Lecture: Post-Structuralism

Oct 9 Discussion & Data Topic: Post-Structuralism

Lecture: Co-Construction

Readings:

-Duranti: 1-50

-Goodwin, C. and Duranti, A. (1992). Rethinking Context: An

Introduction. In Duranti and C. Goodwin, pp. 1-19.

-Bourdieu, P. (1977). Outline of a Theory of Practice, Cambridge University Press, pp. 72-87.

-Giddens A. (1979). Central Problems in Social Theory: Action, Structure and Contradiction in Social Analysis. Berkeley: University of California Press, pp. 49-95.

Assignment:

1) Select a passage from one of the readings to read aloud in class. Consider a related topic, a question, or comment for the class to discuss.

2) Analyze (500 words) how interlocutors use language and gesture to affirm or change social order in the family dinner interaction excerpted in Appendix I of the syllabus.

3) Data Analyses on how language structures social context.

Oct 16Discussion & Data Topic: Co-Construction

Lecture: Co-Constructing Affect

Readings:

-Duranti: 294-314

-Duranti & Goodwin: pp. 19-32.

-Bakhtin, M. (1981). The Dialogic Imagination, Discourse in the Novel.

University of Texas Press, pp. 259-300.

- Goffman, E. (1981). Footing. In E. Goffman (Ed.). Forms of Talk.Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

-Goodwin, C. (1995). Co-constructing Meaning in Conversations with an

Aphasic Man. ROLSI 28 (3), pp. 233-260.

Assignment:

1) Select a passage from one of the readings to read aloud in class. Consider a related topic, a question, or comment for the class to discuss.

2) Analyze (500 words) one or more examples in Goodwin’s articles in terms of either Bakhtin’s concept of ‘voice’ or Goffman’s ‘footing’.

3) Data Analyses: Co-construction

Oct 23Discussion & Data Topic: Co-Constructing Affect

Lecture: Co-Constructing Sequences

Readings:

-Ochs, E. & Schieffelin B. (1989). Language Has a Heart, Text.

-Besnier, N. (1990). Language and Affect, Ann. Rev. Anthropology.

-Brown, P. & Levinson, S. (1987). Politeness: Some Universals in Language

Usage, Cambridge University Press, pp. 55-91.

-Goodwin, C. & Goodwin, M.H. (1992). Assessments and the Construction

of Context, In Duranti & Goodwin.

Assignment:

1) Select a passage from one of the readings to read aloud in class. Consider a related topic, a question, or comment for the class to discuss.

2) Analyze (500 words) one or more examples in Goodwin & Goodwin’s articles in terms of either grammatical resources for conveying affect or positive/negative politeness strategies.

3) Data Analyses: Co-constructing Affect

Oct 30Discussion & Data Topic: Co-Constructing Sequences

Lecture: Co-Constructing Activities

Readings:

-Duranti 214-279

-Schegloff, E. (1986). The Routine as Achievement, Human Studies.

-Schegloff, E., Jefferson, G. & Sacks, H. (1977). The Preference for Self-Correction in the Organization of Repair in Conversation, Language 53: 361-82.

Assignment:

1) Select a passage from one of the readings to read aloud in class. Consider a related topic, a question, or comment for the class to discuss.

2) Discuss how ‘preference’ is located in the organization of conversational

sequences and ways in which sequencing is creatively achieved (500

words).

3) Data Analyses: Co-constructing Sequences

Nov 6Discussion & Data Topic: Co-Constructing Activities

Lecture: Co-Constr. Narrative I: The Unexpected Turn

Readings:

-Duranti: 280-294

-Duranti, A. (1985). Sociocultural Dimensions of Discourse. In T. A. V. Dijk (Eds.), Handbook of Discourse Analysis: Volume 1 Disciplines of Discourse. New York: Academic Press, pp193-231.

-Wertsch, J. (1981). The Concept of Activity in Soviet Psychology: An Introduction. In J. V. Wertsch (Ed.). The Concept of Activity in Soviet

Psychology. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe. Pp. 3-36.

