Discourse studies and the material turn: From representation (facts) to participation (concerns)

Discourse studies has shown how language use matters in various political and societal settings. With the material turn, the focus on language has meant that discourse studies have been deemed as a symbolic and representationalist approach. In contrast, this paper shows how discourse studies have been concerned about material issues, language included, in local achievements of sense. Nexus analysis is introduced as an ethnographic framework to study assemblages and affects as entangled material-discursive practices, where close analysis of embodied practices is crucial. Nexus analysis encourages participatory research, providing a framework for agential research on matters of concern.