A specific form of language use shaped and determined by situational rules and context. Discourse can be thought of as the performance of language, but even this is too limiting because the concept is used in place of language precisely as a way of encompassing the extra-linguistic dimension of all forms of communication. In critical theory, it is Foucault, Michel who has done the most to develop this concept. In his work, discourse is expanded to include the operation of power: Foucault asks who has the right to use a particular discourse, what benefits accrue to them for using it, how is its usage policed, and where does it derive its authority from? His examples include medical discourse (including psychiatry), penal discourse, and sexual discourse. Further Reading: S. Mills Discourse (2004).