¿Será que los análisis tienen esquinas? Un diálogo

Abstract

This article; in the form of a dialogue; offers complementary perspectives on corpus and analysis in studies of discourse. It raises the issue of the relationship of corpus construction and analysis of language materials to practices in other areas of investigation. It contrasts linear assumptions about corpus and method; commonly represented as based in the authority of science; with non-linear models also from science. It then confronts; without resolving it in theory or practice; the dilemma of how to combine the virtues of linearity - rigorous and systematic application of clear; explicit criteria; derived directly from explicit theory; in constructing and analysing a corpus - with the equally important virtues of non-linear investigation – use of intuitions; respect for the irreducible complexity of individual objects of study; minute analysis of apparently aberrant examples; complex interpretations of the intersections of forces from language; society and history in discursive facts.