Discourse

Photo: Florian Fisch

When anyone in the media mentions a ‘discourse’, it conjures up civilised debate and notions of applying reason in a discussion. This is hardly surprising, given that this concept originated in complex academic theories in fields such as linguistics and sociology. It was the French philosopher Michel Foucault who was responsible for it becoming one of the most influential concepts in the humanities to this day. According to the web platform SozTheo, run by Christian Wickert of HSPV NRW (the University of Applied Sciences for Police and Public Administration in North Rhine-Westphalia), the word denotes systems of statements that determine “how we can think about a topic and discuss it”. A discourse, he writes, is closely linked to power. “Whoever coins a term, defines problems and generates knowledge, will also influence social reality”.

Achim Landwehr is a cultural historian at the University of Constance who today believes that this broad concept with its long history is “on its way to becoming hackneyed”. Even if it’s difficult to prove statistically, “its use seems to have increased significantly”, he says. A cursory search through the Swiss media confirms that ‘discourse’ (in its French and German forms ‘discours’ and ‘Diskurs’ respectively) is indeed used by some in its Foucauldian sense. Hats off to them! But often it’s used merely as an upmarket, clever-sounding alternative to discussion or debate. Which proves Landwehr right.