The Woman’s Body in Expert Discourses on Abortion in Interwar Czechoslovakia

This paper contributes to the development of a critical realist approach to discourse analysis by combining aspects of ‘critical discourse analysis’ (CDA) and ‘the morphogenetic/morphostatic approach’ (M/M). Unlike poststructuralist discourse theory, CDA insists on the maintenance of two distinctions: (i) between discourse and other aspects of social reality; (ii) between structure and agency. However, CDA lacks clarity on these distinctions. M/M, on the other hand, offers a coherent modelling of these distinctions that can underpin the application of CDA. The paper begins by introducing CDA, M/M and the existing literature on critical realist discourse analysis. It then establishes the M/M model of social change within CDA’s existing social theory by focusing on ‘analytical dualism’ and ‘social practice’. Finally, the paper locates the concept of discourse within M/M’s model of social change by theorizing discourse as one of four objective structures of meaning.

The study deals with the issue of the conceptualisation of the female body in left-wing discourses during the First Czechoslovak Republic. It analyses several period pamphlets by female authors and one male author, issued by publishing houses associated with left-wing political parties. The study shows that female authors openly addressed current problems that were the result of the unequal position of women and men at the time, and even proposed solutions, such as women’s economic independence from men; at the same time, however, they also reproduced traditional discourses of women’s inadequacy compared to men in terms of intellectual ability and ability to act in public affairs. Women’s “emancipation” was thus directed back to the private sphere and the area of reproduction. Furthermore, the study shows an interesting contrast in the male author’s and female author’s views on “reformed” sexuality.

BackgroundThe immigrant population across Europe is ageing rapidly. Nurses will likely encounter an increasing number of patients who are older adult immigrants. Moreover, access to and equal provision of healthcare is a key issue for several European countries. The relationship between nurses and patients is asymmetrical with unequal power relations; however, the way nurses construct the patient through language and discourse can help maintain or change the balance of power. Unequal power relations can affect access and be a hindrance to equal healthcare delivery. Hence, the aim of this study is to explore how older adult immigrants are discursively constructed as patients by nurses.MethodsAn exploratory qualitative design was used. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of eight nurses from two hospitals. The nurses’ narratives were analysed using critical discourse analysis (CDA) as described by Fairclough.ResultsThe analysis identified an overarching, stable, and dominant discursive practice; ‘The discourse of the other’, with three interdiscursive practices: (1) ‘The discourse on the immigrant patient versus an ideal patient’; (2) ‘The expert discourse’; and (3) ‘The discourse of adaption’. Older immigrant adults were constructed as ‘othered’ patients, they were different, alienated, and ‘they’ were not like ‘us’.ConclusionThe way nurses construct older adult immigrants as patients can be an obstacle to equitable health care. The discursive practice indicates a social practice in which paternalism overrides the patient’s autonomy and generalization is more prevalent than a person-centred approach. Furthermore, the discursive practice points to a social practice wherein the nurses’ norms form the basis for normal; normality is presumed and desirable. Older adult immigrants do not conform to these norms; hence, they are constructed as ‘othered’, have limited agency, and may be considered rather powerless as patients. However, there are some examples of negotiated power relations where more power is transferred to the patient. The discourse of adaptation refers to a social practice in which nurses challenge their own existing norms to best adapt a caring relationship to the patient’s wishes.

The phenomenon of cross-linguistic homonymy is the result of closely related languages’ interaction, confusing the same or similar sounding words which have different meanings in different languages. The Ukrainian immigrant community in the interwar Czechoslovakia is no exception. The life of the people of Ukrainian origin in the interwar Czechoslovakia can be conditionally divided into four periods. The first one dates back to 1918-1921 when the detachments of Ukrainian Galicia Army entered the territory of the First Czechoslovak Republic: “Hirska Brygada”, “Stary Tabir”, “Hlyboka”, “Krukenychy”. This first period for the people of Ukrainian origin in the interwar First Czechoslovak Republic is characterized by the lack of interest in learning the Czech language in general as far as most of the campers, who had conversational fluency in German and Polish, were waiting for settling the status of Eastern Galicia, the fate of the Western Ukrainian People’s Republic and solving the conflict in Cieszyn Silesia. The second period dates back to 1921-1925 when the majority of antibolshevik immigration arrived in the interwar First Czechoslovak Republic. Especially this period is characterized by the active learning of the Czech language. The immigrants had two ways of mastering the language. The official way was acquiring the high education in the Czech and Ukrainian educational establishments. However, the most widespread way was the unofficial one, when the language was learnt in the shops, restaurants, bars or other working places where unskilled manual labour was required (for example, at Tomash Batia’s shoe factory, different plants and enterprises); right in the streets after all within different communication situations. The third period in the life of the people of Ukrainian origin on the territory of the interwar First Czechoslovak Republic took place in 1925-1929 and was called “povorontnytstvo”. During this period there was no way of speaking about mastering the Czech language and using cross-linguistic homonyms. In the 1930s due to the world economic crisis and shutting down the access to the Czechoslovak labour market for the people of Ukrainian origin the issue of learning the Czech language was not raised at all. The majority of the people of Ukrainian origin who stayed in Prague and its suburbs or moved to Transcarpathia had already mastered the Czech language by that time. Thus, on the one hand the provocative similarity created a number of obstacles, misunderstandings, it caused tragic and sometimes comic situations. On the other hand, it spiced up the everyday lives of the people of Ukrainian origin.

