it calls for a reappraisal of Althusser whose work, Macdonell argues, has been wrongly debunked. This is the first overview and introduction to a notoriously complex area of critical theory, an area which is at the heart of debates about form, meaning, ideology, literary criticism and the humanities.

Acknowledgements vii

Introduction 1

What is 'discourse'? 1

Discourse and literary studies 4

1 The end of the 1960s 8

Structuralism's demise 8

May 1968 and questions of practice 12

2 From ideology to discourse: the Althusserian stand 24

The prevailing practices 28

Ideologies in struggle 33

Against humanism: problems of the subject 36

3 Meaningful antagonisms: Pecheux on discourse 43

Discourse and position 45

Scientific discourse 56

4 Discourse and the critique of epistemology 60

Hindess and Hirst 64

Everything is discourse? 68

The politics of philosophy 75

5 Foucault's archaeologies of knowledge 82

Dismantling the history of ideas 84

Conditions of knowledge 89

Problems and advances 94

6 Subjection, discourse, power 101

Subjection and the body 102

Discourse and subjection 110

Of power and resistance, or, What's wrong with pragmatism? 118

Conclusion 125

Notes 131

Bibliography 133

Index 140

Diane Macdonell is the author of Theories of Discourse: An Introduction, published by Wiley. This is the first critical introduction to the theories of discourse advanced by Foucault, Althusser, PUcheux and Hindess and Hirst. Discourse theory proposes that in our daily activities the way we speak and write is shaped by the structures of power in our society, and that because our society is defined by struggle and conflict our discourses reflect and create conflicts. The words, expressions and forms of knowledge in institutions (schools and universities, the church and the media) become political as they are traversed and rearranged by the pressure of forces. Diane Macdonell reveals the various lines of thought in recent work on discourse, showing how the central conception of discourse as a political and social tool could diversify into several different critical theories and ideologies.

This book is of particular interest as it calls for a reappraisal of Althusser whose work, Macdonell argues, has been wrongly debunked. This is the first overview and introduction to a notoriously complex area of critical theory, an area which is at the heart of debates about form, meaning, ideology, literary criticism and the humanities.