Discourse Analysis
GEOG 5161: Research Design
Lindsay Skog
February 21, 2011
What is discourse?
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Conventional definition: Related groupings of writing and
speech (Waitt 2005)
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Constructivist approach: Structures of language, shaping
behavior and thought, not as expressions of an essential
‘real’, but as constitutive of it. (Waitt 2005)
What is discourse analysis?

Hermeneutical approach using content analysis, semiology, and
iconography to explore texts and statements as expressions of
reality (Lees 2004)
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Analysis of textual content revealing the hegemonic arguments
Foucauldian Discourse Analysis
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Discourse is constructive of objects rather than a reflection of them
(Lees 2004)
Texts are not meaningful in and of themselves, they are situated in
relation to other texts (Waitt 2005).
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Textual analysis largely ignores the social setting of the text. (ShurmerSmith 2002)
In practice, these two are combined (Lees 2004)
What is Foucauldian discourse analysis?
Moves beyond analysis of texts ands statements to understand
their effects on actions, perceptions, and attitudes (Waitt 2005)

Uncovers the “regulatory frameworks within which groups of
statements are produced, circulated, and communicated” (Waitt
2005,165)
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Reveals the support maintaining those regulatory frameworks
and presenting groups of statements as ‘truth’ (Waitt 2005)

Multiple structures working simultaneously (Shurmer-Smith
2002)
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Foucauldian concepts
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Episteme: the ways in which discourse operates to limit what
may be studied and in what ways, as well as what counts as
knowledge
Archaeology: the conditions allowing for certain practices to
come into existence
Genealogy: subjects are not fixed, identity performance is
influenced by many discursive constructs. Identity is always
negotiated and influences our understanding of the world
(Waitt 2005)
Power: circulating everywhere and in constant negotiation
Regime of truth: the power structure that allows for a
hegemonic discourse
Power/knowledge (Foucault 1978)
Doing discourse analysis

Sources: Interviews, archival material, newspapers, visual
materials, observation

Understand the positionality of the author, the intended
audience, and the circumstances under which the text
was produced (Waitt 2005)
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Two objectives (Lees 2004)


Situate the discourse in its social setting
Analysis the rhetoric of the discourse
Doing discourse analysis (cont.)

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With practice discourse analysis becomes intuitive. The
process is left implicit, rather than being made explicit
(Waitt 2005)
Seven steps—just a guide (Waitt 2005, citing Rose 2001)
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Think outside pre-existing coding categories
Become thoroughly familiar with the text
Code with an eye toward the ways in which the author/producer is
situated in a particular discursive framework
How is this text presenting ‘truth’?
Inconsistencies?
In what ways is the text silencing?
Pay attention to details
When is Foucauldian discourse analysis
appropriate?

Best used to understand the effects of discourse and
power/knowledge structures that shape ‘truths’ about
human-environment relationships and inform social
justice; investigating “moral and political questions about
contemporary societies” (Waitt 2005, 188)

Discourse analysis should be the first step in action
research, rather than an end point (Lees 2004)
Strengths and Weaknesses
Waitt (2005) identifies the strength in this analysis as its
ability to reveal the power relationships informing
thoughts and actions.
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While Foucault gave us a strong theoretical framework
for discourse analysis, he did not provide a
methodological framework
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Methodology is not explicit and therefore more difficult to
follow
Examples
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World Bank-style development (Goldman 2005)
Beijing’s Olympic Bid (Haugen 2005)
Beyul
References
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Foucault, Michel. 1978.The history of sexuality: Volume 1: An
introduction. New York: Vintage Books.
Goldman, Michael. 2005. Imperial nature. New Haven and
London: Yale University Press.
Haugen, Heidi Ø. 2005. Time and space in Beijing's Olympic
bid. Norwegian journal of geography 59 (3):217-227.
Lees, Loretta. 2004. Urban geography: discourse analysis and
urban research. Progress in Human Geography 28 (1): 101107.
Shurmer-Smith, Pamela. 2002. Doing cultural geography.
London: Sage.
Waitt, Gordon. 2005. Doing discourse analysis. In Qualitative
research methods in human geography, ed. I. Hay, 163-191.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.