Poststructuralism

Abstract

Abstract Drawing on two critical incidents in classroom contexts, Norton and Morgan make the case that poststructuralism is relevant to applied linguistics because of three central characteristics: First, poststructuralism constitutes a set of theoretical stances that serve to critique prevailing assumptions regarding the sources and nature of identity and the rational, humanist subject of the Enlightenment, particularly with respect to the construct of investment. Second, poststructuralism critiques the conditions and foundations of knowledge, particularly with reference to its apparent objectivity and universal applicability. Third, poststructuralism critiques the representational capacities of language and texts, foregrounding their intertextuality, multivocality, and indeterminacy. Through an analysis of the two critical incidents, Norton and Morgan highlight how meaning is constructed across time and space, how identities and investments are implicated in meaning‐making, and how knowledge and power are inextricably linked.