Critical language and discourse study: Their transformative relevance for critical nursing inquiry

A pragmatic view of language and a critical study of discourse can advance nursing inquiry toward the study of racism, heterosexism, classism, and health. In critical language inquiry notions about humans, health and illness are seen as constructed in societal discourses. Critical language inquiry challenges nurse researchers to theorize not which research questions to ask, but how to ask research questions that broaden knowledge about the inter-connections among language, discourse, health, and society. Critical discourse analysis, as a methodology, can be of significant utility in exploring the relationships among health, discourse, power, and society.