NEGOTIATING POWER THROUGH DISCOURSE: DIANA BISHOP AND THE CONGREGATION IN DEBORAH HARKNESS'S A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES

This paper will investigate the function of discourse in the creation of institutional authority and resistance in Deborah Harkness's A Discovery of Witches (2011) using the theoretical framework of Michel Foucault. To date, much of the scholarship has concentrated on the themes of love and loss, identity and history, and the supernatural elements in the novel, with fewer researchers examining the political role of discourse in creating power relationships in the magical world of the novel. This paper suggests that the Congregation wields power not so much through physical force as through discursive tactics that control magical identity, establish social legitimacy, and help keep witches, vampires and daemons in hierarchies. At the same time, Diana Bishop constructs a counter-discourse which undermines institutional categorisations and works through other forms of identity and agency. Using qualitative textual analysis and close reading of extracts, the study shows that discourse is a productive force which builds systems of truth, regulates social behaviour and influences subjectivity in the novel. Diana's resistance also shows that power is not static and determinate, but is negotiated through an ongoing, dynamic relationship between institutions and individuals. The study foregrounds the connection between discourse and magical authority, thereby making a contribution to the current Foucauldian interpretation of fantasy literature as well as emphasizing the importance of language in the building and deconstruction of power structures. In sum, A Discovery of Witches offers a magically rich view of the world as a discursive field of production, regulation and challenge of authority, knowledge, and identity.