LANGUAGE, DISCOURSE AND GENDER

Language, Discourse and the Construction of Gender



Abstract

Discourse is a broadly used and abstract term that is used to refer to a range of topics in various disciplines. For the sake of this discussion, discourse analysis is used to describe a number of approaches to analyzing written and spoken language use beyond the technical pieces of language, such as words and sentences. Therefore, discourse analysis focuses on the use of language within a social context. Embedded in the constructivism-structuralism traditions, discourse analysis's key emphasis is on the use of language in social context. Language in this case refers to either text or talk, and context refers to the social situation or forum in which the text or talk occurs. Language and context are the two essential elements that help distinguish the two major approaches employed by discourse analysts.

Table of Contents

Language Discourse Analysis4

Background4

Two Major Approaches5

Sociopolitical Discourse Analysis Frameworks6

Foucauldian Discourse Analysis6

Critical Discourse Analysis CDA7

The social construction of gender from the family7

The gender approach in the construction of scientific knowledge - Hilda Eugenia Rodríguez Lored9

Gender mainstreaming10

Scientific studies with a gender perspective12

The development of societies15

The place of the concept of gender in discourse: ethical or political?16

Conclusions17

References19

Language, Discourse and the Construction of Gender

Background

In the past several years social and applied or professional sciences in academia have seen a tremendous increase in the number of discourse analysis studies. The history of discourse analysis is long and embedded in the origins of a philosophical tradition of hermeneutics and phenomenology. These traditions emphasize the issue of Verstehen, or life world, and the social interaction within the life world (Cristina, et al, 1994, Pp.32-36). A few major theorists in this tradition are Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Edmund Husserl, Wil-helm Dilthey, and Alfred Schutz. Early applications of discourse analysis in social and applied and professional sciences can be found in psychology, sociology, cultural studies, and linguistics. (Haraway, 1995, pp.56-64)

Two Major Approaches

Discourse analysis can be divided into two major approaches: language-in-use (or socially situated text and talk) and sociopolitical. The language-in-use approach is concerned with the micro dimensions of language, grammatical structures, and how these features interplay within a social context. Language-in-use discourse analysis focuses on the rules and conventions of talk and text within a certain a context. This approach emphasizes various aspects of language within social context. Language-in-use methodologists focus on language and the interplay between language and social context. Language-in-use is often found in the disciplines of linguistics and literature studies and is rarely used in social and human sciences.

The second major approach, sociopolitical, is the focus of the rest of this entry because it is most commonly used within the social and human sciences. This approach is concerned with how language forms and influences the social context. Sociopolitical discourse analysis focuses on the social construction of discursive practices that maintain the social context. This approach emphasizes social context as influenced by language. Sociopolitical methodologists focus on social context and the interplay between social context and ...