Discourse Analysis Applied in Legal Study

Abstract

The close relationship between "Law and Language" has been more and more recognised in contemporary legal theories. But, as seen in the "main stream" theory like that of R. Dworkin, too much emphasis on "internal point of view" or "participants' view" could be dangerous, in the sense that it demands the volitional committment to the regime of the day. It is rather "detatched point of view", or "Verfremdung" of the daily legal practice that is required in the scientific study of law.
In the light of "discourse analysis" under the influence of Michel Foucault, the systematism, formalism, and autonomy of languages of law are seen as an self-image born out of the long interactions between other discursive formations (like politics, economics, morals, religions, etc..). In this sense, discourse analysis challenges the self-consciousness shared among legal professions, and sheds light on the "historical a priori" which rests beyond respective judgements of legality.