Diskurzus

Diskurzus is a Hungarian term for discourse, widely used in the social sciences and humanities to describe the processes by which language, practices, and representations produce and circulate social meaning. It encompasses not only texts and speech but the broader patterns through which ideas are formulated, legitimized, and enacted within communities, institutions, and cultures. Diskurzus emphasizes the role of power relations, historical context, and social norms in shaping knowledge and action.

Etymology traces the word to the French discours (ultimately from Latin discursus). The term entered Hungarian academic vocabulary in the modern era and has since become a standard label for analyses of how collective talk constructs reality, identities, and social orders.

In scholarship, diskurzus is studied through methods such as discourse analysis and critical discourse analysis (CDA). Influential theoretical streams include Michel Foucault’s notions of discursive formations and power/knowledge, and Norman Fairclough’s CDA, which have been adapted to Hungarian research contexts. Researchers examine how discourses organize political life, media representation, education, gender and ethnicity, and public policy, revealing mechanisms of inclusion, exclusion, and normalization.

Applications of diskurzus analysis include scrutinizing political speeches and party programs, news coverage, advertising, and online communication to uncover how language frames issues, constructs subjects, and legitimizes authority. The term also helps distinguish between everyday conversation (beszélgetés) and broader, institutionally embedded language patterns (diskurzus), highlighting the social production of meaning rather than individual intention alone.

See also discourse analysis, critical discourse analysis, media discourse, policy discourse.