Text, Context, Pretext: Critical Isssues in Discourse Analysis (Language in Society) (Paperback)

by H. G. Widdowson (Author) "Although discourse analysis has been a busy field of activity for many years, there is a good deal of uncertainty about what it actually is..." (more)
Key Phrases: pretextual purpose, pretextual assumptions, killer riot, Robinson Crusoe, Zellig Harris, Red Army (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
“This book is beautifully written, clearly and cogently argued and illustrated with interesting and persuasive examples. It is excellent for use with students, who would otherwise struggle in a field replete with difficult, if not tortuous, key texts.” Malcolm Coulthard, University of Birmingham <!--end-->

“It is unusual in discourse analysis to find a book as thought-provoking or as wide-ranging as this. Any student of pragmatics, discourse analysis (critical or otherwise), text linguistics or corpus linguistics will need to consider carefully what Henry Widdowson has to say; his positions are too well argued to be simply ignored.”
Michael Hoey, University of Liverpool

"Text, Context, Pretext covers much ground in discourse analysis ranging from its early precursors (e.g. B Malinowski, Z. Harris) to its contemporary practitioners. The notion of pretext provides a new approach to the discussion of critical issues in (critical) discourse analysis."
Journal of Sociolinguistics

"The Volume, greatly ro its credit, raises the awareness of various critical issues which need to be considered when embarking on research in Critical Discourse Analysis."
Discourse & Society

Product Description
Written by a leading researcher in the field, this fascinating examination of the relations between grammar, text, and discourse is designed to provoke critical discussion on key issues in discourse analysis which are not always clearly identified and examined.

Written by a leading researcher in the field

Continues the enquiry into discourse analysis that Zellig Harris initiated 50 years ago, which raised a number of problematic issues that have remained unresolved ever since

Introduces the notion of pretext as an additional factor in the general interpretative process

Focuses attention specifically on the work of critical discourse analysis (CDA) in light of the issues discussed

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell (November 5, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0631234527
• ISBN-13: 978-0631234524
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #271,314 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars superbly done, September 26, 2006

By	nlonghu "nebula" (Finland) - See all my reviews

As ever, Widdowson does a service to us all by writing on a subject that he believes worthwhile: this time to those of us who practice CDA and have grown complacent in its comfortable shade; a more honourable, worthier opponent (in a kindly sense) cannot be had. Widdowson is a joy to read: articulate, clear-minded and utterly logical.

In this book, Widdowson takes on the claims made by CDA that it can provide objective accounts of texts and instead shows how the proponents of CDA actually rely on prior, subjective interpretations (pre-texts) for their analyses rather than the linguistic tools they advocate. For anyone who, like me, has grown up with and admires CDA, Widdowson's elegantly-argued case is impossible to ignore. Widdowson is sporting and generous at all times(read his preface). He acknowledges the value of CDA as an approach and the many benefits it has brought to the world of linguistics. Nevertheless, it does not do what it claims to and that is what needs to be pointed out. I suspect he wishes CDA could be more than an approach. Let's hope that Fairclough, Wodak and others take up the challenge as vigorously and as in as good a spirit as Widdowson has done, and try to improve on what they have started.