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Jonathan Potter, Representing reality: Discourse, rhetoric and social construction. London (UK) & Thousand Oaks (CA): Sage, 1996. Pp. x, 253. Hb $65.00, pb $22.95.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 1999

Angela Garcia
Angela Garcia
Affiliation:
Sociology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, angela.garcia@uc.edu
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Abstract

This is almost two books in one. More than 100 pages are devoted to a critical review of approaches to the study of facts and descriptions. This review includes the sociology of scientific knowledge, philosophy of science, and constructionist approaches (e.g. Robert Merton, Harry Collins, Thomas Kuhn, Karl Popper); ethnomethodology (Harold Garfinkel, Melvin Pollner); conversation analysis (Harvey Sacks, Emanuel Schegloff, Gail Jefferson, John Heritage); semiology (Ferdinand de Saussure, Roland Barthes); post-structuralism (Barthes, Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault); and post-modernism (Donna Haraway, Jean-François Lyotard). Potter is a skillful teacher, and I learned much from his discussion of these perspectives. However, even 100 pages are not enough for a thorough description and critique of such a wide range of perspectives; Potter leaves the reader wanting more – which is a pretty good place to leave a reader.

Type
REVIEWS
Information
Language in Society , Volume 28 , Issue 1 , January 1999 , pp. 93 - 95
Copyright
© 1999 Cambridge University Press

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