The first edition (2002) of Johnstone’s Discourse analysis was intended to be an introductory text on the major topics in the discipline. The second edition extends this introduction to include corpus analysis, identities, cognitive metaphor, interdiscursivity, multimodal discourse, and speech act theory. The additions make the second edition a most welcomed introductory work on discourse analysis for undergraduates and postgraduates in various disciplines. Johnstone writes that her work is not intended to be a definitive work on discourse analysis. Rather, it is intended to encourage interdisciplinary exploration.

The book deals with the question of the ways in which discourse analysis could be received in the discipline. Starting with six ways in which discourse shapes its context in chapter 1, the book goes on to give readers a tour of the discipline. Chapter 2 focuses on the relationship between the world and discourse based on the so-called Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis. Chapter 3 explores the role of grammar in our understanding of discourse. Chapter 4 examines the relationship between participants and discourse. Johnstone’s discussion of identities, in both social and individual construction, focuses on narratives and Goffman’s conception of “footing.” Chapter 5 deals with the relationship between prior and new discourses. The exploration does not stop at intertextuality, or “the ways in which all discourse draws on familiar formats and texts, previously used styles and ways of acting, and familiar plots” (p. 191), but also includes “interdiscursivity,” “ways in which ‘discourses’ draw on previous discourses” (166). The relationship between medium and discourse is discussed in chapter 6. The discussion of computer-mediated multimodal discourse, based on the work of Kress & Van Leeuwen 2001, signposts the interconnection between technological advancement and discourse. In chapter 7, the focus turns to the relationship between purpose and discourse. This chapter provides a comprehensive tour and critique of speech act theory. Chapter 8 repeats the heuristic approach of the book and addresses general themes that arise from the field. Most important, Johnstone suggests that advancement in the field will come from interdisciplinarity, as it is “a central fact” about discourse analysis.

As mentioned in the preface to the first edition, this book is intended to be an introductory text. Johnstone also states that the textual data used in the book have a “North American bias” (xvi). For research students speaking English as a second or foreign language, these constraints could well serve as the starting point for further exploration, as Johnstone repeatedly argues that discourse analysis should be an open-ended heuristic. This book provides a good foundation for understanding different approaches to discourse analysis and different ways to view the relationship between the world and discourse.