Critique of Foucault's Theory of Discourse

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art ›› 2013, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (1): 121-129.

• Studies in Western Literary Theory and Aesthetics • Previous Articles Next Articles

Critique of Foucault's Theory of Discourse

Zhou Xian

the Higher Research Institute of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences and the School of Liberal Arts, Nanjing University

Online:2013-01-25 Published:2013-02-20
About author:Zhou Xian, Ph.D., is a professor at the Higher Research Institute of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences and the School of Liberal Arts, Nanjing University, with research interests covering aesthetics, theory of literature and arts, and cultural studies.

Abstract

Abstract: "French theory" is another expression for the post-structuralist thought in France, with Foucault's theory of discourse being the most influential, and constructivism lies at the core of the theory. On the one hand, the theory of discourse highlights the function discourse performs in constructing subjectivity and the reality; on the other hand, it aims to reveal the symbiotic relation between the power and knowledge behind discourse. Thus, the theory dissolves the cognitive agency of the subject while foregrounding the subject's construction of discourse, and it highlights the representational practice of discourse while forecloses the social material practice of the non-discourse. The theory of discourse focuses on textual analysis and displays a tendency of "discourse fetish", but it fails to reveal any anti-discursive approach. The theory of discourse is a noteworthy recent trend in knowledge production, and it has its demerits, which could be exposed through the reflection on and critique of this theory and improved to gain more interpretative validity through the integration between this theory and other theories.

Key words: French theory, Foucault, theory of discourse, knowledge-power symbiosis, institutional analysis, material practice

Zhou Xian. Critique of Foucault's Theory of Discourse[J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2013, 33(1): 121-129.

References

Berger, Peter L, and Thomas Luckmann. The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. London: Penguin, 1967.
Bone, Rainer D., et al. “The Field of Foucaultian Discourse Analysis: Structures, Developments and Perspectives.” Forum: Qualitative Social Research 8.2 (May 2007). < http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/234/517 >.
Breckman, Warren. “Times of Theory: On Writing the History of French Theory.” Journal of the History of Ideas 71.3 (July 2010): 339-40.
Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge, 1990.
Derrida, Jacques. Of Grammatology. Baltimore: John’s Hopkins University Press, 1997.
Eagleton, Terry. After Theory. New York: Basic, 2003.
---. “Ideology.” The Eagleton Reader. Ed. Regan, Stephen. Oxford: Blackwell, 1998.
Foucault, Michel. The Archaeology of Knowledge. London: Routledge, 2002.
---. “What is an Author?” Critical Theory since 1965. Eds. Hazard Adams and Leroy Searle. Tallahassee: University of Florida Press, 1986.
---. Power/Knowledge. New York: Harvester, 1980.
福柯：《词与物——人文科学考古学》，莫伟民译。上海：上海三联书店，2001年。
[Foucault, Michel. The Order of Things: An Archaeology of Human Sciences. Trans. Mo Weimin. Shanghai: Shanghai SDX Joint Publishing Company, 2001.]
Hall, Stuart, ed. Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. London: Sage, 1997.
Hall, Stuart, and Paul de Guy, eds. Questions of Cultural Identity. London: Sage, 1996.
霍布斯鲍姆、兰格主编：《传统的发明》，顾杭、庞冠群译。南京：译林出版社，2004年
[Hobsbawm, Eric, and Terence Ranger, eds. The Invention of Tradition. Trans. Gu Hang and Pang Guanqun. Nanjing: Yilin Press, 2004.]
Jameson, Fredrick. The Cultural Turn. London: Verso, 1998.
Lauretis, Teresa de. Technologies of Gender: Essays on Theory, Film, and Fiction. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1987.
麦克唐纳：《言说的理论》，陈璋津译。台北：台湾远流出版公司，1986年。
[Macdonell, Diane. Theories of Discourses. Trans. Chen Zhangyin. Taibei: Taiwan Yuanliu Publishing Company, 1986.]
马克思、恩格斯：《马克思恩格斯选集》。北京：人民出版社，1972年。
[Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. Selected Works of Marx and Engels. Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1972.]
萨义德：《知识分子论》。北京：三联书店，2002年。
[Said, Edward. Representations of the Intellectual. Beijing: SDX Joint Publishing Company, 2002.]

[1]	Yu Cheng. Faust’s Three Experiments and the Birth of Friedrich Kittler’s Interpretation of Discourse Network 1800 [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2022, 42(5): 82-90.
[2]	Liu Yang. The Deep Path in Foucault's Critique of Reason and Its Enlightenments for Post-Theory [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2019, 39(1): 27-37.
[3]	Li Yang. Foucault and Damnatio Memoriae: An Introduction to the Mnemo-Government of Cinema [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2015, 35(6): 52-60.
[4]	Che Jinshan. "The Chinese Encyclopedia" in Foucault's The Order of Things [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2012, 32(1): 24-27+127.

Critique of Foucault's Theory of Discourse

PDF (PC)

Knowledge

Abstract

Cite this article

share this article

References

Related Articles 4

Recommended Articles

Metrics

Comments