CMS 390M/07105
WGS 393/47203
Communication and Identity
T 3:30 – 6:30, CMA 3.130
Prof. Jürgen Streeck
jstreeck@mail.utexas.edu
CMA 7.136
Office hours: T 12:30 - 1:30 and TH 3:30 - 4:30
DESCRIPTION
This course examines philosophical, sociological, and anthropological
conceptions of social and personal identity and of the self, especially of the self
conceived as communication. And it investigates how various kind of identity—
including ethnicity, gender, locality, and social and ideological affiliations—are
indexed by linguistic choices and speaking styles and performed in
communicative action. Students write a research paper that combines
theoretical reflection with empirical analysis.
We explore human identity primarily as a phenomenon of language and social
interaction. Without dismissing the relevance of other (biological, geographical,
economic) aspects of the identities of persons, we concentrate on identity and
identities as they emerge from social interaction, through acts of naming, selfexpression, attribution, categorization, labeling, and address. We examine ways
in which identity is performed in everyday life, and how it is indexed by markers
of speech and exhibit by deliberate socio-stylistic choices. And we address both
“major” social identities such as gender and ethnicity, and “minor” ones such as
professional and political affiliations. We explore (a) what it means that “the self
is constituted by others”, (b) the richness and diversity of behaviors and symbols
by which humans express their identities in communication with others; and (c)
conflicts that arise when self-ascribed (avowed) and other-ascribed identities
collide, for example in inter-ethnic interactions.
ASSIGNMENTS
Short response papers (200 or 400 words) are due on the day they are listed. In
these papers, you summarize and respond to some of the key ideas in the
assigned readings, using the prompts listed in the syllabus as points of departure.
(15% of your grade)
Debate: Prepare, as a team-member, to argue and defend one of a number of
competing views of ethnic identity (March 6; 5%).
Midterm (take-home, due March 27): Write answers of 250 words to 4 questions
(out of 6) about key concepts in theories of identity and social interaction, as
discussed in Part I and II of the course. (20%)
Research paper (60%):
In your research paper you will investigate the communicative fabrication of
identity by a particular person (or group of people), or ways in which a social
identity category is constructed and applied to—and shapes—its incumbents.
You have considerable freedom in your choice of topic, and you will probably
form an idea only after the first view weeks of classes. However, the focus of your
paper should be on verbal aspects of identity construction within contexts of
social interaction, and you must have empirical interaction data, either from
everyday interaction or the mass media, in which to ground your analysis and
claims. Your analysis should be guided by some of the conversation analytic
(sequential) and sociolinguistic methods of interaction and styling that we discuss
especially during Part III of the course. You also need to weave conepts and
theory from Parts I, II and III into both the introductory and discussion sections of
your paper. The data need to be transcribed, and you need to include between
5 and 10 interaction sequences (depending on their length) or a longer
interaction episode in your analysis. A copy of your original data (video or audio
clips) must be submitted as well.
Your work for this paper includes several preliminary steps and due dates:
• statement of theme; what phenomena are you planning study (3 sentences;
due March 3)
• research proposal and description of the data corpus (200 words; April 3)
• submission of transcribed data (April 17)
• brief research presentation (May 1)
• paper (15 pp. plus data appendix; May 8)
POLICY
Please note that I do not allow the use of digital devices in my courses, other
than for note-taking in graduate seminars. Do not text, e-mail, or surf the net
during class.
LITERATURE
Appiah, A. (2005). The ethics of identity. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Bamberg, M., De Fina, A., & Schiffrin, D. (2011). Discourse and identity
construction. In S. J. Schwartz, K. Luyckx & V. L. Vignoles (Eds.), Handbook
of Identity Theory and Research. London: Sage.
Barth, F. (1969). Ethnic Groups and Boundaries: The Social Organization of Culture
Difference. Boston: Little Brown.
Bucholtz, M. (2011). White kids : language, race and styles of youth identity.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Butler, J. (1999). Gender trouble : feminism and the subversion of identity. New
York: Routledge.