Assignment:

1) Select a passage from one of the readings to read aloud in class. Consider a related topic, a question, or comment for the class to discuss.

2) Analyze (500 words) the family dinner excerpt in Appendix I in terms of anthropological notion of speech event and cultural psychological notion of activity.

3) Data Analyses: Co-constructing Activities

Nov 13Discussion & Data Topic: Narrative I The Unexpected Turn

Lecture: Co-Constructing Narrative II: Narrative Logic

Readings:

- Ochs, E. & Capps L. (In Press). Living Narrative. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Chapter I: A Dimensional Approach to Narrative

Chapter IV: The Unexpected Turn

- Goodwin, M.H. (1982). "Instigating": storytelling as social process,

American Ethnologist, 9(4), 799-819.

Assignment:

1) Select a passage from one of the readings to read aloud in class. Consider a related topic, a question, or comment for the class to discuss.

2) Drawing upon the readings and examples, write 500 words discussing:

"Trouble is the engine of narrative and the justification for going public

with a story. It is the whiff of trouble that leads us to search out the

relevant or responsible constituents in the narrative, in order to convert

the raw Trouble into a manageable Problem that can be handled with

procedural muscle."

Bruner, J. (1996). The Culture of Education. Cambridge: Harvard, p. 99.

3) Data Analyses: The Unexpected Turn

Nov 20Discussion & Data Topic: Narrative II: Narrative Logic

Lecture: Co-Constructing Social Identity

Readings:

- Ochs, E. & Capps L. (In Press). Living Narrative. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Chapter V: Experiential Logic

-Labov, W. (1972). The Transformation of Experience in Narrative Syntax,

Language in the Inner city: Studies in the Black English Vernacular,

University of Pennsylvania Press. Pp. 354-96.

Assignment:

1) Select a passage from one of the readings to read aloud in class. Consider a related topic, a question, or comment for the class to discuss.

2) Analyze the family dinner excerpt in Appendix II in terms of narrative structure: Single out the different narrative components and comment upon the way participants negotiate and co-author the storytelling.

3) Data Analyses on narrative structure

Nov 27Discussion & Data Topic: Co-Constructing Social Identity

Lecture: Co-Constructing Miscommunication

Readings:

-Ochs, E. (1992). Indexing Gender, in Duranti & Goodwin.

-Gal, S. (1989). Language and Political Economy, Annual Review of

Anthropology, vol .18, pp. 345-67.

-Eckert, P., & McConnell-Ginet, S. (1992). Think Practically and Look Locally: Language and Gender As Community-Based Practice. In B. Siegel,A. R. Beals, & S. A. Tyler (Eds.), Ann. Rev. Anthr., 461-490.

-Duranti, A. (1992). Language in Context and Language as Context: The Samoan Respect Vocabulary. In Duranti & Goodwin.

Assignment:

1) Select a passage from one of the readings to read aloud in class. Consider a related topic, a question, or comment for the class to discuss.

2) Discuss the following comment in terms of any of the readings:

"linguistic relations are always relations of symbolic power through which

relations of force between the speakers and their respective groups are

actualized in a transfigured form. Consequently, it is impossible to

elucidate any act of communication within the compass of linguistic

analysis alone. " Bourdieu, P. & Wacquant: An Invitation to Reflexive

Sociology. Chicago: U. Chicago Press, 1991, p. 142.

3) Data Analyses: Co-constructing Social Identity

Dec 4Discussion & Data Topic: Co-Constructing Miscommunication

Lecture: General Discussion of Future Directions

Readings:

-Gumperz, J. (1982). Socio-cultural Knowledge in Conversational

Inference, In Discourse Strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 11-37.

-Gumperz, J. Contextualization and Understanding, in Duranti &

Goodwin.

-Henley, N. & Kramarae, C. (1991). Gender, Power, & Miscommunication,

in N. Coupland, H. Giles, & J.M. Wiemann (Eds.), Miscommunication and

Problematic Talk. London: Sage. Pp. 18-43.

