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Aware that categorical thinking imposes restrictions on the ways we communicate, Stephen R. Yarbrough proposes discourse studies as an alternative to rhetoric and philosophy, both of which are structuralistic systems of inquiry.

Discourse studies, Yarbrough argues, does not support the idea that ...

Aware that categorical thinking imposes restrictions on the ways we communicate, Stephen R. Yarbrough proposes discourse studies as an alternative to rhetoric and philosophy, both of which are structuralistic systems of inquiry.

Discourse studies, Yarbrough argues, does not support the idea that languages, cultures, or conceptual schemes in general adequately describe linguistic competence. He asserts that a belief in languages and cultures "feeds a false dichotomy: either we share the same codes and conventions, achieving community but risking exclusivism, or we proliferate differences, achieving choice and freedom but risking fragmentation and incoherence". Discourse studies, he demonstrates, works around this dichotomy.

Drawing on philosopher Donald Davidson, Yarbrough establishes the idea that community can be a consequence of communication but is not a prerequisite for it. By disassociating our thinking from conceptual schemes, we can avoid the problems that come with believing in an abstract structure that predates any utterance. He references Davidson's idea of "passing theories", in which communication is based on mutual anticipations of an utterance's effects, not on a shared language or conceptual scheme.

Yarbrough also draws on Mikhail Bakhtin's dialogism to define how utterances operate in life and to show how utterances are involved with power and how power relates to understanding. The study builds from there with Yarbrough's discussion of Michel Meyer's problematology, which treats the questions implied by a statement as the meaning of the statement. Given Meyer's argument, the differences in languages, disciplines, cultures, or other such schemes become "our prior,tacit agreements about what cannot be asked".

Yarbrough introduces readers to a credible theoretical framework for focusing on discourse rather than on conceptual schemes that surround it and to the potential advantages o

This book provides a fresh approach to the study of Chinese language, culture and society by using concepts of social semiotics to extend the ideas of language and reading. The authors tackle areas such as grammar, language, gender, popular culture, film and the Chinese diaspora. The Politics of ...

This book provides a fresh approach to the study of Chinese language, culture and society by using concepts of social semiotics to extend the ideas of language and reading. The authors tackle areas such as grammar, language, gender, popular culture, film and the Chinese diaspora. The Politics of Chinese Language and Culture breaks down the boundaries around the ideas and identities of East and West and provide a more relevant analysis of the Chinese and China.

Alessandro Duranti introduces linguistic anthropology as an interdisciplinary field that studies language as a cultural resource and speaking as a cultural practice. The theories and methods of linguistic anthropology are introduced through a discussion of linguistic diversity, grammar in use, the ...

Alessandro Duranti introduces linguistic anthropology as an interdisciplinary field that studies language as a cultural resource and speaking as a cultural practice. The theories and methods of linguistic anthropology are introduced through a discussion of linguistic diversity, grammar in use, the role of speaking in social interaction, the organization and meaning of conversational structures, and the notion of participation as a unit of analysis. Linguistic Anthropology will appeal to undergraduate and graduate students.