Language is more than a tool for communication—it is a powerful force that shapes how knowledge is produced and understood. Studying Language, Producing Knowledge offers a clear and comprehensive introduction to discourse studies, demonstrating how language operates as social action. Anne Mäntynen and Sari Pietikäinen trace the evolution of the field, combining classic theories with contemporary approaches to show how discourse constructs meaning, identities, and social realities.
Through an engaging blend of conceptual explanation and practical guidance, this textbook guides readers step by step through the process of analyzing discourse in real-world contexts. Each chapter provides key concepts, discussion points, and examples that help students move confidently from theory to research practice. Throughout the text, the authors highlight how discourse interacts with power, ideology, and change, and how the study of language can reveal the dynamics of knowledge production in today’s complex social world.
Studying Language, Producing Knowledge is written for undergraduate and postgraduate students across language, communication, and cultural studies, as well as sociology and anthropology. It is ideal for courses on discourse analysis, language and society, or qualitative research methods, and serves as an essential guide for anyone seeking to understand how language shapes the ways we know and act.
Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments
Part I. What is discourse studies?
1 Language as social action
1.0 Chapter overview
1.1 Language and society
1.2 Language as a resource
Key concepts in this chapter
Takeaways
Discussion points
References
2 The dynamic concept of discourse
2.0 Chapter overview
2.1 What is discourse?
2.2 Discourse: entanglements between language and society
Key concepts in this chapter
Takeaways
Discussion points
References
3 Discourse in contexts
3.0 Chapter overview
3.1 Context matters
3.2 Connecting contexts
3.3 Situational context
3.4 Discourse practices
3.5 Multiplicity of contexts
Key concepts in this chapter
Takeaways
Discussion points
References
4 Frameworks for examining discourse
4.0 Chapter overview
4.1 Frameworks for analysing discourse dimensions, processes and connections
4.2 Three-dimensional discourse: Norman Fairclough
4.3 Nexus analysis
4.4. Critical assemblage analysis
4.5 Concepts as thinking tools
Key concepts in this chapter
Takeaways
Discussion points
References
Part II. Key concepts for analysing discourse
5 Discourse, power, knowledge
5.0 Chapter overview
5.1 Discourse and knowledge production
5.2 Discursive struggles: a moment of competing discourses
5.3 Intertwined knowledges
5.4 Categorisation as a revaluing resource
Key concepts in this chapter
Takeaways
Discussion points
References
6 Genre
6.0 Chapter overview
6.1 Genre matters
6.2 Functional genre
6.3 The power of the genre
6.4 Genre frameworks
6.5 Genre norms
6.6 Genre as an organizing power
Key concepts in this chapter
Takeaways
Discussion points
References
7 Regulating discourse
7.0 Chapter overview
7.1 Centripetal and centrifugal forces
7.2 Discourse norms
7.3 Discourse regulation
7.4 Discourse regimes
7.5 AI as a regulating writing machine
Key concepts in this chapter
Takeaways
Discussion points
References
8 Discourse dynamics
8.0 Chapter overview
8.1 Intertextuality
8.2 Genre hybridity
8.3 Re/Deterritorialisation
Key concepts in this chapter
Takeaways
Discussion points
References
9 The power of language ideologies
9.0 Chapter overview
9.1 Language ideological debates: a discourse studies approach
9.2 Language ideologies as the service of nation-building
9.3 Multilingualism and language ideologies
9.4 Indexicality and language ideological processes
Key concepts in this chapter
Takeaways
Discussion points
References
Part III. A practical guide to discourse analysis
10 Research process in discourse studies
10.0 Chapter overview
10.1 Qualitative researching
10.2 Designing discourse research
10.3 Get started with your discourse research
Doing discourse analysis: 20 practical steps
11 Getting started with your research project
11.0 Chapter overview
11.1 Choosing a topic
11.2 Research questions as research strategy
11.3 Thinking tools: theories and concepts
11.4 Concepts at work
11.5 Finding your data
11.6 Selecting your data
11.7 Managing your data
12 Methods for meaning: Doing Discourse Analysis
12.0 Chapter overview
12.1 Methods in discourse studies
12.2 Analytical process
12.3 Making your argument
13 Doing discourse analysis
13.0 Chapter overview
13.1 Stage 1: Getting started
Step1 Analysis is a process
Step 2 Analysis requires theoretical understanding
Step 3 Analysis requires a selective gaze
Step 4 Researcher constructs the data
13.2 Stage 2: Doing analysis and making connections
Step 5 Analysis means making choices
Step 6 Analysis involves systematic organisation of observations
Step 7 Analysis needs conceptualisation or abstraction
Step 8 Analysis is making connections
13.3 Stage 3: Producing new knowledge
Step 9 Analysis is argumentation and writing
Step 10 Analysis is participating in a discussion
Bibliography
Index
About the Author :
ANNE MÄNTYNEN is Professor of Non-Fiction at the University of Helsinki. A leading scholar in discourse and genre studies, she examines how language ideologies and genres shape social practices and writing cultures. She served as Editor of Virittäjä.
SARI PIETIKÄINEN is Professor of Discourse Studies at the University of Jyväskylä and Research Fellow at UiT The Arctic University of Norway. Her research explores the entanglements between discourse, power, and ecology in the Arctic, using critical assemblage analysis.
