TY - CONF

T1 - Fields of conceptual coherence

T2 - UK Cognitive Linguistics Conference 2016

AU - McDonough, Terry

PY - 2016/7/19

Y1 - 2016/7/19

N2 - The ‘assumption of coherence’ (Brown and Yule 1983: 192), or how a text (as a discursiveevent) “makes sense”, is often described as a ‘property of interpretations’ (Fairclough, 1992,p.83; Charteris-Black, 2014, p.55). In this paper I argue that discourse coherence is anemergent property of conceptual relations structured by an integrated network of conceptualdomains. The working hypothesis is that if we view coherence as the effect of an integratedconceptual network (Fauconnier, 2009) framed by a discourse space (Langacker, 2002) thenwe can begin to resolve the ‘assumption of coherence’. I argue that it is the assumedcoherence of integrated conceptual networks which constitutes not only the formation ofmeaning at a meta-textual level but also the ‘entrenchment’ of ideological construals, amatter which is of significant import to cognitive linguistic approaches to critical discourseanalysis (Hart, 2014, inter alia). In this paper I build upon the integrated model of discourseprocessing proposed in McDonough (forthcoming) by establishing a correlation with therelational network model of neurocognition (Lamb, 1999) so that we can begin to develop a“fully cognitive” account of discourse coherence. I demonstrate this by mapping a selecteddiscourse practice, namely, the development of ‘austerity’ as a concept in texts producedbetween 2009 and 2011. By mapping emergent conceptual properties, I demonstrate thatcoherence is generated as the result of the sum totality of conceptual relations rather than asa formal property of textual structure. Furthermore, I claim that it is the proliferation ofrecurrent conceptual networks in speech communities, and the recurrent commonality oftheir production, that leads to the entrenchment of coherent ideological narratives.

AB - The ‘assumption of coherence’ (Brown and Yule 1983: 192), or how a text (as a discursiveevent) “makes sense”, is often described as a ‘property of interpretations’ (Fairclough, 1992,p.83; Charteris-Black, 2014, p.55). In this paper I argue that discourse coherence is anemergent property of conceptual relations structured by an integrated network of conceptualdomains. The working hypothesis is that if we view coherence as the effect of an integratedconceptual network (Fauconnier, 2009) framed by a discourse space (Langacker, 2002) thenwe can begin to resolve the ‘assumption of coherence’. I argue that it is the assumedcoherence of integrated conceptual networks which constitutes not only the formation ofmeaning at a meta-textual level but also the ‘entrenchment’ of ideological construals, amatter which is of significant import to cognitive linguistic approaches to critical discourseanalysis (Hart, 2014, inter alia). In this paper I build upon the integrated model of discourseprocessing proposed in McDonough (forthcoming) by establishing a correlation with therelational network model of neurocognition (Lamb, 1999) so that we can begin to develop a“fully cognitive” account of discourse coherence. I demonstrate this by mapping a selecteddiscourse practice, namely, the development of ‘austerity’ as a concept in texts producedbetween 2009 and 2011. By mapping emergent conceptual properties, I demonstrate thatcoherence is generated as the result of the sum totality of conceptual relations rather than asa formal property of textual structure. Furthermore, I claim that it is the proliferation ofrecurrent conceptual networks in speech communities, and the recurrent commonality oftheir production, that leads to the entrenchment of coherent ideological narratives.

M3 - Conference paper

SP - 99

Y2 - 19 July 2016 through 22 July 2016

ER -