Discourse, Ideology and Specialized Communication

This book approaches the issue of ideology in specialized communication in professional, institutional and disciplinary settings across domains as diverse as law, healthcare, corporate management, migration, NGOs, etc. What unites the contributors is their commitment to a discourse view of language use, i.e., the view that organisational and professional practices are rooted in social, ideological orders, although a variety of perspectives on the exact nature of the relationship between ideology and discourse can be discerned in individual chapters. The acts of interpretation – by participants and analysts alike – are invested in ideology, explicitly or implicitly. This manifest/hidden duality surrounding ideology-in-discourse constitutes the main focus. Challenging the traditional presumption of objectivity, impersonality and non-involvement that has often characterized research on Language for Specific Purposes, this book demonstrates how the specialized communication setting is a critical site where ideology is intrinsically embodied in discursive practices.

The Editors: Giuliana Garzone is Professor of English Linguistics at the University of Milan, Italy. Her main field of investigation is specialized discourse in its different domains. She has co-ordinated research projects and published extensively on legal language, scientific discourse, business communication and political discourse. Her other research interests include translating and interpreting studies. Srikant Sarangi is Professor and Director of the Health Communication Research Centre at Cardiff University. His research interests are in discourse analysis and applied linguistics, language and identity in public life and institutional/professional discourse studies. His publications include six books, five guest-edited journal special issues and over one hundred fifty journal articles and book chapters. He is currently editor of TEXT & TALK; founding editor of Communication & Medicine; and (with C. N. Candlin) of Journal of Applied Linguistics.

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