ANTB21H3 Lecture : Lecture Six Performativity.docx
Document Summary
His theory of performativity was ground-breaking idea that took the study of language away from scientific orientation what we have to do is to see if the act of communication exists and how language reflects it. Constatives (description of the world) vs. performatives (makes some state of affairs come into being) A lot of his theorization of performativity came from a construction of form called the explicit primary performative: i do (sc. Take this woman to be my lawful wedded wife) : i name this ship the queen elizabeth , these explicit primary performatives. Construction: i + verb (present) + [you] this is a subcategory of performatives, from which austin theorized performativity. Term from philosopher from john searle, a student of austin. Maintained the idea of individual speaker, and that intention and intentional state still pre-exists: speakers uses form (ex. I hereby name you ) appropriate to produce result. In explicit primary performative construction, verb names the act.
