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Power Talk

Language and Interaction in Institutional Discourse

Joanna Thornborrow author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd

Published:19th Aug '16

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

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Power Talk cover

The concept of social power, who holds it and how they use it is a widely debated subject particularly in the field of discourse analysis, and the wider arena of sociolinguistics.

In her new book,Joanna Thornborrow challenges the received notion that power is necessarily held by some speakers and not by others. Through the detailed analysis of communication and interaction within a range of institutional settings, she examines power as an emerging, negotiated phenomenon between participants with different status and goals.

Written in a clear style which combines attention to technical detail with accessibility, Power Talk includes:

  • a comprehensive introduction to the theme of power including the analytic approaches to power in language
  • a wide-ranging discussion of theory and practice
  • and, in-depth contemporary case studies.

Power Talk

is the first book to focus on the topic of power in situated interaction across a range of contexts. As such, itmakes a timely, and important contribution to the debate surrounding social power and language use, and will be of value to both students and researchers alike.

...'a welcome addition to the debate on the relationship between language and power, especially as it is not written from a single theoretical perspective...'

'Thornborrow's attempt to move debates into 'a more empirical domain' is one of the strengths of the book.'


Joanna Thornborrow. Power in Talk: Language and Interaction in Institutional Discourse

ISBN: 9781138152250

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 453g

156 pages