|
Discourse is that collection of texts, words, human products
and practices that constitute the social world, and create meaning. Discourse
analysis assumes all human acts (including texts) are performative and
rhetorical, and thus intend to influence human action. This can include
self-discourse, e.g. actions/texts where the audience is the actor alone.
The intention of analysing human practices discursively is to
highlight the power relations in the construction of knowledge systems and
identity. Discourse analysis therefore rejects cognitivism, which elects a
different knowledge status to 'inner life' and human practices. Action and
meaning are integral, and all religious
practices are understood to be discursive.
|