Critical Theory
• Necessary to study the lived experience of
real people
• Critical theorists examine social conditions
to bring hidden structures to light.
• Critical theories align themselves with the
interests opposed to those of the dominant
culture.
Some CT
• Feminist Theory
• Habermas and universal pragmatics
• Dwight Conquergood and performance
studies
– Ex: biblical prophets
First: Conquergood
• Perspective: Critical Cultural Politics
-ex: Four Seasons by Marc Chagall
-ex: Chagall
-Or go to www.google.com and type in Chicago
and Chagall. Then visit the windy city and its
art.
Feminist Theory as CT
• Introduction
– Great Reasons to be a Guy or “Why Women are
Jealous of Men
– How to impress a women/men
– Haters of Men=Misindry
– Haters of Women=Misogyny
CT Theory
• Remember CT’s think a lot about
oppression
• Mission: to challenge/change things
• Use semiotics, poststructuralism,
hermeneutics, whatever-they are rhetorical
theories really
Back to Feminism
• A spectrum from liberal to radical
– Liberal=equal rights
– Radical=rejects entire patriarchal nature of
society
Two Approaches of F.
• Inclusion stage=more public recginition for
contributions of women
• Revisionist stage=challenge definitions used
to characterize communication in society
“constructionist theory”
Muted Group Theory
• Based on notion that public discourse is
dominated my masculine language
• Based on notion presented by Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis in that the way we talk is the
way we think and see or linguistic
determinism
More on Muted
• Women uncomfortable to express in public
• Women monitor their own communication
more intensely
• Women translate what they feel into male
terms before speaking
• Masculine tends to win out whenever it
conflicts with feminine expressions
Women's Special Characteristics
• Women express themselves with more
difficulty
• Women understand men’s meanings more
easily then vice versa
• Women create their own meaning outside
male system ex: Foss “Women Speak”
• Women tend to express more dissatisfaction
about communication than do men
More
• Women often make efforts to change the
dominat rules of communication.
• Women are traditionally less likely to coin
new words that become popular in society
at large.
– Ex: Now for a revision