Discursive Approach Research Articles

Culturally responsive pedagogy for the promotion of understanding Mathematics: The case of rural situated primary schools in Post-apartheid South Africa

The language of instruction, awareness, and creativity are at the centre of the realities faced by both mathematics teachers and learners, shaped by a socio-political history whose impact and legacy transcend generations in South Africa. Consequently, the dire state of mathematics education in South Africa remains a cause for concern. Recognising the need to conceptualise and develop culturally responsive pedagogy, this paper presents the results from the third phase of a three-year longitudinal study focused on teachers' journeys in infusing indigenous knowledge when teaching geometry to senior primary learners in rural schools. This qualitative study, which followed a case study design, explored several approaches to discussing, teaching, and considering an immediate, perpetual, operative, and discursive approach as culturally disruptive pedagogy used as an indigenous way to promote geometric understanding. Observations and semi-structured interviews were conducted with two purposefully selected participants after their lesson presentations to allow them to clarify, elaborate, and introduce more detail, enriching their explanations of the artefacts used. Results indicated that teachers’ references to several artefacts and indigenous activities, such as using straws, wool, and staplers, promoted the understanding of the construction of prisms and pyramids. Recommendations include training mathematics teachers to prepare lessons that incorporate indigenous knowledge and to explore ethnomathematics as a culturally responsive teaching strategy, particularly in contextualising mathematical geometry learning, so that this concept can have relevance and meaning for rural students.

Conflicting Islamic Governmentality: the Banning of a Moroccan Imam from Belgium

Abstract In October 2021, Imam Mohamed Toujgani, a Moroccan who had resided in Belgium for nearly 40 years, was banned from the Schengen area for a decade. He was accused of espousing anti-Semitic views and having ties to Moroccan intelligence, posing a threat to societal harmony. This article critically examines the ban by putting it within the context of Europe’s securitisation of Islam. It explores Toujgani’s theological and social views, highlighting his promotion of dual belonging – a notion supported by the works of scholars such as Thijl Sunier on Islam in Europe. Employing Michel Pêcheux’s relational discursive approach, this study argues that Toujgani’s deportation risks deepening social divisions, potentially escalating conflicts rather than mitigating them.

Proud to be not beautiful: navigating affects in the rebellious body project of Chinese TuoMeiYi feminism

ABSTRACT In recent years, TuoMeiYi (escaping beauty duty) has emerged in the Chinese digital space as a distinct feminist proposition. Advocating for women to break free from the constraints of beauty, TuoMeiYi feminists strive to redefine what a woman should look like, and actively practice their anti-beauty stance by shaving their hair into buzz cuts. This everyday feminist politics attempts to reclaim women’s autonomy over their bodies by transforming their feminist body into a rebellious project. Diverging from the prevalent media discursive approach in Chinese digital feminism studies, this article examines TuoMeiYi feminists’ explorative body project through the lens of affect grounded in corporeal and phenomenological feminist theories. Using digital ethnography to explore an online TuoMeiYi forum, this article recognizes that pride and shame have been discursively mobilized as pivotal tools to sustain the anti-beauty feminist ideal. Yet, the construction of the proud feminist subject also involves a highly self-autonomous logic that tries to eliminate feminist embodied feelings. In the end, this article argues that it is not ‘feeling good’ but the ‘strange feelings’ that demonstrate the feminist body is neither a docile nor consciously autonomous entity, but a rebellious affective being capable of feeling in unplanned alternative ways.

Intersecting inequalities: (re)producing the marginalized other

ABSTRACT In their introduction, the editors of this Special Issue argue that critical discursive approaches which embrace an intersectional lens can, in combination, reveal the ways in which identities and social categories are shaped by power structures in society. Indeed, the case studies presented in the Special Issue demonstrate the key role of discourse analysis in revealing the mechanisms which create and reproduce inequality. They speak to the need for a critical intersectional analysis which highlights how structural systems of marginalization – such as racism and sexism – combine and interact. The articles illustrate, too, the ‘intra-categorical’ approach to intersectionality – whereby a person’s experience of one aspect of identity is understood to be fundamentally informed by its intersection with other factors – by showing us that we cannot analyse issues such as racism, or identities such as masculinity, in isolation.

