Editing Discourse (section)

{{Short description|Field of theory which examines elements of conversation}}
{{Other uses|Discourse (disambiguation)}}
{{technical|date=May 2018}}
{{Sociology}}
'''Discourse''' is a generalization of the notion of a [[conversation]] to any form of [[communication]].<ref>The noun derives from a [[Latin language|Latin]] verb meaning "running to and fro". For a concise historical account of the term and the concept, see [[Andreas Dorschel|Dorschel, Andreas]]. 2021. "Diskurs." Pp. 110–114 in ''Zeitschrift für Ideengeschichte'' XV/4: ''Falschmünzer'', edited by M. Mulsow, & A.U. Sommer. Munich: C.H. Beck. </ref> Discourse is a major topic in social theory, with work spanning fields such as [[sociology]], [[anthropology]], [[continental philosophy]], and [[discourse analysis]]. Following work by [[Michel Foucault]], these fields view discourse as a system of thought, knowledge, or communication that constructs our world experience. Since control of discourse amounts to control of how the world is perceived, social theory often studies discourse as a window into [[Power (social and political) |power]]. Within [[theoretical linguistics]], discourse is understood more narrowly as linguistic information exchange and was one of the major motivations for the framework of [[dynamic semantics]]. In these expressions, [[denotation]]s are equated with their ability to update a discourse context.