Positive Discourse Analysis

Positive discourse analysis (PDA) falls under the broader umbrella of discourse analysis and privileges discourses that promote empowerment and social change. PDA is often viewed as a complementary approach to critical discourse analysis (CDA) which aims to expose hegemonic discourses and discourses of disempowerment. While CDA has been useful in bringing to light discriminatory discourse practices, it has been less reliable at providing the means to change such hegemonic practices. PDA on the other hand, not only promotes positive discourse, it also advocates for design and interventions that empowers people and brings about social change. Since being first coined in 2002, PDA has been employed in many linguistic subfields including media discourse, ecolinguistics, and educational linguistics. And more recently, PDA has been developed as a tool for community members to use to address issues in their local communities. The major theory underpinning PDA is Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). SFL provides a functional theory of how language is used in social context and models language according to its three general social functions: to represent experience, to enact social relationships, and to organize these experiences and social relationships. But first and foremost, SFL is concerned with redressing inequality. For this reason, SFL frameworks are often used in PDA studies, in text analyses, and in designing materials and interventions. This bibliography explores some of the main linguistics subfields where positive discourse analysis has taken ground over the past two decades. However, there are plenty of studies that would be considered PDA prior to its coinage as a methodological approach. Therefore, this bibliography presents a variety of studies that either explicitly use PDA as a methodological approach or others that have not necessarily employed the term PDA, but would nevertheless be considered PDA since they advocate for positive discourses, social change and empowerment.