TY - CHAP
T1 - Using Discourse Theory. A Discourse-Theoretical Exploration of the Articulation of Death
AU - Carpentier, Nico
AU - Van Brussel-De Vriendt, Leen
N1 - Ilija Tomanic Trivundza, Nico Carpentier, Hannu Nieminen, Pille Pruulmann-Venerfeldt, Richard Kilborn, Ebba Sundin, Tobias Olsson
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - Death itself is a signifier that tries to capture human decay, and its meaning consists of a series of elements that are often taken for granted, such as end/cessation/termination, negativity, irreversibility, inescapability and undesirability. At the same time, closer scrutiny of these articulations shows the contingency of the discourse of death, with almost every discursive element opening up a range of gaps, complexities and unfixities. In order to unravel the meanings of the articulation of the discourse on death, and to show some of its complexities, we will use discourse theory (and mainly Laclau and Mouffe's (1985) variation) as the theoretical backbone of our analysis, which is firmly rooted in a secular position. This analysis will also allow us to illustrate (part of) the workings of discourse-theoretical analysis (or DTA - see Carpentier & De Cleen, 2007) in the development of a secondary theoretical framework, which can be used, together with discourse theory itself (as primary theoretical framework), for a variety of analysis, including the study of media texts (Van Brussel, 2011).
AB - Death itself is a signifier that tries to capture human decay, and its meaning consists of a series of elements that are often taken for granted, such as end/cessation/termination, negativity, irreversibility, inescapability and undesirability. At the same time, closer scrutiny of these articulations shows the contingency of the discourse of death, with almost every discursive element opening up a range of gaps, complexities and unfixities. In order to unravel the meanings of the articulation of the discourse on death, and to show some of its complexities, we will use discourse theory (and mainly Laclau and Mouffe's (1985) variation) as the theoretical backbone of our analysis, which is firmly rooted in a secular position. This analysis will also allow us to illustrate (part of) the workings of discourse-theoretical analysis (or DTA - see Carpentier & De Cleen, 2007) in the development of a secondary theoretical framework, which can be used, together with discourse theory itself (as primary theoretical framework), for a variety of analysis, including the study of media texts (Van Brussel, 2011).
KW - death
KW - discourse theory
KW - discourse-theoretical analysis
M3 - Chapter
SN - 978-961-235-583-8
T3 - Researching and Teaching Communication Book Series
SP - 57
EP - 68
BT - Critical Perspectives on the European Mediasphere
A2 - Trivundza, Ilija Tomanic
A2 - Carpentier, Nico
A2 - Nieminen, Hannu
A2 - Pruulmann-venerfeldt, Pille
A2 - Kilborn, Richard
A2 - Sundin, Ebba
A2 - Olsson, Tobias
PB - Faculty of Social Sciences Press
ER -