Critical discourse analysis (CDA) and participatory action research (PAR) reinforce each other as critical research approaches toward social transformation and social justice provided to humans, other species, and the ecosystem at large. Both disciplines are suitable to be embedded in a critical emancipatory research paradigm. Both CDA and PAR are problem-oriented, contextualized forms of social research. Both CDA and PAR are sensitive to the macro, meso, and micro dimensions of social life and the dynamics and relations between these levels. Both CDA and PAR envision social reality as a—respectively—discursive or social construct which, therefore, is—in part—a matter of choice. Both CDA and PAR include the potential of social or organizational change. CDA does so by displaying hidden ideological effects of texts and discourses so as to create awareness and may suggest alternatives; PAR by analyzing existing situations and investigating and implementing alternatives as part of its collective research efforts. Both include the notion of agency and the potential of change, whether in organizations, communities, or in society at large. Both consider the construction of knowledge as a social practice. Both CDA and PAR have iterative research methodologies. CDA reinforces PAR due to its robust theoretical basis, while PAR opens up new ways for CDA to enlarge its impact on the social world beyond academia through the participation of agents. Both CDA and PAR are forms of praxis in that they perform research in social and discursive practice in situated context. Both explicitly rely on theories of practice that include Aristotle, Paulo Freire, and Antonio Gramsci. They do so with the purpose of creating awareness, questioning routines and existing practices, and improving these in an emancipatory project to contribute to a better and a more socially just world. Integrating CDA and PAR and rooting these in a philosophy of praxis creates a solid, inclusive basis for problem-oriented research, considered of high relevance to questioning current hegemonic structures and opening up socially and ecologically just solutions to address the crucial problems of the early 21st century.

Critical Policy Discourse Analysis bridges the literature on critical discourse analysis (CDA) and critical policy analysis to provide a practical guide on how to combine these major approaches to critical social science. The volume gives a clear introduction to concepts and analytical procedures for critical policy discourse analysis. Utilising ten international case studies, the authors explain and critically reflect upon the methods and theories that they have used to successfully integrate CDA with critical policy studies across a diverse range of policy issues. Case studies are used to explore issues in economics, health, education, crisis management, the environment, language and energy policy. Analysing these through discursive methodological approaches in the traditions of CDA, social semiotics and discourse theory, this book connects this discursive methodology systematically to the field of critical policy studies. This is an essential read for researchers wishing to practically combine methods of CDA with critical policy studies. It provides key insights for politics scholars looking to gain a more in-depth understanding of the impact and analysis of discourse.

Aim This study aims to discuss current perceptions of rehabilitation and how present rehabilitation practice is affected by dominating discourses in Danish society by exploring discourses expressed in official publications and the constructed journal notes of occupational and physiotherapists’ practice of stroke rehabilitation. Method The frame of reference is Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis. The analysis comprises seven official documents relevant to stroke rehabilitation provided in Danish health services in 2012–2013. Also, notes written by occupational therapists and physiotherapists in medical records of 10 patients with a stroke diagnosis admitted to hospital in 2012. The documents included were read thoroughly. The texts were analyzed deductively, focusing on discursive practice on articulated understandings of rehabilitation, health practice approaches, and social practice. Results The dominating discourses seem to be Western neoliberalism organizational, medical and ethical discourses. The macro level of discourses consisted of political documents addressing rehabilitation nationally. The meso level mainly concerned medical discourses within stroke rehabilitation whereas the micro level represented local medical and ethical discourses. Conclusion The neoliberal discourse supports the medical discourse with strong emphasis on evidence-based interventions. In contrast to ethical discourses, documentation of rehabilitation practice marked more attention being paid to facilitating the patient’s independence than to enabling the regaining of meaningful activities and participation.Implications for RehabilitationIndividualized rehabilitation must be organized with flexibility as it is a complex processCritical reflectiveness among health professionals is needed to provide individualized rehabilitation of high qualityA broader range of stake holders, including patient organizations, are in demand within health policy makingThe discourses that construct rehabilitation policy and practices are sometimes in conflict, which may impact on, and impede, the rehabilitation for the individual patient

It is difficult to understand students’ social practices from artifacts of anonymous online postings. The analysis of text genres and discursive types of online postings has potential for enhancing teaching and learning experiences of students. This article focuses on analysis of students’ anonymous online postings using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The article argues that social practices reproduce during online interaction and artifacts embody such reproduction. A study involving more than 300 commerce students at a higher education institution (HEI) using a special purpose anonymous online consultation tool, the Dynamic Frequently Asked Questions (DFAQ), and social practices embodied in the artifacts is analyzed using CDA. The analysis used the three dimensions of CDA—description (text genres), interpretation (discursive type), and explanation (social practice)—and insights into students’ social practices were inferred. The article concludes that CDA of anonymous postings provided insight into social practices of students and, in particular, highlighted the tension between perceptions of inflexibility of traditional teaching practices and student demands for flexible learning. Finally, CDA, as described in this article, could be useful in analyzing e-mail communications, short message service (SMS) interactions, Web blogs, and podcasts.