Components of Discursive Poetics on the Example of Leo Tolstoy's Novel «Anna Karenina»

The article briefly examines the specifics of discursive poetics, which was developed for several decades by the Hungarian scientist Árpád Kovács, based on the material of Leo Tolstoy's novel «Anna Karenina». The review is carried out on the basis of the study of the sound modality and components of the word as a linguistic sign, which is enriched with a new meaning in the poetic text. In addition, it examines how metaphors in the plot are thematized and form the composition of the text, how the narrative and the statement correlate, and what role the subject of discourse plays in this. The purpose of presenting the analysis of Tolstoy's novel conducted by the professor of the discursive approach is to identify its innovative reading and, at the same time, to supplement the interpretation on its basis, using both this concept and methodology. For Árpád Kovács, the key point is also personal textual generation with a new interpretation of the work, therefore, at the end of the study conducted in this article, he offers his own interpretation of the last episode from the heroine's life, as a result of the dialogue between the author of the article and the novel. The importance of the presentation of the approach is in its popularization for use in research activities related to the study of literature.

Anti-Populism of the Left, Right, and Centre: Varieties of Anti-Populist Party Politics in the European “Populist Moment”

AbstractThis paper examines varieties of anti-populist party politics from left to right that emerged against the backdrop of the much-discussed “populist moment” of the mid- to late 2010s in Europe. Situating the analysis in the special issue’s interest in an “anti-populist moment” that discursively co-constituted this “populist moment,” the paper keys in on the anti-populist campaign discourses of three political parties that took centre stage in the 2017 national parliamentary elections in their respective countries: GreenLeft in the Netherlands, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Germany, and the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) in the Czech Republic. Drawing on and further developing a discursive approach to anti-populism as a political logic following Essex School or post-foundational discourse analysis, the paper identifies three distinct anti-populist constructions of the perceived threat of “populism”: a left-wing agonistic equating of populism with right-wing politics, a liberal-conservative claim to the centre ground against a horseshoe-like populist threat from left and right, and a right-wing appeal to resist an unholy alliance of “populists and communists.” The analysis situates each variety of anti-populism diachronically in these parties’ previous discursive-strategic orientations, especially their anti-far-right (GreenLeft) or anti-communist (CDU, ODS) appeals, as well as their subsequent developments over time.

Intersecting inequalities: towards a critical discursive approach

ABSTRACT This introduction to the Special Issue delves into the intersection of critical discursive approaches and intersectionality in the study of language, gender, and societal inequalities. It traces the evolution of gender and language studies, with a focus on how discursive methodologies have facilitated the examination of the material consequences of discourse, particularly in relation to power, gender, and social structures. The aim of this Special Issue is to foster academic synergy by merging discursive and intersectional frameworks to analyze how socio-cultural categories—such as gender, race, and class, among others—intersect to produce inequalities. Furthermore, the issue incorporates a decolonial perspective, critically engaging with the Eurocentric foundations of existing methodologies and advocating for a more inclusive analysis of global power dynamics. The articles within this issue adopt interdisciplinary approaches, including Critical Discourse Studies and Sociocultural Linguistics, to explore diverse experiences and social structures. By integrating these frameworks, the issue offers a multifaceted understanding of how intersecting identities shape discourse and social power relations, underscoring the importance of critical praxis and self-reflexivity in academic research.

Междометия как средства выражения эмпатии в русскоязычной сетевой коммуникации

<p>The work is devoted to the peculiarities of the use of interjections by Internet communicants as a means of expressing empathy in comments-reactions to posts on the social network TikTok. It has been established that discursive practices of compassion involve a significantly larger number of users than practices of co-rejoicing, and, accordingly, demonstrate a wider range of interjection reactions. The author analyzed 60 Russian-language network polylogues (threads), the unifying discourse-forming feature of which is the collective intentional state of rejoicing. Based on linguopragmatic and discursive approaches, the relationship between the realized intentional-illocutionary meanings of interjections and their regulatory-dialogue potential in communication mediated by a network format is considered. When creating emotiogenic content, the author of a video post can offer the audience interjection stimuli, presented in the form of captions on the message or in the form of hashtags. The goal of the initiator of network communication is to gain approval and support from other network users and influence their emotional state. The analysis showed that in network “oral-written” communication, other participants in the communication react interactively to interjections used by some users; as a result, not only repetitions are traced in the virtual polylogue, but also entire chains of the same or similar interjections in semantics and pragmatics units. The repertoire and ways of using interjections as a means of expressing the emotions of online interlocutors demonstrate their conditioning by the media culture of TikTok as a special digital platform. Specific phenomena of such media culture include users’ ideas about acceptable norms of emotional manifestations and cognitive scenarios of emotions that are consistently embodied in communication. Observations of the use of interjections have shown that communication on social networks can have a quasi- or pseudo-empathic meaning.</p>

