Table of Contents
1.1 Introduction1
Extract Overview1

Discourse Analysis………………………………………………………………………………………………….2

Alternative Discourse…………………………………………………………………………………………….3

Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..4

1.1 Introduction

Discourse analysis is both an old and a new discipline. Its origins can be traced back to the study of language, public speech, and literature more than 2000 years ago. (Schiffrin, 2001) Much of the structural analysis of the term can be said to have resulted from books such as the archaeology of knowledge, discipline and punish and the history of sexuality which were written by the famous sociologist Michael Foucault. Foucault defines discourse as ways of constituting knowledge, together with social practices, forms of subjectivity and power relations, which inhere in such knowledge, and relations between them. (Quinby, 1999)

Putnam and Fairhurst [2001: 79] use the term 'discourse analysis' to refer to 'the study of words and signifiers, including the form or structure of these words, the use of language in context, and the meanings or interpretation of discursive practices'.
Discourses are more than ways of thinking and producing meaning (this meaning could be in form of language, speech, text etc.). They constitute the ‘nature’ of the body, unconscious and conscious and conscious mind and emotional life of the subjects they seek to govern (Weedon, 1987)

1.2 Extract Overview

The extract to be assessed is from figure 8.1-8.4.1.The case study written by Finlay, (2000) talks about a company’s operating environment. In the case study Finlay wants his readers to analyse a company’s operating environment by looking at either the value chain or Poter’s competitive forces. In writing about the value chain, Finlay educates the readers about the importance of the value chain. Finlay further discusses the