ABSTRACT
Discourse" is a word used by many different people in many different fields with many different meanings. The chapter discusses the analytical tools which discourse analysts use to address the relationship between 'small d' and 'big D' discourses by focusing on the three dimensions of discourse: texture, action, and social practice. It first considers texture, discusses the broader dimension of social practice, and focuses on action, arguing that action is really the essence of discourse, the dimension which provides the crucial link between texture and social practice, between the individual and society, and between 'small d' and 'big D' discourses. The chapter explains an approach which takes into account textual, pragmatic, and ideological dimensions of discourse and resists the temptation to "read off" of texts and conversations social meanings or representations.
