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1、Critical discourse analysis （henceforth CDA） subsumes a variety of approaches towards the social analysis of discourse （Fairclough & Wodak 1997, Pcheux M 1982, Wodak & Meyer 2001） which differ in theory, methodology, and the type of research issues to which they tend to give prominence. My own work

2、in this area has also changed to some extent in these respects between the publication of Language and Power （Longman 1989） and the publication of Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research （2003）. My current research is on processes of social change in their discourse aspect （Fairclo

3、ugh 1992 is an early formulation of a version of CDA specialized for this theme）. More specifically, I am concerned with recent and contemporary processes of social transformation which are variously identified by such terms as neo-liberalism, globalisation, transition, information society, knowledg

4、e-based economy and learning society. I shall focus here on the version of CDA I have been using in more recent （partly collaborative） work （Chiapello & Fairclough 2002, Chouliaraki & Fairclough 1999, Fairclough 2000a, 2000b, 2003, 2004, Fairclough, Jessop & Sayer 2004）. Methodologically, this appro

5、ach entails working in a transdisciplinary way through dialogue with other disciplines and theories which are addressing contemporary processes of social change. Transdisciplinary （as opposed to merely interdisciplinary, or indeed postdisciplinary, Sum & Jessop 2001） implies that the theoretical and

6、 methodological development （the latter including development of methods of analysis） of CDA and the disciplines/theories it is in dialogue with is informed through that dialogue, a matter of working with （though not at all simply appropriating） the logic and categories of the other in developing on

7、es own theory and methodology （Fairclough forthcoming a）. The overriding objective is to give accounts and more precise accounts than one tends to find in social research on change - of the ways in which and extent to which social changes are changes in discourse, and the relations between changes i

8、n discourse and changes in other, non-discoursal, elements or moments of social life （including therefore the question of the senses and ways in which discourse （re）constructs social life in processes of social change）. The aim is also to identify through analysis the particular linguistic, semiotic

9、 and interdiscursive （see below） features of texts （in a broad sense see below） which are a part of processes of social change, but in ways which facilitate the productive integration of textual analysis into multi-disciplinary research on change. Theoretically, this approach is characterized by a r

10、ealist social ontology （which regards both abstract social structures and concrete social events as parts of social reality）, a dialectical view of the relationship between structure and agency, and of the relationship between discourse and other elements or moments of social practices and social ev

11、ents （discourse is different from not reducible to but not discrete from internalizes and is internalized by （Harvey 1996） other social elements）. I shall proceed as follows. In section 1 I shall give summarise main theoretical features of this version of CDA. In Section 2 I shall discuss the view o

12、f methodology, including methods of data collection and analysis, referring specifically to an aspect of transition （and globalisation） in central and eastern Europe and more particularly in Romania: the project of developing information societies and knowledge-based economies. I shall develop this

13、example in Section 3, discussing the recontextualization of discourses of the information society and knowledge-based economy in a Romanian policy document.1. Theoretical issuesThe term discourse is used in various ways within the broad field of discourse analysis. Two are of particular relevance he

14、re. First, discourse in an abstract sense as a category which designates the broadly semiotic elements （as opposed to and in relation to other, non-semiotic, elements） of social life （language, but also visual semiosis, body language etc）. I prefer to use the term semiosis （Fairclough, Jessop & Saye

15、r 2004） to avoid the common confusion of this sense of discourse with the second, which I retain: discourse as a count noun, as a category for designating particular ways of representing particular aspects of social life （eg it is common to distinguish different political discourses, which represent

16、 for example problems of inequality, disadvantage, poverty, social exclusion, in different ways）. The category of discourse in this second sense is defined through its relation to and difference from two other categories, genre and style （see below）. The realist social ontology adopted here treats s

17、ocial structures as well as social events as parts of social reality. Like a number social theorists, such as Bourdieu and Bhaskar （Bourdieu & Wacquant 1992, Bhaskar 1986）, I assume that coherent accounts of the relationship between social structures and social events depend upon mediating categorie

18、s, for which I shall use the term social practices, meaning more or less stable and durable forms of social activity, which are articulated together to constitute social fields, institutions, and organizations. There is a semiotic dimension at each of these levels. Languages （as well as other semiot

19、ic systems） are a particular type of social structure. I use the term order of discourse （the term is Foucaults, but it is recontextualized within this version of CDA in a distinctive way, see Foucault 1984, Fairclough 1992, 2003） for the semiotic dimension of articulated networks of social practice

20、s （for instance, the political field is partly constituted as a particular order of discourse, so too are specific governmental, educational or business organizations）. I use the term text in an extended way for the semiotic dimension of social events the written documents and websites of government

21、 are texts in this sense, as also are interviews and meetings in government or business organisations （Fairclough 2003）. The term text is not really felicitous used in this way, because one cannot shake off its primary association with written texts, but it is difficult to find a preferable general

22、term. Social practices and, at a concrete level, social events, are articulations of diverse social elements, including semiosis. One might for instance see social practices as including the following elements （though there is clearly room for argument about what the elements are）: ActivitiesSocial

23、relations Objects and instrumentsTime and place Social subjects, with beliefs, knowledge, values etcSemiosisThese elements are dialectically related （Harvey 1996）. That is to say, they are different elements, but not discrete, fully separate, elements. There is a sense in which each internalizes the

24、 others without being reducible to them. So for instance social relations in organizations clearly have a partly semiotic character, but that does not mean that we simply theorize and research social relations in the same way that we theorize and research language. They have distinct properties, and

25、 researching them gives rise to distinct disciplines. Conversely, texts are so massively overdetermined （Althusser & Balibar 1970, Fairclough, Jessop & Sayer 2004） by other social elements that linguistic analysis of texts quickly finds itself addressing questions about social relations, social iden

26、tities, institutions, and so forth, but this does not mean that linguistic analysis of texts is reducible to forms of social analysis. Nevertheless, the dialectical character of relations between elements underscores the value and importance of working across disciplines in a transdisciplinary way.

27、Semiosis figures in broadly three ways in social practices （and the articulations of practices which constitute social fields, institutions, organizations） and social events. First, it figures as a part of the social activity, part of the action （and interaction）. For instance, part of doing a job （

28、for instance, being a shop assistant） is using language in a particular way; so too is part of governing a country. Second, semiosis figures in representations. Social actors acting within any field or organization produce representations of other practices, as well as （reflexive） representations of

29、 their own practices, in the course of their activity, and different social actors will represent them differently according to how they are positioned within fields or organizations. Third, semiosis figures in ways of being, in the constitution of identities for instance the identity of a political

30、 leader such as Tony Blair in the UK is partly a semiotically constituted way of being （Fairclough 2000b）.Semiosis as part of social activity constitutes genres. Genres are diverse ways of （inter）acting in their specifically semiotic aspect. Examples are: meetings in various types of organisation, p

31、olitical and other forms of interview, news articles in the press, and book reviews. Semiosis in the representation and self-representation of social practices constitutes discourses. Discourses are diverse representations of social life. For instance, the lives of poor and disadvantaged people are

32、represented through different discourses in the social practices of government, politics, medicine, and social science, as well as through different discourses within each of these practices corresponding to different positions of social actors. Finally, semiosis as part of ways of being constitutes styles for instance the styles of business managers, or political leaders. The semiotic aspect of a social field or institution or organization （ie of a specific artic