Discourse analysis is a loony activity. I agree with the view set forth by Christoph Sauer at the preceding workshop on discourse analysis that the concept of discourse offers prospects of multiformity. But the incorporation of this concept into an analytical setup simultaneously reopens the search for univocality. 'Post-philosophical' theories of discourse obfuscate the clarity aimed at by analysis. They undermine the acceptibility of the ideal of clarity itself. On the other hand, concepts like discourse, language system, language game etc. underline the overriding importance of traversing lines, interrelationships, differences, interlacements within the 'text'. This is something that cannot be caught in analysis, because the analyzing text is knotted to this play of relations as well. One cannot temporarily position oneself outside of it to make the analysis succeed in spite of this. This incites to a radicalization of (post-)modern conceptions of analysis.
Niels Helsloot
