ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the depths of feminist post structuralist discourse analysis (FPDA) as an important methodology used to shed light on salient aspects of a selected case study of leadership language of a senior engineer in a Bahraini company. Data of this research study is based on transcription of recordings of meetings and interviews conducted with the woman leader and her team members, as well as observation notes taken during hours of shadowing her .
FPDA, with its poststructuralist approach to research and feminist focus, has wide applications and can yield interesting findings which may not otherwise be uncovered had other methodologies been used. The analysis is executed on two levels, denotative and connotative, allowing for the identification of ‘significant moments’ in the interaction and using these as a basis for the wider macro-level analysis. Another driving principle of FPDA is ‘intertextuality’ where the text is analysed for competing discourses and scrutinised for moments of power shifts. This is vital to this study given the unique nature of the context, for any comprehensive analysis requires a methodology that allows for alternative readings of the data, taking into consideration the specificities of the Middle Eastern organisational context, the gender system, and the dominant discourses.