This research aims to investigate the relationship between critical reading abilities and critical discourse analysis (CDA) competencies among future 21st century educators, emphasizing the critical necessity for these educators to possess such skills in today's demanding educational landscape. A sample of 70 prospective teachers was analyzed to determine the interconnection between their abilities in critical reading abilities and CDA, with an exploration into how one skill may influence the other. Additionally, the study examines the role of cognitive style—specifically, field-independent and field-dependent thinking—as a moderating factor in this relationship. Findings indicate a significant positive impact of CDA capabilities on critical reading abilities, suggesting that proficiency in analyzing discourse critically enhances one's ability to read with a critical eye. Furthermore, the study reveals no significant difference in CDA and critical reading abilities between participants categorized as field-independent thinkers versus those identified as field-dependent thinkers. These outcomes highlight the need for further research to explore additional factors that may affect the development of critical reading and discourse analysis skills. The study concludes with a call for educational strategies that integrate both critical reading and CDA competencies, considering the varied cognitive styles of learners.

The study proposed in the present paper aims to report the contemporary debates on abortion law in Spain, arisen from intention of the current Government to limit the norm that regulates sexual and reproductive health and the access to voluntary termination of pregnancy procedures. The topic will be considered from a critical and feminist point of view (through the utilization of Critical Discourse Analysis) which aims at showing the way in which the media portray the issue of abortion and the debate around its legislation, and hence shape the public opinion on the complicated matter. From this point of view it is shown that to each ideology correspond a specific use and manipulation of the discourse that may either contribute to the reiteration of gender stereotypes or fight against gender discrimination of women caused by the restriction of their reproductive rights.

Our target is to assess how the Czech and the Slovak ethnography developed in the period of the First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–1938), whether it displayed international connotations, and to what extent it responded to the common European development of this discipline. Research contacts between Slavic ethnographers and geographers influenced one of the ethnographic research lines in Czechoslovakia, and the evidence for this are the application of Jovan Cvijic’s Anthropogeographic School and the application of cultural and geographical research line in interwar Czechoslovakia’s science. Between the world wars, Czechoslovak ethnographers paid attention to Slovakia and to Carpathian Ruthenia, where forms of traditional folk culture still actively lived on. Ethnography in the interwar Czechoslovakia can be considered to be an important part of evolving European ethnology. Unfortunately, this advancement was interrupted by political development after World War II.Key words: Czechoslovakia (1918–1938), ethnography, anthropogeography, Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia, history of science

Language and cinema make use of distinctive tools to interpret and reflect external reality. While signs in language consist of signifiers and signified(s), in cinema they are fiction, sound, image, and most importantly, discourses within the screenplay. A discourse is a unit of communication value that, for the most part, includes the social and production conditions of language beyond utterances. Examinations of discourse can be done from a linguistic perspective that engages grammar, sentence structures, and voice, or from a non-linguistic perspective. Critical discourse analysis approaches its object of study from a broad perspective. It aims to critically examine texts and speeches on subjects such as racism, sexism, colonialism, and other forms of social inequality. Critical feminist discourse analysis focuses on the complex structures of hidden power relations and the ideologies that support gender regulations in discourse, though it is separate from critical discourse analysis in various ways. In this study, the film Marriage Story, written and directed by Noah Baumbach, undergoes critical feminist discourse analysis. By constructing the character Nicole, the female protagonist who attempts to exist in a masculine public sphere and, in the process, becomes a liberated individual who makes a series of decisions in line with her desires and needs and self-expression, Baumbach criticizes the dominant ideology of his own cinematic making.

In this article, we explore and problematize the coming out discourses of Ricky Martin and Tiziano Ferro’s through a creative (critical) discourse analysis. We first contextualize the historicity of Ricky Martin and Tiziano Ferro’s artistic careers and argue that their coming out process is a privileged laboratory to understand the ways strategies and tactics of discourses are deployed. Second, through a Critical Discourse Analysis and collaborative writing inquiry approach, we present a creative fictional dialogue to showcase our analysis. This can be called creative (critical) discourse analysis. Third, we further reflect and theorize about these coming out discourses using Queer Theory, Governability, and the concept of Glory and the Media as privileged spaces for power. This will lead us to question the centered subject or a solid identity, the manifestations of coming out discourses, and the role of Glory and the Media in the socialization process.

Accessible yet theoretically rich, this landmark text introduces key concepts and issues in critical discourse analysis and situates these within the field of educational research. The book invites readers to consider the theories and methods of three major traditions in critical discourse studies � discourse analysis, critical discourse analysis and multimodal discourse analysis -- through the empirical work of leading scholars in the field.

Four Critical Essays on Argumentation