Proper and modern? Discourses about Masculinity

Abstract

The present paper deals with representations of masculinity in the Austrian lifestyle magazine for men Wiener. By a corpus-based discourse analysis, a comprehensive body of all issues of the Wiener from the beginning of 2002 to the end of 2012 is investigated. On a theoretical level Critical Men‘s Studies (CMS) and Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis (FCDA) are linked. Current releases to Critical Discourse Analysis and masculinity will be presented and discussed. Through the use of a concordance software, concordances of the noun MANN are analysed, however limited in the way that only nominations in the form of adjectival phrases that are commonly are examined. The results show that next to the discourses of crisis and new masculinity issues such as age, body or relationship appear. Masculinity is presented as ambivalent and diverse. Interpretation struggles to manhood can be identified.