Theoritical-methodological assumpsions of archaeological discourse analysis – AAD: Excavating the Archeology of knowledge

Abstract

Throughout his life, Foucault's investigations were marked by different interests and, therefore, took place in various locations. Scholars (Machado, 2009; Aquino, 2013, Veiga-Neto, 2014) point out three phases in this journey: the archaeological, centered on knowledge; a genealogical one, interested in power; and ethics, external to the constitution of the subject. Focusing on the first phase, this article records a series of theoretical-methodological assumptions of Archaeological Discourse Analysis – AAD. The findings found and noted in this article result from an excavation process for the book The Archeology of Knowledge (2008), in which Michael Foucault outlined the modus operandi he used in the treatment of the object-discourse, of specific discursive modalities, an example of madness , sexuality and medical discourse, in his youthful research. Language as a terrain for excavating discourse, the archaeological zone of discourse, the positivity of discourse (existence, objectivity, exteriority and productivity), discourse as an utterance and the enunciative constituents of discourse (referentiality, subject position, associated fields and materiality ) appear in the list of noted findings. In effect, such observations highlighted some of the assumptions that founded and guided their investigations, thus outlining the theoretical-methodological boundaries of AAD and the specific features of its approach to discourse.