Introduction to theories and methods of discourse studies

Discourse is a general term for talk and discussion. Discourse analysis has gained popularity not only in fields that address language use (e.g., communication studies), but also across diverse disciplines, including natural and social sciences. Given the transdisciplinarity, this handbook adopts different definitions of discourse, aiming to foster academic engagement across various fields. Hence, the concept of discourse here is not limited to its traditional scope of “the language above the sentence or the clause” (Stubbs, 1983, p.12) or “utterance” (Schiffrin, 1994, p. 39). Instead, discourse can also be taken as a meaningful action aimed at achieving social purposes and as “a type of social practice” (Fairclough, 1989, p. 28). Such diverse perspectives on discourse highlight its complexity and necessitate the use of the title “discourse studies” for this handbook, rather than “discourse analysis.”