Anthropology 33: Culture and Communication

Winter 2007
(Room: Fowler A103B)

Lecture: Tuesday and Thursday 11am-12:15pm

Instructor: Prof. Alessandro Duranti
Office: Haines 349 
Office Hours: Tuesday 2:15-3:15pm and Thursday, 12:45-1:45pm or by appointment
Instructor Email: (aduranti@anthro.ucla.edu)

Teaching Assistants:

Steve Black (Head TA):(sblack@ucla.edu)

Eleanor Carter:(anth33w07mon@yahoo.com)

Sasha David:(sashad@ucla.edu)

Alethea Marti:( alethea.marti@gmail.com )

Zannie Sandoval: (zsandov@ucla.edu )

[updated February 13, 2007]

This course satisfies the General Education Requirement in the social sciences and it is the first course in the linguistic anthropology series at UCLA. It introduces students to basic concepts and qualitative methods in the social sciences including ethnographic fieldwork and the analysis of face-to-face communication. In its focus on the details of everyday activities across a number of communities, it is meant to provide a bridge between linguistics and socio-cultural anthropology through the introduction of concepts and analytical techniques that privilege observation, participation, video recording and transcription of spontaneous interaction (as opposed to experimental tasks or introspection). Topics include language socialization, literacy, music and the visual arts, the power of language, miscommunication, and universal and culture-specific properties of human communication.

Course Texts (all required):

  1. A. Duranti, Ed. (2001). Linguistic Anthropology: A Reader. Blackwell. ( A Reader)
  2. A. Duranti, Ed. (2004). A Companion to Linguistic Anthropology. Blackwell. ( A Companion)
  3. Wendy Fonarow (2006) Empire of Dirt: The Aesthetics and Rituals of British Indie Music. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press. 

    Study Questions for Lectures

    Assignments:

  4. FIRST ASSIGNMENT : (45 points, group project)
  5. SECOND ASSIGNMENT: (45 points)

Exams:

  • First test (Midterm) (80 points), Second Test (last week of classes) (80 points), and weekly in-class short tests (total: 30 points).
  • Section attendance (20 points)
  • FINAL GRADE based on total of 300 points

SYLLABUS

LECTURE 1: Jan. 9, 2007.

INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE: GOALS, READINGS, REQUIREMENTS, GRADING

Introductory remarks and review of syllabus

What is a theory? Data, Description, and Hypotheses

Coming up with Universal and Culture-Specific Generalizations. A Collective Exercise on Human Greetings.

Readings:

  1. Duranti, A. [1997]. Universal and Culture-Specific Properties of Greetings. In A Reader , Chapter 9.

LECTURE 2: Jan. 11

THEORY, METHODS, AND DATA

Ethnographic Methods

Readings:

  1. Fonarow Empire of Dirt, pp. 1-78 ('Introduction' and 'What is "Indie"')

LECTURE 3: Jan. 16.

ARTISTIC PERFORMANCE AS RITUAL: SPECIAL GUEST: Wendy FONAROW, Author of Empire of Dirt

Readings:

  1. Fonarow Empire of Dirt, Chapter 2 'Zones of Participation,' pp. 71-121; Chapter 3 'Zone Three and the Music Industry,' pp. 122-153.

LECTURE 4: Jan. 18.

DESCRIBING INTERACTION: THE NOTION OF PARTICIPATION

Readings:

  1. Fonarow Empire of Dirt, Chapter 4 'The Participant Structure and the Metaphysics of Spectatorship,' pp. 154-186; Chapter 5 'Performance, Authenticity and Emotions,' pp. 187-202, Chapter 6 'Sex and the Ritual Practitioners,' pp. 203-241.
  2. FIRST ASSIGNMENT (group project, due to your TA two sessions from today or as established by your TA)

LECTURE 6: Jan. 23

THE ART OF CONVERSATION

Readings:

  1. Elizabeth Keating and Maria Egbert (2004) 'Conversation as a Cultural Activity.' In A Companion, Chapter 8.

LECTURE 5: Jan. 25

VERBAL PERFORMANCE

Readings:

  1. Bauman, R. [1975]. Verbal Art as Performance. In A Reader, Chapter 7.
  2. Giorgio Banti & Francesco Giannattasio.[2004]. Poetry. In A Companion, Chapter 13. [This is advanced level. Students are responsible only for sections 1, 2, and 3.1, pp. 290-298]

LECTURE 7: Jan. 30

ACTS, ACTIVITIES, EVENTS: THE FORMULAIC-CREATIVE CONTINUUM

Readings:

  1. Irvine, J.T. [1979]. Formality and Informality in Communicative Events. In A Reader, Chapter 8.
  2. Webb Keane (2004) Language and Religion, In A Companion, Chapter 19.

