Final answer:
Poststructuralists use the terms 'Performativity' and 'discourse' to describe how identities are constituted. Performativity involves the repeated enactment of societal norms to construct identity, while discourse shapes social reality and is intrinsic to power structures.
Step-by-step explanation:
When poststructuralists discuss how identities are constituted in discourse, they most commonly use the terms Performativity and discourse. Post-structuralists challenge the idea of fixed or essential identities, arguing instead that identity is constructed through language and cultural practices. Such performativity is not a single act or behavior, but a reiterative and citational practice through which discourse produces the phenomena that it regulates and constrains.
Performativity is a concept prominently associated with the work of philosopher and gender theorist Judith Butler, who argued that gender is not a fixed identity, but one that is constructed through repetitive performances based on societal norms and expectations. Discourse, according to poststructuralist theory, is not merely a way of conveying information, but a means by which social reality is constructed. Poststructuralists like Michel Foucault have underscored the importance of discourse in power structures and the formation of social truths.