Just how would you define "context"?

[M56]

Being specific when you use the word “context”. How would you define the word "context"?


In How to Get a 2:1 in Media Communication and Cultural Studies, Noel Williams writes:


“Context” is one of those words you will encounter again and again, without anyone offering anything like a useful definition. It is something of a catch-all word usually used to mean “all those things in the situation which are relevant to meaning in some sense, but which I haven’t identified.”"


He goes on to say that context is typically used to refer to one or more of the following:


-“the cotext (i.e. other words used recently, and the kind of language in use, such as questions or answers, or greeting, or insult);.

-the physical situation (time, place, speaker, setting, etc);

-the knowledge and beliefs of the participants in the communication (such as, whether one person thinks the other is lacking in knowledge, or when both participants think they are working towards an agreement );

-the historical circumstances leading up to the communication

[Tdol]

How about adding social/power relationships to that?

[M56]

How about adding social/power relationships to that?

Like publishers, distributors, patrons and such?

[Tdol]

In the context of the media, yes. And what about all schemata?

[hayriye kayi]

discourse??

[M56]

In the context of the media, yes. And what about all schemata?

Tell us.

[M56]

discourse??

Could you expand on that a little?

[JJM Ballantyne]

I can only tell you what I think "context" means in terms of pure language study:

The meaning of a word based on its position and relationship to other words in a phrase.

[M56]

I can only tell you what I think "context" means in terms of pure language study:

The meaning of a word based on its position and relationship to other words in a phrase.

I'd use "cotext" or "textual context" there.

[JJM Ballantyne]

See - there you go with that linguistics stuff again. It's not enough for it to be "context," it has to be "cotext" or "textual context."