The sociocognitive approach in critical discourse studies and the phenomenological sociology of knowledge: intersections
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The sociocognitive approach in critical discourse studies and the phenomenological sociology of knowledge: intersections Daniel Gyollai 1 Accepted: 17 September 2020/ # The Author(s) 2020
Abstract This article argues that phenomenological sociology has great potential to provide a strong theoretical support to the Sociocognitive Approach (SCA) in Critical Discourse Studies. SCA is interested in the interconnections between knowledge, discourse and society while placing subjectivity in the centre of its framework. It looks into the correlative relationship between personal- and socially shared knowledge, and the significance of these correlations to discourse production and interpretation. Analogously, phenomenological sociology explores the interrelated structures of subjectivity, knowledge and the social world. It systematically analyses the conditions and forms of intersubjective understanding and the mutually constitutive relationship between subjective- and objective knowledge. Given the considerable overlap between the subject matter of phenomenological sociology and that of SCA, the purpose of the article is to draw the attention of critical discourse analysts to a neglected but extremely resourceful field. Following a brief introduction to SCA, the article will address some of SCA’s key concepts in conjunction with the phenomenological-sociological insight. Keywords Critical discourse studies . Legitimation . Mental models . Phenomenological
sociology . Schutz . Sociocognitive approach
1 Introduction Critical Discourse Studies, also known as Critical Discourse Analysis, is a multimethodical and multidisciplinary field interested in the discursive manifestation and reproduction of dominance, social control, power abuse, and of social inequalities. It is primarily interested in discourses produced by social actors who control public
* Daniel Gyollai [email protected]
1
Glasgow Caledonian University, Cowcaddens Rd, Glasgow G4 0BA, UK
D. Gyollai
discourse, such as the political elite, business corporations or the media. Critical Discourse Studies takes discourse as a form of social practice and analyses its relationship with the social structures by which it is shaped. Critical discourse analysts typically inquire about, for example, the discursive legitimation and persuasion strategies of right-wing populist parties, and the impact of anti-immigrant/racist discourses on the community in the prevailing socio-political context (Wodak and Meyer 2015; Van Dijk 2011, 2015a). Within the overall framework of Critical Discourse Studies, the Sociocognitive Approach (hereinafter SCA) developed by Teun A. van Dijk focuses on the cognitive aspects of discourse production and comprehension (Van Dijk 2014a, b, 2015a, 2018). Van Dijk argues there is no direct or linear correspondence between discourse structures and social structures but discourses function through a cognitive interface: “the mental representations of language users as individuals and as social members” (Van Dijk 2015a p. 64). As Van Dijk poin
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