Advanced Methods of Interpretation Lecture XI Discourse Analysis II Dr. Werner Binder Masaryk University, Brno Faculty of Social Studies Department of Sociology Advanced Methods of Interpretation in Cultural Sociology (soc 575) Spring 2016

Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies Summary of Lecture XI Discourse: Beyond langue, speaking (and thinking) as a culturally structured social fact Foucault: Discourse analysis beyond structuralism and hermeneutics, critical of meaning and depth (Post-)Structuralism: Political antagonism and Durkheimian binaries, discourse as articulation and performance (Laclau & Mouffe, Alexander & Smith) Root metaphors as deep structures of thinking and speaking (Lakoff) werner.binder@mail.muni.cz

Discourse and Metaphor Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies Discourse and Metaphor Metaphor as a non-arbitrary, iconic, linguistic sign Metaphors are grounded in experience (Lakoff & Johnson), but also shaped by culture Metaphors can be read as indicators and documents of a deep meaning structure (Bohnsack) Metaphors can be conceptualized as background representations and deep structures that organize discourses and practices (Lakoff & Johnson) werner.binder@mail.muni.cz

Lakoff: Political Discourse Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies Lakoff: Political Discourse and Metaphor Thesis I: The American political discourse is based (unity) on the metaphor of the nation as family Thesis II: The polarization of the American political (difference) discourse can be explained by the different conceptions of family between conservatives and liberals Lakoff, George (1996/2002): Moral Politics werner.binder@mail.muni.cz

Family as Metaphor of the Nation Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies Family as Metaphor of the Nation Family State/Nation Parents Government Children Citizens Family Morality Moral Politics According to Lakoff, conservatism and liberalism differ in their understanding of family and – as a result – in their political views. werner.binder@mail.muni.cz

Liberalism und Conservatism I Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies Liberalism und Conservatism I Family Model Conservatism Liberalism Family morality Strict father morality Nurturing parent morality Education Authority Dialogue Explanation of Action Individual character Social forces Attribution of Responsibility Individual responsibility Social responsibility State conception Minimal state Welfare state werner.binder@mail.muni.cz

Liberalism und Conservatism II Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies Liberalism und Conservatism II Moral Politics Conservatism Liberalism Polluted symbol “big government” “corporate power” Government spending Military, police Social welfare, health care Institution Army University Fairness Non-interference Affirmative action Abortion “Pro Life” “Pro Choice” Crime Punishment Prevention werner.binder@mail.muni.cz

The Strong Program in Cultural Sociology and Discourse Analysis Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies The Strong Program in Cultural Sociology and Discourse Analysis Binary codes and collective representations as cultural structures Discourse and narrative: making codes and representations fit to empirical reality Discourse and icons: visualizing codes and collective representations Discourse and performance: putting code and collective representations into action werner.binder@mail.muni.cz

A Model of Genre Faculty of Social Studies Smith 2005: 24 Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies A Model of Genre Smith 2005: 24 werner.binder@mail.muni.cz

Narrating Global Warming Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies Narrating Global Warming Till the late 80s: little awareness, low-mimesis narratives of global warming dominate 1990s and 2000s: rise of the apocalyptic genre with Kyoto (1997) and An Inconvenient Truth (2006) Apocalypse contested: ambiguity of scientific data, scandals like Climategate (2009) Copenhagen 2009: genre hyperinflation and climate conference failure → danger of resignation and passivity, necessity to deflate the apocalyptic genre werner.binder@mail.muni.cz

Performance Philosophy and linguistics (Austin, Searle) Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies Performance Philosophy and linguistics (Austin, Searle) Dramatological approach to everyday life (Goffman) Theatre and performance studies (Turner, Schechner) Social Performance (Alexander et al.) werner.binder@mail.muni.cz

Austin: Performatives Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies Austin: Performatives How to Do Things with Words (1962): Constative vs. performative speech acts “to say something is to do something” (p.13) Declaring, apologizing, naming, betting Performatives cannot be true or false, only felicitous or infelicitous Locutionary, illocutionary and perlocutionary act werner.binder@mail.muni.cz

Derrida: A Cultural Critique of Austin Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies Derrida: A Cultural Critique of Austin Performatives do not work as singular acts, but only as citations from a cultural text (not by virtue of parole, but of langue, a socially shared repertoire of performatives) The illocutionary power of performatives depends on the social context, which cannot be separated from the performance itself (e.g. apologies on a theatre stage) The illocutionary force of performatives is not independent of their perlocutionary success (e.g. the most sincere apology fails, if it is not believed) werner.binder@mail.muni.cz

Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies Goffman: Performance The Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life (1959): Making an impression on an audience Elements of performance: Front stage, back stage, setting, appearance, manners Performances in everyday life rely on an embodied, implicit knowledge → “we all act better than we know” Interaction Rituals (2005) work according to the sacred/profane binary → sacred “image” of the self werner.binder@mail.muni.cz

Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies Turner: Social Drama Social drama as “spontaneous” and “universal” social process that follows an dramatic/narrative structure: Breach → public transgression of norms Crisis → performative and interpretative conflict over the meaning of the transgression Redress → attempts to overcome the crisis (often ritual or legal performances) Re-integration or recognition of the schism werner.binder@mail.muni.cz

Social Drama: Audience and Actors Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies Social Drama: Audience and Actors The social drama is an open-ended process that depends on the contingent success of performances The audience of the social drama is mostly engaged in the conflict and divided into competing “star groups” The protagonists of the social drama are social stars that represent the norms and values of their star group The conflict is decided by the group who’s stars can successfully claim to represent the whole society, it’s values and norms werner.binder@mail.muni.cz

Schechner & Turner: Mimetic Loop Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies Schechner & Turner: Mimetic Loop Mimetic relationship between the (liminal) performances of the social drama and the (liminoid) performances of stage dramas → shared cultural background of symbols and scripts Turner 1980: 73 werner.binder@mail.muni.cz

Alexander: Social Performance Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies Alexander: Social Performance The cultural pragmatics of Alexander (2006, 2012): A performance draws upon background representations and foreground scripts in order to achieve fusion with the audience A successful social performance appears to be “natural” and “authentic” However, it seems that the theory is performer-biased, whereas the audience is rather passive werner.binder@mail.muni.cz

Elements of Social Performance Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies Elements of Social Performance werner.binder@mail.muni.cz

Failed and Successful Performances Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies Failed and Successful Performances werner.binder@mail.muni.cz

A Critique of Social Performance Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies A Critique of Social Performance Alexander’s theory neglects the crucial role of the audience in the process of meaning-making Alexander operates with the distinction between cohesive and fragmented audiences as a mere product of social performances While acknowledging that audiences can be either homogenous or divided (with regard to their background representations), he doesn’t really use this distinction in his empirical works werner.binder@mail.muni.cz

Discourse and Performance Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies Discourse and Performance Discursive practice is a matter of speech acts → Who is speaking or writing? And in what context? Discursive practice is a matter of performance → How is a discursive statement articulated? What kind of meanings are conveyed by the message? Discourses shape the interpretation of performances (social power) Discourses can be interpreted as indicators of successful performances (cultural resonance) werner.binder@mail.muni.cz

Thank you for your attention, criticism and further suggestions! werner.binder@mail.muni.cz