Discourse and Identity

elective courses

Classroom

The lecture discusses the linguistic means and strategies used to construct socially situated identity in the process of linguistic interaction. The construction of socially situated identity in the process of communication is presented from different perspectives: from the perspective of roles and identities shaped in discourse communities, from the perspective of the construction of politeness relations taking into account variables such as asymmetrical relations of power and social distance, or from the perspective of institutional and professional discourses. Linguistic devices used in the construction of socially situated identity are discussed from the perspective of linguistic semantics and pragmatics (speech acts, implicatures, linguistic politeness strategies). Failures in social identity construction in the context of cross-cultural differences will also be discussed.

Language is a means of expression serving not only communication understood as the transmission of content, but also communication as a process of constructing discursive relationships and identities. The lecture discusses the linguistic means and strategies used to construct socially situated identity in the process of linguistic interaction. The construction of socially situated identity in the process of communication is presented from different perspectives: from the perspective of roles and identities shaped in discourse communities, from the perspective of the construction of politeness relations, taking into account variables such as asymmetrical relations of power and social distance, or from the perspective of institutional and professional discourses. The linguistic devices used in the construction of social identity are discussed from the perspective of linguistic semantics and pragmatics and linguistic politeness theory. Speech acts, implicatures, linguistic politeness strategies will be analysed in terms of their literal and figurative meanings and their role in shaping self-image in interaction. Social identity and the linguistic means used to shape it will also be considered from the perspective of factors such as cultural gender, the Internet and professional discourse. Failures regarding social identity construction in the context of cross-cultural differences will also be discussed.

Austin, John Langshaw, 1962/1975, How to do things with words. The William James Lectures Delivered at Harvard University in 1955, Urmson, James O., and Marina Sbisa (eds), Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Benwell, Bethan, Elizabeth Stokoe, 2006. Discourse and Iden-tity. Edinburgh University Press. (chapter 1. Theorising Dis-course and Identity); (chapter 3. Institutional Identities 86-128); (chapter 5. Commodified Identities 165-203).

Brown, Penelope, Stephen Levinson, 1987, Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage, Cambridge, Cambridge Uni-versity Press.

Crystal, David, 2011, Internet Linguistics, London: Routledge.

Duszak, Anna. 2001. „Języki, kultury, wspólnoty”, w: An-drzej Kopczyński i Urszula Zaliwska-Okrutna (red.) Język rodzimy a język obcy - komunikacja, przekład, dydaktyka, Warszawa: WUW, 7-22.

Duszak, Anna. 2002. “Us and others: An introduction”. In: Duszak A. (ed), US and Others, Social Identities across Lan-guages, Discourses and Cultures. John Benjamins.

Goffman, Erving. 1959. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Doubleday Anchor Books.

Goffman, Erving, 1967, Interaction Ritual: Essays in Face-to-Face Behaviour, Garden City, New York: Doubleday.

Grice, Paul, 1975, “Logic and Conversation”, w: Paul Grice, 1995, Studies in the Way of Words, Cambridge, Massachu-setts, London, England: Harvard University Press, pp. 22-40.

Grice, Paul, 1978, “Further Notes on Logic and Conversa-tion”, w: Paul Grice, 1995 Studies in the Way of Words, Cam-bridge, Massachusetts, London, England: Harvard University Press, pp. 41-57

Johnstone, Barbara, 2008, Discourse Analysis, Blackwell Pub-lishing.

Lakoff, Robin, 1975, Language and Women’s Place, New York: Harper and Row.

Paltridge, Brian, 2006 [2012], Discourse Analysis. An Intro-duction, Continuum.

Ricoeur, Paul. 1992. Oneself as Another. Chicago and Lon-don: The University of Chicago Press (5th and 6th studies 113-168).

Tabouret-Keller, Andree. 1997. “Language and identity’. In: Coulmas Florian (ed.), The Handbook of Sociolinguistics. Blackwell.

The student knows and understands:

in-depth, specialized terminology in the fields of theoretical linguistics (K2W03)

in-depth, the main directions of development and contemporary research trends in theoretical linguistics (K2W05)

in-depth, research methods used in text linguistics (K2W06)

in-depth, the relationship of linguistics (theoretical, computational, cognitive, corpus linguistics) with other fields of (neuro)science (K2W09)

The student is able to:

use in-depth theoretical and practical knowledge to carry out research work and solve complex problems in linguistics (theoretical, computational, cognitive, corpus, social/text linguistics) using appropriate methodology (K2U01) to an in-depth degree, search, analyze, evaluate and select information in the native language and foreign languages (K2U02)

use advanced research tools of linguistics (theoretical, computational, cognitive, corpus-based) and select research methods appropriately to the problems undertaken (K2U03)

use a foreign language to an advanced degree (C2 level) in specialized terminology in the field of theoretical linguistics (theoretical, social/text linguistics) (K2U06)

The student is ready to:

recognize the importance of the latest linguistic knowledge and critically evaluate research in linguistics (theoretical, social/text linguistics), especially those published in scientific journals and monographs and popular science sources (K2K01)

recognize the importance of linguistic knowledge in solving cognitive and practical problems and to consult with experts (K2K02)

initiate and carry out linguistic research, in particular to improve accessibility in the dimensions of language, information and communication (K2K04)

perform the profession of a language, cultural, educational mediator in accordance with the principles of professional ethics (K2K06)

Attendance, active participation and written exam