Discourse Studies

A Multidisciplinary Introduction

This very welcome updated second edition will allow Teun van Dijk's very popular Discourse Studies to consolidate its already strong and central position in the area. Featuring chapters written by so many of the leading scholars it will continue to be a stimulating and wide-ranging introduction to the discipline of discourse studies for new generations of students
Malcolm Coulthard
University of Birmingham

This collection is a landmark in the oeuvre of one of the founding fathers of Discourse Analysis. Van Dijk has managed to edit a volume of lasting significance, and some of the chapters in this book belong to the most widely read in the field. In its totality, 'Discourse Studies' offers us a 360 degree tour of the field, bringing a wealth of insights to each of its aspects, and building a vocabulary for studying them that has in the meantime become the discourse of discourse analysis. Nothing in this volume is dated, everything remains mandatory reading for every student and advanced practicioner
Jan Blommaert
Tilburg University

The multidisciplinary approach of the book is very effective in drawing in students from diverse disciplinary backgrounds, while the chapters applying discourse analysis to specific areas like race and gender are useful too, for a range of students, depending on their interests. The two new chapters are essential reading for all my students of discourse analysis, especially the undergrads, who often find whole book treatments of the theory a bit heavy going.

Discourse analysis is the focus of a two-hour session (within a 5-week, 2 hours per week) introducation to qualitative analysis course.

Van Dijk's edited collection is therefore too detailed, in my opinion, to be any more than listed under 'further references' for my course.

This does not reflect the quality of the book - just the format and level of the course I am teaching.

I do particularly like Anita Pomerantz and B. J. Fehr's chapter on conversational analysis, largely because it does provide a step-by-step, accessible introduction to why and how one might undertake a conversational analysis. This is what I need for the kind of course I am teaching.

I might therefore explore making a chapter such as this 'recommended reading'.

I also enjoyed Lazar and Kramarae's chapter on 'Gender and Power in Discourse' and Jiwani and Richardson's chapter on 'Discourse, Ethnicity and Racism'. These chapters provide a) an excellent introduction into these issues but b) also make a strong case for why discourse analysis is a strong and appropriate method for examining these issues. As I am introducing the various qualitative analytical approaches to early stage PhD students, it is important they get a sense of i) for what kinds of research questions / interests a particular approach might be appropriate and ii) a brief introduction to how you undertake this kind of analysis. I might therefore also consider making these two chapters recommended readings for the course next year.

An excellent, rounded text that will serve students well during their studies. The substantial contribution of the authors is both engaging and accessible.

Great overview of discourse analysis and the many perspectives within discourse studies.

The book represents a comprehensible and encompassing introduction into the field of discourse studies. The main strengths of the book consist in the multidisciplinary approach that it takes in presenting the history and more recent conceptual and methodological developments within discourse analysis as well as the ways in which it combines theoretical texts with concrete analytical examples that illustrate described methodological and theoretical aspects of discourse studies.

I found this book to be an excellent introduction to Discourse for postgraduate students. It covers a wide range of understandings and definitions of discourse which will help students who often become confused with the different traditions of discourse. I found it to be highly accessible whilst not losing rigour. I particularly liked the extended reference lists for further reading.

Great to have both original texts in one handy book!

An excellent and comprehensive introduction to discourse analysis - a very useful resource.

This book is very well written, and I am personally grateful for the window into the many aspects of meaning conveyed through discourse that it illuminates. Coverage of advances in theory is well integrated with excellently chosen examples. The division into 'further reading', 'online reading' (of easily accessible articles') and references is particularly valuable. There are a number of chapters that I have found very useful for courses that I teach, and a couple that I will be recommending as supplemental reading on the MA module 'Culture in Context' - namely chapters 8 and 16. On the module 292ENL, I will use chapters 5 and 8.