Power within English Language is an interesting topic; people can assert their power without actually stating it, in many different ways. Usually, power is asserted through interrogatives such as 'you're doing that, aren't you?' This is more of a command as if to say 'you are going to do this'. However, this is only one example of hundreds of how power can be asserted through aspects of linguistic manipulation. When Power is analysed through language, it is only the lexis and grammar that is used that tells us who is the powerful one in any situation. Generally, power is a subtle concept in language. Many theorists have underpinned some theories regarding power and how it can be analysed, many of these linking to gender etc. A good example is
Robin Lakoff, who investigated the theory of politeness strategy and super polite forms. For example, when someone says 'if you don't mind, please may you...' This is a politeness strategy, but leaves barely any room for disagreement from the other party. In some cases it could be argued that this alone asserts power. Lakoff also identified the use of 'hedging'. This is when people use utterances like 'kind of' or 'sort of' to fill in a gap in a sentence. These particular utterances insinuate a lack of understanding and therefore, a lack of power in a situation.
Here are some interesting articles about Power In Language:
http://aggslanguage.wordpress.com/2009/09/27/robin-lakoff-2/
http://www.powercube.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/power_after_lukes.pdf
http://www.swarthmore.edu/Documents/faculty/gergen/relational_theory.pdf
GENDER;
The concept of gender within English Language is based upon theory after theory, many unable to be proven. Many theorists attempt to distinguish the difference between the way a male speaks and a female, and certain characteristics each gender can be identified with- like all argument and theories, some are more convincing than others. An example of a theorist that has attempted this is Deborah Tannen. Tannen wrote a book named 'You Just Don't Understand', and within this book were many theories distinguishing the differences between gender and the language they use. One theory to note as an example would be the Status v. Support. Tannen suggests that the world for men is a competitive place where everyone competes to look the most dominant. She suggests men use language to insinuate they are powerful in a situation. She suggests women are more supportive of eachother and people around them, and will often use politeness strategies and tactics like euphemism to 'beat around the bush' rather than say the brutal words. Women would rather support eachother with language than attempt to dominate each other. Here are some interesting articles on Language and gender;
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men_Are_from_Mars,_Women_Are_from_Venus
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/oct/01/gender.books
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080303120346.htm
TECHNOLOGY:
Technology has influenced our language quite a great deal over the years. Due to technology, we now appreciate acronyms such as 'LOL' to represent 'laugh out loud' etc. Before technology language was evolving, but technology has definitely sped up the process and put an influence on what we say now. Grice's maxims are relevant to language and technology as people go by them when communicating through technology (keeping brief etc) The idea that people tend to keep brief when communicating through technology has influenced the whole of the English language and English is now spoken briefly by some. Some people even say 'lol'. Click the fourth link below to view Grice's maxims.
http://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=p9W7rSupuBoC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=theories+on+language+and+technology&ots=GVxkTV3r7Q&sig=de5wbpogAMnmZsY5kQxOg9sRtq0
http://www.iaaa.nl/rs/LeerdamE.html
http://www.memrise.com/course/11374/english-language-technology-theories/
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/dravling/grice.html
No comments:
Post a Comment