Responsibilization as a return to collectivity? Legitimating the responsibilization of preparedness: the case of the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB)

PurposeThis study investigates how communication is used by a Swedish public authority to legitimate the responsibilization of preparedness, i.e. how the state encourages individual citizens to take more responsibility for their security.Design/methodology/approachA multimodal discursive approach drawing on multimodal narrative analysis of video clips and multimodal critical discourse analysis (MCDA) is used to examine how the responsibilization of preparedness is legitimated in video material published on Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency's (MSB’s) YouTube channel.FindingsThe study finds that the responsibilization of preparedness is legitimated through an ongoing but evolving normalization of threat. The findings also show how responsibilization is legitimated in moralizing terms of individual contribution to society, which may indicate a return from neo-liberal values to more traditional Swedish collectivist values.Originality/valueThe study shows how communication around preparedness and responsibilization is discursively constructed and legitimated through multimodal features, while previous research has mainly focused on verbal or written communication.

The ambiguous impact of populist trade discourses on the international economic order

Abstract The relationship between populism and free trade has historically been a complex one. This article argues that populism affects trade not by expressing consistent economic preferences, but by operating as a discourse that articulates external policies as a struggle for popular recognition. We analyse trade discourses of Donald Trump and Brexiteers following their victories in the 2016 United States presidential election and the referendum on European Union membership in the United Kingdom. These populist movements expressed opposing trade preferences: Trumpism was identified with protectionism, while Brexiteers supported free trade. However, they both articulated trade as a way to regain popular sovereignty from elites and hostile outsiders. A discursive approach helps identify a common logic in how populists articulate foreign relations despite pursuing nominally opposing policies. While this populist logic pertains primarily to domestic mobilization, it has implications for the international order as well, as evidenced in the persistence of protectionist instincts in the US under President Biden and the acceptance of a ‘global’ trade policy outside the EU as the new frame of reference for UK external economic relations.

Anti-populism and the Trump trauma in US foreign policy

Abstract In challenging normal patterns of foreign policy legitimation and undermining the internationalist consensus in favour of liberal hegemony, Donald Trump's populism constituted a political trauma for the foreign policy establishment (FPE) of the United States. How did the FPE respond? Based on a discursive approach and using the methodology of qualitative frame analysis, we examine the anti-populist response to the Trump trauma on the part of the FPE. The findings show how the FPE framed Trumpian populism as a political anomaly through interlocking frames of authoritarianism, irresponsibility and immaturity. This could only be rectified through a process of foreign policy normalization, carried through the first two years of the Joe Biden administration, which aimed to stabilize US leadership and restore the consensus that existed prior to the populist disruption. Highlighting the emotional dimensions of anti-populism, the article contends that to fully understand the effects of global populism, we must examine elite responses to populist ‘ruptures’ of the kind Trump represented. By extending the concept of anti-populism to debates on foreign policy, the article addresses existing gaps in the literatures on anti-populism and the effects of populist foreign policy.

From HIV to Mpox: Socio-discursive Analysis of Communicable Diseases, Stigma, and Pathologization in Sexual Minorities in Brazil.

