A Methodology for Frame Analysis: From Discourse to Cognitive Schemata

Abstract

Argues that by employing a method consisting of a microfocus on discourse & microanalysis of frames, cultural analysis of social movements can become more conceptually specific & systematic. This method of frame analysis is described as the attempt to connect the close examination of texts with specific cognitive frames. Texts are thus approached as a central unit of analysis, connected to specific speech situations & social roles, & convey particular pragmatic intents & discursive cues. The way in which these principles work in practice is illustrated in an analysis of a transcribed interview concerning the Spanish opposition movements in the 1970s. Specific textual aspects of the interview are connected to various levels of the collective frames of these movements. It is asserted that this analysis both brings the notion of social role back into the study of movements & has the effect of bringing grievances back into the analysis. 1 Table, 3 Figures. D. M. Smith