Discourse and Identity.pdf

Discourse and Identity

‘Benwell and Stokoe have produced an indispensable guide for any

student or scholar interested in discourse and identity. This is a deft and

highly accessible overview of a complex emerging body of knowledge.

The authors move conﬁdently, with great panache, from social theory to

the micro details of linguistic analysis, taking in the latest work on spatial,

virtual and commodiﬁed identities along the way. A neat and illuminat-

ing example can be found on every page, along with an important insight

and an original line of argument. Discourse and Identity is the ﬁrst schol-

arly map of the ﬁeld and is a “must own book” for every identity

researcher.’

Professor Margaret Wetherell, Director ESRC Identities Programme,

Social Sciences, Open University

‘Engaging with a range of current theories and methods of discourse

analysis, Discourse and Identity offers a critical overview of the ways in

which researchers have approached the concept of identity. Benwell and

Stokoe draw on an impressive variety of discourse contexts, from ordi-

nary conversation among friends to magazine advertisements, from

online interaction to talk about the neighbors. While Discourse and

Identity illustrates a number of different approaches in depth, including

discursive psychology, critical discourse analysis, and several types of

narrative analysis, the book’s particular strength is in demonstrating the

techniques and advantages of ethnomethodology and conversation analy-

sis as tools for illuminating the workings of identity as an interactional

achievement. Students and scholars alike will ﬁnd the text a helpful

resource in navigating the broad ﬁeld of discourse and identity research.’

Mary Bucholtz, Associate Professor, Department of Linguistics,

University of California, Santa Barbara

Discourse and Identity

Bethan Benwell and Elizabeth Stokoe

Edinburgh University Press

Edinburgh University Press Ltd

22 George Square, Edinburgh

Typeset in / Monotype Ehrhardt

by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Manchester, and

printed and bound in Great Britain by

Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wilts

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN- (hardback)

ISBN-

ISBN- (paperback)

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The right of Bethan Benwell and Elizabeth Stokoe

to be identiﬁed as authors of this work

has been asserted in accordance with