Discrimination and stigma are significant barriers to healthcare for the LGBTQIAPN+ community, necessitating a deeper analysis of their sociocultural causes. There is a notable gap in the literature regarding the understanding of socio-discursive representations and their impact on the stigmatization and pathologization of sexual minorities in the context of communicable diseases. This study aims to discuss the understanding of the sociodiscursive aspects of the health-disease process, particularly in stigmatized infectious diseases affecting the LGBTQIAPN+ community. The focus is on examining how news articles, or the set of analyzed texts (corpus), shape these perceptions. We conducted documentary research with a qualitative and discursive approach using news articles retrieved from Google NewsⓇ about diseases affecting the LGBTQIAPN+ population from 2011 to 2022. The analysis was based on critical discourse analysis, processed using MAXQDA and IRAMUTEQ software. The identified representations predominantly align with biomedical ideology, manifesting in a discourse that normalizes and medicalizes (normative-curative discourse), and notable for its pathologizing and stigmatizing nature. Six classes were found: Ethical professional dilemmas facing stigma, infection and contamination of the LGBT+ population, prejudice and discrimination in the form of information, stigma related to sexual behavior/orientation, Vulnerability and stigma related to infectious diseases, and strategies for minimizing health risk/stigma for the LGBT+ public. The most relevant analytical categories were related to infectious diseases and sexual identity. These themes were identified, indicating that media representations reinforce stigma and maintain unequal health practices (verticalization) for the LGBT+ community. Understanding these patterns within a broader historical context is crucial for promoting health education and strategies that challenge internalized prejudice. The need to reformulate cultural norms and develop health information and education policies is urgent. These policies should be led by professionals with a comprehensive and humanized vision, addressing the diverse needs of the LGBT+ population.

Cultural Representation of Dalits in Nepali Literature Written by Dalit and Non-Dalit Writers

The major objective of this paper is to explore the cultural representation of Dalits in Nepali literature written by both Dalit and non-Dalit writers. To meet its objective, Likhe (2073) by Sarad Paudel and Itihāsko Ek Paikā (The brave person in the history, 2066) by Ranendra Barali have been selected purposively as primary texts for analysis. Stuart Hall’s (1997) “discursive approach” has been used as an approach for textual analysis. The findings of the study concluded that both types of writers have raised the issue of class struggle commonly based on socio-cultural factors. Dalit characters in both novels live in poverty and miserable condition whereas non-Dalit characters are presented as dominant and in better conditions in society. Similarly, Likhe and Mansingh are presented as major characters whereas non-Dalit characters are given the minor roles. Dalit characters are presented as underprivileged whereas non-Dalits belong to privileged group of people in society. Both writers raise the issues of inter-caste and intra-caste untouchable practices equally. Finally the paper is significant due to the comparative study on the socio-cultural issue of Dalit community presented by Dalit and non-Dalit writers.

Understanding the disconnect between lifestyle advice and patient engagement: a discourse analysis of how expert knowledge is constructed by patients with CHD

Objective Adherence to healthy lifestyle advice is effective in prevention of non-communicable diseases like coronary heart disease (CHD). Yet patient disengagement is the norm. We take a novel discursive approach to explore patients’ negotiation of lifestyle advice and behaviour change. Method A discourse analysis was performed on 35 longitudinal interviews with 22 heterosexual British people in a long-term relationship, where one had a diagnosis of CHD. The analysis examined the relationships between patients’ constructions of expert knowledge and the implications of these accounts for patients’ dis/engagement with lifestyle advice. Results Expert knowledge was constructed in four ways: (1) Expert advice was valued, but adherence created new risks that undermined it; (2) expert knowledge was problematised as multiple, contradictory, and contested and therefore difficult to follow; (3) expert advice was problematised as too generalised to meet patients’ specific needs; and (4) expert advice was understood as limited and only one form of valued knowledge. Conclusion Patients and partners simultaneously valued and problematised expert knowledge, drawing on elaborate lay epistemologies relating to their illness which produced complex patterns of (dis)engagement with expert lifestyle advice. Recognition of the multiple and fluid forms of knowledge mobilised by CHD patients could inform more effective interventions.

Bisexual Identity in a Religious Environment in Christina Lauren’s Autoboyography

This study focuses on analyzing the representation of bisexual identity in Christina Lauren’s novel "Autoboyography." Through qualitative research, the aim is to reveal the discourse of bisexuality constructed by the acts and behaviors of other characters toward the male main characters using Stuart Hall’s theory of representation, with a particular focus on Michel Foucault’s discursive approach. Another objective of this study is to examine the critical position of Christina Lauren as the novel’s author towards the issue of bisexuality. The findings reveal that the author created characters who both oppose and support bisexuality, thereby highlighting the issue of bisexuality in the 21st century. Through their narrative, the author sheds light on the challenges faced by male individuals living as bisexuals in a religiously conservative environment. By doing so, Christina Lauren not only addresses social issues surrounding bisexuality but also illustrates the main character's struggles in accepting a bisexual identity in an environment influenced by religious beliefs.

