translating discourse
I’ve just discovered a new possible translation of the concept of ‘discourse’ into Finnish, namely ‘arvorypäs‘. This implies the concentration of different discursive elements and values into one. It also implies limits, just like the concept of discourse itself entails them.
Perhaps this way the whole study of discourses becomes more easy to grasp for a wider audience. And the misconception of discourse as speech, mere parole, can be avoided.
My course on Ideology and Discourse Analysis at the University of Helsinki starts on Monday. Thankfully, it is in English. It may take a while still before I’ve got my and other people’s heads around discourse theory in Finnish - talking with colleagues and students in Finnish about these things helps, though.
