Discourse

Discourse is language (spoken, written, visual, and body language) people use in social contexts in order to convey meanings, communicate with each other, and interact with the world. It is an integral part of the beliefs, identities, and values that are produced and enacted in society, illustrating the diverse positions that social actors or groups occupy; hence, “discourses” is the plural form that is often used. As “language in use,” discourse represents, classifies, or performs various aspects of social life. A person may hold progressive or conservative views, which means that their understanding and representation of issues such as the welfare state originate and result in very different discourses. They may fall into the category of “citizens” of a state, enjoying full citizenship rights, or “asylum seekers” with limited rights. They may identify as “punk” or “emo” and act out these identities in dress code, talk, and music.

Discourses belong to and generate effects in particular social, political, economic, and cultural contexts. They pertain to domains of public activity, such as politics, media, research, and education, but also to everyday, private interactions. They are a site of negotiation of meaning, reproduction of existing practices and relations and, importantly, of social change. The relationship between discourse in general and social reality is a mutually constitutive one: discourse is shaped by and at the same time shapes social reality.

Nation, ethnicity, and race are not natural givens that exist in the world “out there” but instead are a product of socially embedded language. Two major social institutions that construct and are constructed by dominant discourses on [Page 714]American national identity are immigration, naturalization, and citizenship policies, and census categories. Together, they classify and respond to public classifications of racial and ethnic identities, setting boundaries between, for example, black and white and Hispanic and non-Hispanic. The U.S. government and other institutions use systems of classification to regulate migrant flows and impart social justice, and in turn often (re)produce stereotypes and prejudice. Multicultural America is an outcome of the interplay between discursive self-identification and other identification, power relations in society, and institutional policies.

Discursive constructions of who Americans are have molded national identity over the centuries, by structuring how Americans both define national community, values, and spirit, and how they draw boundaries between themselves and others. Such discourses have multiple sources. They include political texts, such as the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, presidential addresses, texts produced by lobby groups and similar organizations, and policy documents; scientific texts, such as research about the origin of races; legal decisions; media articles and forums (either mainstream or alternative); educational textbooks; literary works; and popular culture products. Many of these sources reflect political ideologies (liberal-progressive, libertarian, or conservative) or frame topics and themes from a political perspective.

In the course of American history, struggles among social groups to project their own understanding of national identity and the recognition attributed to racial and ethnic groups within its framework have generated distinct versions of the nation and place occupied by “cultural diversity” as one of its main components. Dominant discourses, understood as long-standing discourses that articulate the ideological visions of groups in positions of power in society, are the ones most often materialized and institutionalized by means of policy making. Far from being confined to the level of discourse, prevailing interpretations have been implemented and made part of existing institutions, often distorting or overlooking the self-assigned identities of the culturally diverse groups in American society. Changes in the sociopolitical and cultural circumstances, power dynamics, major historical events, and economic developments have brought about changes in the meanings and definitions of the national “we” and its multicultural and racial diversity. On the backdrop of social transformation and often engaged in it, ethnic and other minority groups have succeeded in achieving recognition. Their counter-narratives—self-representations of the histories, traditions, and values of their communities—have gained visibility and have been included in the official narrative of the American nation.

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