Paperback : £21.77
'Identity' is a central organizing feature of our social world. Across the social sciences and humanities, it is increasingly treated as something that is actively and publicly accomplished in discourse. This book defines identity in its broadest sense, in terms of how people display who they are to each other. Each chapter examines a different discursive environment in which people do 'identity work': everyday conversation, institutional settings, narrative and stories, commodified contexts, spatial locations, and virtual environments. The authors describe and demonstrate a range of discourse and interaction analytic methods as they are put to use in the study of identity, including 'performative' analyses, conversation analysis, membership categorization analysis, critical discourse analysis, narrative analysis, positioning theory, discursive psychology and politeness theory. The book aims to give readers a clear sense of the coherence (or otherwise) of these different approaches, the practical steps taken in analysis, and their situation within broader critical debates. Through the use of detailed and original 'identity' case studies in a variety of spoken and written texts in order, the book offers a practical and accessible insight into what the discursive accomplishment of identity actually looks like, and how to go about analyzing it.Features:*Accessible introduction to the study of discourse and identity across a variety of contexts.*Interdisciplinary in scope, the book is relevant to a wide range of courses such as English language and linguistics, psychology, media, cultural studies, gender studies and sociology.*Each chapter includes a critical overview of work in the area, original case studies, practical instruction for analyses, points for further discussion and suggested reading.
Show more'Identity' is a central organizing feature of our social world. Across the social sciences and humanities, it is increasingly treated as something that is actively and publicly accomplished in discourse. This book defines identity in its broadest sense, in terms of how people display who they are to each other. Each chapter examines a different discursive environment in which people do 'identity work': everyday conversation, institutional settings, narrative and stories, commodified contexts, spatial locations, and virtual environments. The authors describe and demonstrate a range of discourse and interaction analytic methods as they are put to use in the study of identity, including 'performative' analyses, conversation analysis, membership categorization analysis, critical discourse analysis, narrative analysis, positioning theory, discursive psychology and politeness theory. The book aims to give readers a clear sense of the coherence (or otherwise) of these different approaches, the practical steps taken in analysis, and their situation within broader critical debates. Through the use of detailed and original 'identity' case studies in a variety of spoken and written texts in order, the book offers a practical and accessible insight into what the discursive accomplishment of identity actually looks like, and how to go about analyzing it.Features:*Accessible introduction to the study of discourse and identity across a variety of contexts.*Interdisciplinary in scope, the book is relevant to a wide range of courses such as English language and linguistics, psychology, media, cultural studies, gender studies and sociology.*Each chapter includes a critical overview of work in the area, original case studies, practical instruction for analyses, points for further discussion and suggested reading.
Show moreBethan Benwell is Lecturer in English Language and Linguistics, University of Stirling
Elizabeth Stokoe is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social Sciences at Loughborough University.
Discourse and Identity is a richly detailed and usefully
opinionated guidebook to a growing area of scholarship. Engaging
with a range of current theories and methods of discourse analysis,
the book offers a critical overview of the ways in which
researchers have approached the concept of identity. Benwell and
Stokoe draw on an impressive variety of discourse contexts, from
ordinary conversation among friends to magazine advertisements,
from online interaction to talk about the neighbours. While
Discourse and Identity illustrates a number of different approaches
in depth, including discursive psychology, critical discourse
analysis, and several types of narrative analysis, the book's
particular strength is in demonstrating the techniques and
advantages of ethnomethodology and conversation analysis as tools
for illuminating the workings of identity as an interactional
achievement. Students and scholars alike will find the text a
helpful resource in navigating the broad field of discourse and
identity research.--Mary Bucholtz, Associate Professor, Department
of Linguistics, University of California, Santa Barbara
Benwell and Stokoe have produced an indispensable guide for any
student or scholar interested in discourse and identity. This is a
deft and highly accessible overview of a complex emerging body of
knowledge. The authors move confidently, with great panache, from
social theory to the micro details of linguistic analysis, taking
in the latest work on spatial, virtual and commodified identities
along the way. A neat and illuminating example can be found on
every page, along with an important insight and an original line of
argument. Discourse and Identity is the first scholarly map of the
field and is a 'must own book' for every identity
researcher.--Professor Margaret Wetherell, Director ESRC Identities
Programme, Social Sciences, Open University
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