14 Apr 2012
School
Department
Course
Professor
Lecture 13: Identity
Identity construction
o Relationship to culture
o Significant influences: family, media and peer group
o Grand Narrative: tells what culture s/b like; therefore tells what individuals s/b like
Taken for granted
o Culture and identity “natural”
o Do not question either
2 kinds of identity
o Ascribed and avowed: outside/inside; etic/emic
Stereotype
o Categories to make sense of the world
o Become reified (ie ascribed identity)
o Become prejudice
Lecture 14: Identity
Other
o Different and unknown; threatening
Presence of other
o Shapes / defines in-group/out-group
o Me/not me; us/ not us
Identity: a relatively stable understanding of self in respect to culture
o Identity limited by available cultural choices
Group formation (boundaries) not negative, but can cause negative effects
o Ethnocentrism, stereotyping, prejudice, etc
Race and ethnicity
o Constructs based on external factors; physical characteristics (race) history and location
(ethnicity)
o Difference = power
o Because they’re learned, we can interrogate them
Lecture 15: Language and Meaning
Language capacity is biological; language is not
Symbol: stands in for an object; not the object itself
Language and symbol arbitrary and conventional i.e. agreed to have the meaning; no natural
connection to the object
All languages use meaningful complexes of sounds to generate understanding
o Phoneme => morpheme => word => syntax
Syntax: how meaning is constructed
Pragmatics: real world effects of language
o Language (words) does things in the world
Translation: different languages / cultures construct language and meaning differently
Sapir-Whorf: language constitutes reality
o The way cultures talk about the world says a lot about how they see/ value the world
Language
o Marks what is important
o Identifies cultural values
o Reproduces / teaches cultural values
Language
o Includes/excludes
o Controls access to cultures
Dominant languages gives power
o Judgement
o Belonging
o Accent and dialect mark belonging – judged
o Shibboleth
o Gatekeeping
Lecture 17: Nonverbal communication
Nonverbal communication: much meaning communicated non-verbally
o High-context cultures more aware of nonverbal channels
o Low context cultures less aware of nonverbal channels
Nonverbal communication learned and conventional
Lecture 18: Time and Space
Culturally determined and valued
Chronemics:
o Monochromic: linear, one task at a time
o Polychromic: relational, multiple tasks/attentions at a time
o Time constructions taken-for-granted – “natural”
Natural time vs technological time
o Cycles vs. measurement
Time orientation: past, present and future
Proxemics: personal space and control of space
o Space bubble: min/max distances for different engagements
o Too close = hostile; too far = cold
Haptics: touch – highly regulated
o Strong cultural response