What is dominant discourse?

Answer 1

It's an expression from the field of media criticism, and was influenced by two important theorists of communication-- Michel Foucault and Stuart Hall. A "discourse" is a particular way of talking about a subject-- it contains meanings that are understood by groups of people or by a particular culture. For example, there is a "discourse" about illegal immigrants, or a "discourse" about mental illness. The discourse contains particular ideological beliefs: for example, there are many ways to talk about illegal or undocumented immigrants-- some people are in favor of letting them eventually become citizens (and tend to prefer the term "undocumented"), some are 100% opposed to citizenship (and their discourse focuses on "illegal"); the discourse each group uses contains not just their words, but their opinions and attitudes.

A "dominant discourse" is created by those in power, and it becomes the accepted way of looking at (or speaking about) the subject, since it is repeated so much. During the war in Iraq, there was a dominant discourse about patriotism, created by the president and his administration and disseminated through the media. People who dissented from that discourse were criticized and called unpatriotic. Dominant discourses can change-- eventually, other discourses about the war emerged and drove out the one that had been dominant-- but the people in power will always resist allowing other discourses to take over, and will often use the media to repeat and reinforce what they want the public to believe.

Answer 2

Dominant discourse refers to widely accepted or mainstream ideas, beliefs, and ideologies that shape societal norms and values. It often reflects the perspectives of those in positions of power and can marginalize or silence alternative viewpoints. Dominant discourse influences how issues are framed, understood, and discussed in society.