LECTURE 8: Feb. 1

SPEECH COMMUNITIES

Special Guest: H. Samy Alim (faculty in Anthropology at UCLA)

Readings:

  1. Morgan, M.M.[1994]. The African-American Speech Community: Reality and Sociolinguistics. In A Reader, Chapter 3.
  2. Morgan, M.M.[2004]. Speech Community. In A Companion, Chapter 1, pp. 3-22.
  3. Barbara LeMaster & Leila Monaghan (2004) Variation in Sign Languages. In A Companion, Chapter 7.

LECTURE 9: Feb. 6

LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY AND LANGUAGE UNIVERSALS

Readings:

  1. Marianne Mithun (2004) The Value of Linguistic Diversity: Viewing Other Worlds through North American Indian Langauges. In A Companion, Chapter 6.
  2. Niko Besnier (2004) Diversity, Hierarchy, and Modernity in Pacific Island Communities. In A Companion, Chapter 5. [optional]

LECTURE 10: Feb. 8

LANGUAGE SOCIALIZATION ACROSS CULTURES

Readings:

  1. Duranti, A. 2001. Linguistic Anthropology: History, Ideas, and Issues. In Reader, pp.23-26 (section 7: 'Language Acquisition and Language Socialization')
  2. Ochs, E. & B.B. Schieffelin. [1984]. Language Acquisition and Socialization: Three Developmental Stories and Their Implications. In A Reader, Chapter 11.
  3. Don Kulick & Bambi B. Schieffelin. Language Socialization. In A Companion, Chapter 15.

LECTURE 11: Feb. 13

REVIEW in preparation for midterm exam

MIDTERM: Feb. 15

In-class Midterm (no blue books needed)

LECTURE 12: Feb. 20

LITERACY, AND CLASSROOM INTERACTION

Readings:

  1. Heath, S.B. [1982] What No Bedtime Story Means: Narrative Skills at Home and School. Reader, Chapter 13.
  2. Philips, S.U. 1972. Participant Structures and Communicative Competence: Warm Springs Children in Community and Classroom. In A Reader, Chapter 12.

LECTURE 13: Feb. 22

LANGUAGES IN CONTACT

Readings:

  1. Paul B. Garrett, B. [2004]. Language Contact and Contact Languages. In A Companion, Chapter 3.
  2. Kathryn A. Woolard (2004) Codeswitching. In A Companion, Chapter 4.

LECTURE 14: Feb. 27

MISCOMMUNICATION

VIDEO: "Crosstalk" by John J. Gumperz (Produced by BBC)

Readings:

  1. Bailey, B. [1997]. Communication of Respect in Interethnic Service Encounters. In A Reader, Chapter 5.
  2. Bailey, B. [2004]. Miscommunication. In Companion, Chapter 17.

LECTURE 15: March 1.

NARRATIVES IN EVERYDAY LIFE

Special guest: Olga Solmon (Lecturer in Anthropology at UCLA)

Readings:

  1. Ochs, E. (2004) Narrative Lessons, In Companion, Chapter 12.
  2. Ochs, E. & C. Taylor. [1995] The "Father Knows Best" Dynamic in Dinnertime Narratives. In A Reader, Chapter 19.

LECTURE 16: March 6.

POWER IN LANGUAGE

Readings:

  1. Hill, J.H. [1998]. Language, Race, and White Public Space. In A Reader, Chapter 20.
  2. Susan U. Philips (2004) Language and Social Inequality. In A Companion, Chapter 21.

LECTURE 17: March 8

REVIEW in preparation for second and final exam

Readings:

  1. Review Readings for the second part of the course and any other material as specified by instructor in lectures.

LECTURE 18: March 13

The Final Lecture: When Everything Magically Comes Together.

March 15. FINAL EXAM.

SECOND AND FINAL EXAM (no blue books needed)

No Exam during finals week