Turn to DISCOURSE and DISCOURSE ANALYSIS What is Discourse? Why is Discourse central to Psychology? Exercises First/Introductory Class on Discourse

What is DISCOURSE? Understanding humans requires understanding discourse Why is the text the way it is? Which other way could it have been worded? Why these particular words? Why this particular structure? BEING DESCRIPTIVE Versus BEING CRITICAL

Jonathan Potter: Discourse Analysis Discursive Psychology Action Orientation Primary means to regulate interaction Situation –sequential arrangement –institutional arrangements –rhetorical organization Construction –versions of the world –versions of self (and others)

action orientation + SELF-CONSTRUCTION When I open my mouth or post a message I make a descriptive statement about the way I see the world I reveal the PERSPECTIVE from which I view the world This will be taken as “speaking about myself” (=making a statement as to who I am – as how I want to ‘come across’)

WHO am I? He is hard to get in contact with and to make understand your own situation, but he knows what he is teaching about, he just needs to get better in coming across oWho is YOU (in “your own situation”)? oWhy not “my situation”? oWhat is meant by “coming across”? HOW does the speaker/writer position him-/herself? needing special consideration expert/authority on ‘how to come across better’ GIVING advice

WHO am I? Professor Bamberg was very excited by what he’s teaching; you can tell he likes it. He tried hard to pass on his knowledge to his students so that they could know all about it. He also tried to get his students enthusiastic about what he was teaching. In my case, it didn’t work, but at least he tried Who is YOU I KNOW what he was trying to do GOOD attempts – but needs to try harder How do I position myself as STUDENT? What does it mean to be a STUDENT?

WHO am I? A lot of students do not want to be in this class, so you must create a better understanding of what is going on. I know the purpose of all this is to get people to think critically about psychology, but this class is the type that a lot of people do not care about, so they will not go out of their way to do anything more than the absolute minimum oWho is “YOU” (as in ‘you must create’)? oPosition vis-à-vis other students? I = knower I = advice giver

WHO am I? In short, it is obvious that he dislikes teaching us lowly undergraduates because we are stupid. He goes to fast, doesn’t allow anyone to finish notes on the overhead and is rude. Please keep him at the graduate level, he sucks. I don’t care what kind of research he does, get rid of him. The one thing he and this course have done is destroy my GPA, thank you. I can’t wait to be an alumnist because you will not get any money for getting me through this hell! – Why so much work at a 100 level course. I thought that the numbers were meant to mean something. I have taken 200 level courses that don’t assign so much idiot work. I wouldn’t mind the workload if it actually improved my knowledge in psychology. oWho is YOU? (= who is being addressed – with what purpose?) Giving advice – from the alumni position Filing a COMPLAINT

WHO am I? Classes were entertaining. I just wished he was showing more videos Who is being addressed? WHY? oI do better with visual material (it’s more challenging) oI like (MORE?) entertainment TWO different ways of positioning self as STUDENT

WHO am I? He is a disrespectful, narcissistic human being who has no reverance for his job Broken Glass – Th. Jan 30, 1:57pm Terrible professor with no respect for anyone’s opinion but her own Broken Glass – Th. Jan 30, 2:13pm A useless man for a useless class, I slept through every lecture Broken Glass – Th. Jan 30, 2:19pm

What is Discourse Analysis? and what can we learn from it How does the speaker position him-/herself? –Vis-à-vis characters in what is talked about (e.g., other students, the proff –Vis-à-vis those being addressed as audience: the proff (you need to learn), his bosses (get rid of him), other students (don’t take his class) –Vis-à-vis him-/herself: I like being entertained; I am a better student than reflected in my grade for this class; I know how to suck the institution…

Discourse analysis To figure out their ‘sense of self’ –How THEY make sense of who they are How they want to be understood –situated in context (here: class evaluations) IDENTITY –How participants configure a sense of self their “identities” in talk

Turn to NARRATIVE What are narratives? How do we use them in Identity Analysis?