COMM Communication& Social Behavior May 23, 2005 Language and Discourse

Three Important Themes: Anti-Essentialism, Relativity, Language Essentialism and Anti-Essentialism Truth and Relativity Language: Two Notes  Language is a precondition for thought  Language is a form of action

Allen, “Social Constructionism” Questions What does Allen identify as some critiques of the social construction perspective? How does Allen see her identity and career as shaped by the process of social construction? Do you see similarities between Allen’s narrative and the process by which your identity/career have developed?

Seeing Language as Transparent

Questions from Burr, Chapters 3 & 4

Beyond Transparency: The Structuralist View of Language Saussurean linguistics Signs are arbitrary relationships between “sound” (signifier) and concept (signified) Conceptual categories are arbitrary Signs become “fixed” SignifierSignified

Beyond Structuralism: The Post-Structuralist View of Language Revision/extension of structuralist thinking  Language constructs identity  Anti-humanism Key difference: arbitrary meanings cannot be “fixed” Change happens through language SignifierSignified Signification

Constructing through Language: Interpretative Repertoires Interpretative repertoires as “pools” of linguistic resources for action and interpretation. Example: clip from The Persuaders  What view of language (as above) is presented in this clip?  What are the effects of changing the interpretative repertoires describing the examples in the clip?

Discourse discourse and Discourse Discourse: coherent collection of meanings, metaphors, representations, images, etc. that produce a particular version of events Examples of Discourses:  “Madness”  September 11

Discourse, Power, Knowledge: Introducing Michel Foucault Different take on the relationship between power and knowledge Population, discipline, and governmentality Example: Panopticism Power and Resistance Power as productive, rather than repressive

For Wednesday, May 25 Be working on Group Contracts Read Berger and Luckmann, “Institutionalization” (on e-reserve)