Enriching discourse theory: The discursive-material knot as a non-hierarchical ontology: A reply to nico carpentier

Abstract

In this reply, we question whether ‘the knot’ is the best way to describe the relationship between the discursive and the material. Our main objective is to show that the discursive and material are co-extensive and therefore emerge from within the same assemblage, prior to any ‘knot’ between them. To develop this idea, we draw on the new materialism of Karen Barad and Jane Bennett, especially their argument for how and why it makes sense to approach the discursive and the material as hyphenated (‘discursive-material’) as well as performatively constituted.