“New Sincerity” in Social Media Texts: Intentions, Effects and Speech Features

The article presents the results of a study on the phenomenon of “new sincerity” examined on the material of posts on social networks (about 2 thousand contexts in total). It has been noticed that while in registered media the phenomenon mainly exists as initiated by the journalist (in the genres of interviews with famous people), in social media it acts as an initiative of the author. The object of the study was the intentions of the authors of the posts, manifested in their speech, as well as the feedback that the authors received in response to their confession. The discursive approach used in the study has demonstrated the correlation between the topics of confessional posts and the general tasks of public social networks, between author’s intentions and word usage. Thus, feminist public accounts are created specifically to demonstrate those aspects of women’s life in society that have not been publicly discussed before. Borrowed vocabulary is widely used in such cases, as well as words that belong to the field of psychotherapy. Confessional posts on the authors’ personal accounts are much rarer, more varied in topic, most often aimed at creative self-expression and focused on a circle of familiar people. The types of addressees’ reactions to confessional posts are characterized: from distrust of what has been said to support with a demonstration of their similar experience and advice. The research contributes to the development of communication studies in general and media text linguistics in particular.

The Myth of the computational cloud: a proposal for analysis with a Discursive approach

The Myth of the computational cloud: a proposal for analysis with a Discursive approach

The populist discourse on the environment: framework and evidence from Europe and the Americas

ABSTRACT What is the relationship between populism and the environment? Existing research answers this question by identifying empirical patterns emerging from the positions of specific populist parties. These patterns, however, are not leveraged to propose an overall framework for how populism itself relates to environmental positions. We adopt a deductive approach that draws from populism’s essence to articulate what we should expect. Populism is an ideologically ‘thin’ discursive approach centered on people-centrism and anti-elitism. The environment, as other substantive matters, is therefore a second-order issue. Given this, we should expect considerable variations across populists in their environmental positions. At the same time, we should expect the consistent anchoring of those positions in people-centrism and anti-elitism – in consonance with the specific factors pertinent to those parties that ultimately define their environmental positions. Our approach systematizes analytically the literature’s observations, corrects some of its empirical limitations, and allows for reflection on the environmental commitment of any one populist party. We undertake a cross-regional analysis of four cases to illustrate our argument: Marine Le Pen’s National Rally in France, the US Republican Party led by Donald Trump, Spain’s Podemos led by Pablo Iglesias, and Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro’s socialist regime in Venezuela.

Spare or transform? Agency frames in transition intermediaries

Climate emergency is widely acknowledged. However, our institutions are struggling to find new intervention types to accelerate the transition. This paper analyses this struggle by combining agency theories and discursive approaches to study transition intermediaries, i.e, organizations seeking to foster the transition activities of others. The internal meaning structures of intermediaries are described as interlocking shared action frames, i.e., beliefs and meanings underpining their activities. These frames are characterized through the definition of pairs of contrasting frame elements along eleven framing dimensions. This conceptualization allows for a semi-quantitative mapping of internal structures. The method is developped and illustrated with the in-depth case study of a Swiss regional utility department running an energy efficiency programme. Analysing a series of exploratory workshops, we find that established frames revolve around technology-oriented, managerial approaches to the transition, ultimately narrowing the range of imaginable interventions. While these are well-studied shortcomings of energy efficiency centred approaches, further observations suggest that these frames underpin the perception of intervention impacts, helping keep staff and recipients involved. To strike a balance between energy saving targets and transformative ambitions, this paper suggests revising programme evaluation logics and reframing technological solutions as responses, rather than substitutes, to practice changes.

A Socio-Cognitive Account of Ideological Manipulation in Chinese Translation of Political Opinion Articles

ABSTRACT In the realm of politics and media, particularly in situations of conflict, translation plays a critical role in resisting the discourse of news texts towards the socio-political correctness of the target society. Translation researchers have long focused on ideological manipulation and related techniques, notably in the translation of political news, linking ideologically motivated translation techniques to their macro functions (socio-political factors) via critical discursive approaches, but rarely have they examined what mediates these techniques and the social context. The main aim of the present study is to provide a socio-cognitive account of such ideological manipulations based on van Dijk’s notion of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The corpus of the study consists of opinion articles covering the Ukrainian conflict, originally published by American news institutions, and their corresponding Chinese translations in Chinese newspapers. Documented and supported by several examples, the findings suggest that the manipulations are mainly motivated by the polarization of “US” and “THEM”.