-Bailey, B. (1997). Communication of Respect in Interethnic Service Encounters. Language in Society, 26(3).

Assignment:

1) Select a passage from one of the readings to read aloud in class.

Consider a related topic, a question, or comment for the class to discuss.

2) On the basis of the readings, write 500 words on how miscommunication might be instrumental in the collaborative construction of social asymmetry.

3) Data Analyses: Co-constructing Miscommunication

Appendix I: Family Dinner Interaction

((Mom, Dad, and three and a half year old David are seated at the family dinner table and are about to begin singing a prayer before eating))

Mom:David, Ready to say our prayer

Dad:Hold hands or fold hands?

David:Fold hands.

((Folds hands in prayer position))

I mean hold hands.

((grabs Mom’s and Dad’s hands; Mom and Dad hold each others’ hands))

Dad:O:: kay

David:OH, OH, OH [OH:::: OH ((Singing))
Dad: [OH::: the Lord is good to me ((Singing))

Mom: [OH::: [the Lord((Singing))

David: [NOT YET! (( frees hand))

Dad:You’re not ready for Johnnie Appleseed, David?

David:No, I mean fold hands. (( folds hand in prayer position))

[Now I’m ready.

[((Mom and Dad fold hands in prayer position))

Mom:Okay, you start.

David:OH, OH, OH

David:Bang, Bang, Maxwell’s silverhammer

((singing then laughs, unfolding hands))

Dad:Da:::: vid, are we singing our prayer or are we singing Maxwell?

David:But I LIKE Maxwell AND I like JOHNNIE!

Mom:How about first prayer singing, and then Maxwell.

Dad:Fold your hands, David.

David:Okay. (( folds hands, closes eyes))

OH, OH, OH![OH:::: the Lord is good to me:::::::

Dad:[OH the Lord is good to me, and so I

Mom:[Oh the Lord is good to me, and so I

David:[((opens eyes, hurls fork to the floor))

[BANG! BANG! Maxwell’s silver fork!

Dad:[thank the Lo::rd

Mom:((softly)) Throwing hands aren’t praying hands

David: [TIME FOR MAXWELL! ((laughing))

Dad:[for GIVING ME::: the things I need, the sun and the rain and

[the apple see:::d.

Mom:[((takes David’s hand, presses them together in prayer position))

[the apple seed.

Dad:[The Lo:::rd is good to me. AMEN!

Mom:[The Lo::rd is good to me. Amen.

David:AMEN![AMEN, AMEN, AMEN!

Dad:[AMEN![AMEN! AMEN!

Mom: [Amen, Amen.

Appendix II: "Shelly’s Crying" Story

Participants:Dad

Mom

Katie (1;5)

Shelly (4;11)

Holly (6;6)

((During dessert; Shelly, Katie, Mom and Dad are at the table; Holly in the kitchen; Shelly has been giggling at her having authorized Holly to get a soda))

Shelly:hehehehehe - .h hehehe ((giggling))

Dad:You're silly.

Holly:((from kitchen)) no:?=

Shelly:=m:?hm:

(0.6) ((Shelly scrunches shoulders, facing Mom))

Mom:((to Dad, looking at Shelly)) (n) She cried two times? today.

once at Bible [school?=

Shelly:[hhhno:hehes: ((giggles, looking away))

Mom:((turning to Dad)) =and [once at swimming

Dad:((looking at Shelly)) [Why did you cr- Why did you cry at Bi:?ble

[school.

[((Shelly turns gradually to face Dad))

(0.6) ((Shelly looks down and away from Dad, eating melon; Dad and Mom

both look at Shelly))

Dad:s:i:lly Wha'd you !think?= ((incredulous, flippant tone))

Shelly:[ghh ((embarrassed exhale, turning away from Dad))

Dad:[((facing Shelly)) (cuz) she didn't !know? anybody. - right?

Shelly:((nods yes looking down in Mom's direction))

Mom:((to Shelly))(Are you gonna do that ag-)