Today Communication in Practice Quiz Share current uses of silence Media examples of silence Silence activity Key terms and discussion for each reading Summary and preview

Communication in Practice Quiz (10 Min) Write down one example of what silence has meant in your social interactions. Try to be as specific as possible What are two of the five times Apache use silence? Why did people get angry at the Quakers?

How Do You Use Silence? Share with the class

Silence as Protest UC Davis Protest Background Silent Protest To 2:06 Silent Protest To 1:13 What’s the social business of this silence? How is this an example of emergent communication?

Silence Activity Pair up with someone you don’t know well Sit facing each other in silence for 2 full minutes What does your body do when you are silent? Pay attention to whether/how you communicate with your partner in silence Body language Facial expressions

Bauman, Let Your Words Be Few Silence The message of the deity can be received fully through silence – sound may alter it Language One’s voice is an important tool, not to be used carelessly Phatic communication “Language whose primary purpose is to establish a connection” (60) and which has a “lack of referential meaning” (62)

Bauman, Let Your Words Be Few Politeness phenomenon “Means of acknowledging or upholding another person’s face” (68) Face is the public self image that each person tries to protect Positive Face “The positive consistent self-image or personality’…including the desire that this self-image be appreciated and approved of” Negative Face “the basic claim to…freedom of action and freedom from imposition”

Apply it to Ourselves What are some examples of phatic communication and politeness phenomena today? Phatic Communication Politeness Phenomena How does it protect positive face? How does it protect negative face?

“To Give Up On words”: Silence in western Apache Culture Keith Basso “To Give Up On words”: Silence in western Apache Culture

Basso, To Give Up On Words When do the Apache use silence? Meeting strangers Courting Children coming home Being cussed out Being with people who are sad What, according to the book, do these situations have in common?

Some Context for Boarding School Apache (and other American Indian) children were forced to attend federally funded boarding schools, sometimes literally taken by force Given Anglicized names, haircuts, and clothing Forbidden to use their native language Often taught by Christian missionaries Often in poor conditions, high rate of abuse The intention was explicitly to destroy American Indian culture: “kill the Indian, save the man” Began in 1870s, continued through early 1990s, peaked in the 1970s

Before and After

Analysis What is at stake, or what is the social business of silence for the Apache? How do these practices compare with your own in similar situations? When would we be likely to remain silent or even just talk less?

Summary Silence is as much a social tool as speech; it does something It’s important to note how silence is working when you take jottings and write fieldnotes Politeness allows us to maintain face for ourselves and others in social interactions Cross-cultural differences in silence can lead to misunderstanding and even violence

Preview for Wednesday Susan Lepselter, “The License: Poetics, Power, and the Uncanny” Key terms: uncanny, the poetic function of language The two halves of this article are very different: stories first, then theory Choose expert groups! Greetings Assignment due in 1 week