Interdiscursivity through Foucault’s dreams of the plague
Discursive constructions of the covid-19 pandemic in The New York Times
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12890291 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Juan Li (0000-0002-8639-6100, University of St. Thomas - Minnesota, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 355-376 |
| Publication date | 2023-10-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Multicultural Discourses (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1744-7143 • E-ISSN: 1747-6615 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/17447143.2024.2383621 |
| OpenAlex | W4401026869 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 14 |
Adopting an interdiscursive approach to text and discourse, this study investigates the complex and interwoven discursive relations between various social and discursive practices in The New York Times's representation of the COVID-19 pandemic at the beginning of its outbreak in the United States. Drawing on Foucault's analysis of the political dream of order and the literary dreams of anarchy during the plague, this study demonstrates that the intertextual relations in the newspaper's discourses surrounding the pandemic can be analyzed in terms of the distinctions, connections, and oscillations between Foucault's political and literary dreams. While the political dream emerges primarily through the newspaper's reportage of government orders on pandemic measures and medical practices recommended by medical professionals, the literary dream is often conceived through representations of individual suspension of order and questioning authorities on treating the virus. This study further shows that the interactions between the two dreams give rise to a new discursive dream that highlights individual autonomy and reconceptualizes individuals' relations to government orders as a result of their own agency. Teaming up Foucault's analysis of the two dreams of the plague with an intertextual approach to text and discourse offers a comprehensive and coherent understanding of the pandemic
Agency (philosophy · Autonomy · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Discourse analysis · Dream · Government (linguistics · Intertextuality · Linguistics · Media studies · Newspaper · Order (exchange · Pandemic · Political science · Politics · Representation (politics · Social science · Sociology · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · Gender Studies · Humor Studies and Applications · Law · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Philosophy · Psychology
Introducing Social Semiotics
A Cultural Approach to Discourse
The “nurse as hero” discourse in the Covid-19 pandemic
Discipline and Punish
Discourse and social change
An Introduction to Functional Grammar
Cultural discourse studies
Analysing Discourse
Power and the pandemic
The role of strategic communication to respond effectively to pandemics
Epidemics and Revolutions
Imagined communities
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |