Cultural Studies Discourse in Laymans Terms?

Question

I am doing an assignment for MSTU2003 (maybe there are some people who have gone to University of Queensland) called a Discourse Map. We had to get an article on health and draw a discourse map and then talk about it in 750 words. I thought I knew what i was doing until i actually started writting. It's due monday and i'm totally lost.


Basicially my lecturer has said that: Discourse is "what is said, considered as a social act"...which i don't exactly get. Can anyone explain discourse to me in laymans terms?

thank you it sort of makes more sense...its all very difficult because everyone has a different idea of what discourse is. don't suppose you want to look at my assignment lol.

Answer 1

Think of discourse as the "normalized" things that are thought, said, presented, visualized, stereotyped about a certain thing or issue.

Discourses are "institutionalized" ways of thinking that prevent other ways of looking at the topic or issue from entering into the conversation.

For example, if your article is on the ill effects of smoking, the discourse will probably be medicalized, and focus on disease vs. wellness. The article's "institutionalized way of thinking" will keep other ways of thinking about smoking (for instance, the ceremonial use of tobacco by Native Americans) out of the conversation.

I hope this helps!