ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I make a case for the theoretical and methodological importance of qualitative historical genre analysis for discourse analysis. ‘Historical genre analysis’ refers to diachronic studies of the development of disciplinary and professional genres. I also contend that taking a multimethod approach to studying the textual dynamics of professional genres in their socio-historical contexts provides a ‘genre-based lens’ (Bhatia 2004) through which to examine the historically developing practices of such jurisdictional professions as law, medicine, psychiatry, and the natural and social sciences.
