Duration
30h Th
Number of credits
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
The course will be structured as follows:
1. Introduction: The discursivist approach to social reality
2. The critical perspective in discourse analysis
3. How to conduct research in discourse analysis
4. Concepts and analytical tools
5. The depoliticization of discourse
6. The French school and the Critical Discourse Analysis
7. Lexicometric analysis: key concepts and applications
8. Introduction to TXM (1)
9. Introduction to TXM (2)
10. Workshop
11. Presentation of a researcher's work
12. Q&A, preparation for the final project
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
By the end of this course, students will be able to :
- adopt a discursive approach to social reality
- adopt a critical stance in the analysis of political, media, and institutional discourse
- analyze and problematize a subject from a discursive perspective
- understand the theoretical and epistemological basics of the discipline of discourse analysis
- understand and apply the main concepts of discourse analysis in their research
- conduct a lexicometric analysis with the TXM tool
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
The course will combine the following elements:
- Teaching the epistemological and theoretical fundamentals of discourse analysis
- Illustrations of the main concepts by using current news examples (political or media discourse)
- Teaching a methodology and a software (TXM) for lexicometric discourse analysis, as well as a workshop to ensure students are able to use it properly
- Examples of how to frame a topic for discourse analysis through presentations of their work by one or two researchers
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
Face-to-face course
Course materials and recommended or required readings
Platform(s) used for course materials:
- eCampus
- MyULiège
Further information:
Recommended reading:
The discursivist approach
Bourdieu P. (2001), Langage et pouvoir symbolique, Fayard.
Key concepts
Charaudeau P. & Maingueneau D. (2002), Dictionnaire d'analyse du discours, Seuil.
Maingueneau D. (2009), Les termes clés de l'analyse du discours, Seuil.
Corpus and lexicometry
Charaudeau P. (2009), « Dis-moi quel est ton corpus, je te dirai quelle est ta problématique », Corpus, 8.
Née E. (2017), Méthodes et outils informatiques pour l'analyse des discours, Presses Universitaires de Rennes.
Lebart L. & Salem A (1994), Statistique textuelle, Paris, Dunod.
Types of discourse
Charaudeau P. (2005), Le discours politique. Les masques du pouvoir, Vuibert.
Calabrese L. (2013), L'évènement en discours. Presse et mémoire sociale, L'Harmattan.
Gobin C. & Deroubaix J-C. (2010), « L'analyse du discours des organisations internationales. Un vaste champ encore peu exploré », Mots. Les langages du politique, 94.
Krieg-Planque A. (2012), Analyser les discours institutionnels, Armand Colin, Paris.
Critical Discourse Analysis
Fairclough N. (1989), Language and Power, Longman Group UK Limited.
Van Dijk T. (2005), « Critical Discourse Analysis », in D. Schiffrin, D. Tannen and H.E. Hamilton (eds.), The Handbook of Discourse Analysis, Blackwell Publishers.
Examples in discourse analysis studies:
Close C. & Deswert C. (2026), « A Window of Opportunity for Feminist Claims? MPs' Responsiveness to Gender Inequalities in French-Speaking Belgium During COVID-19 », Political Studies Review, 24(3), p. 451-475.
Borriello A. (2019), « La vertu du sacrifice collectif. Antagonisme et valeurs morales dans le discours d'austérité en Italie et en Espagne (2010-2013) », Langage et société, 166(1), p. 75-96.
Corten H. (2026), « Peace by Other Means? Ruptures and Neoliberal Continuities in Duque's Colombia (2018-2022) », International Political Sociology, 20.
Gemander A. (2025), « Pourquoi le FMI déteste la démocratie. Analyser le discours institutionnel en Europe semi-périphérique », Mots. Les langages du politique, 137.
Written work / report
Further information:
The final assessment consists of a group project, to be sent via email (ariane.gemander@uliege.be)
The assignment will consist of a research project that examines a topic from the perspective of discourse analysis, formulates a research question, and a hypothesis that will be tested in an empirical demonstration consisting of a lexicometric analysis of a corpus of texts, using the TXM software.
Two mandatory intermediate assignments must be completed during the semester in order to prepare for the final project and to receive feedback on the project progress (these two intermediate assignments are not graded, but a 1-point malus will be applied to the final grade for each assignment not submitted).
Work placement(s)
No.
Organisational remarks and main changes to the course
Contacts
Ariane Gemander
Lecturer
ariane.gemander@uliege.be