Deppermann, A. (2007). Playing with the voice of the other: Stylized 'Kanaksprak'
in conversations among German adolescents. In P. Auer (Ed.), Style and
Social Identities. Alternative Approaches to Linguistic Heterogeneity (pp.
325-360). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Eckert, P. (1989). Jocks and Burnouts : Social Categories and Identity in the High
School. New Yotk: Teacher's College Press.
Eckert, P. (2001). Style and social meaning. In P. Eckert & J. R. Rickford (Eds.), Style
and sociolinguistic variation (pp. 119-126). Cambridge, UK ; New York, NY:
Cambridge University Press.
Fajans, J. (1983). The person in social context: The social character of Baining
'psychology'. In G. M. White (Ed.), Kirkpatrick, J. (pp. 367-399). Berkeley:
University of California Press.
Fanon, F. (1967). Black Skin, White Masks. New York: Grove Press.
Garfinkel, H. (1967). Studies in Ethnomethodology. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey:
Prentice-Hall.
Geertz, C. (1973 (1966)). Person, time, and conduct in Bali. In C. Geertz (Ed.), The
Interpretation of Cultures (pp. 360-411). New York: Basic Books, Inc.
Goffman, E. (1959). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life.
Goffman, E. (1963). Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. New
York: Prentice Hall.
Hadden, S. C., & Lester, M. (1978). Talking identity: The production of 'self' in
interaction. Human Studies, 1, 331-356.
Irvine, J. (2001). 'Style' as distinctiveness: the culture and ideology of linguistic
differentiation. In P. Eckert & J. R. Rickford (Eds.), Style and Sociolinguistic
Variation (pp. 21-43). Cambridge, UK ; New York, NY: Cambridge University
Press.
Locke, J. (1959 (1690)). An Essay concerning Human Understanding. New York:
Dover.
Mauss, M. (1979 (1938)). A category of the human mind: the notion of person; the
notion of self. Sociology and Anthropology. London.
Mead, G. H. (1934). Mind, Self and Society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Moerman, M. (1974 (1968)). Accomplishing ethnicity. In R. Turner (Ed.),
Ethnomethodology (pp. 54-68). Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Rampton, B. (1995). Crossing: Language and Ethnicity among Adolescents.
London: Longman.
Sebba, M. (2007). Identity and language construction in an online community:
The case of 'Ali G'. In P. Auer (Ed.), Style and Social Identities. Alternative
Approaches to Linguistic Heterogeneity (pp. 361-392). Berlin: Mouton de
Gruyter.
Strauss, A. (1959). Mirrors and Masks. The Search for Identity. Glencoe, IL: The Free
Press.
Touré. (2011). Who's Afraid of Post-Blackness? New York: Free Press.
Zimmerman, D. H. (1998). Identity, context, and interaction. In C. Antaki & S.
Widdicombe (Eds.), Identities in Talk (pp. 87-106). London: Sage.
CURRICULUM
I. Conceptual and philosophical foundations: Identity, self, and
personhood
Jan 17
The search for identity: Three examples
Jan 24
The emergence of the problem of personal identity at the dawn of
the modern age
J. Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Ch.27
Response paper 200 words: How does personal identity become a
problem for Locke?
Jan 31
Personal and social identity
E.Goffman, Stigma, Chs. 1 and 2
400 words response: Goffman argues in Stigma that personal
identity is a matter of information management. Use this claim as
an anchor to summarize what your regard as the most important
aspects of Goffman’s theory of social and personal identity, and
state your own response to this theory.
Feb 7
Self and other. The self as interaction
G.H. Mead, Mind, Self, and Identity, xx-xxvi, Part III, “The self”
Goffman, Stigma, Ch.4
200 words response: Summarize how you understand Mead’s view
that the self is consituted by interaction.
Feb 14
Cultural conceptions of self and personhood
M.Mauss, “A category of the human mind; the notion of person;
the notion of self”
C. Geertz, “Person, time, and conduct in Bali”
J. Fajans, The person in social context: The social character of
Baining “psychology”
200 words response: After reading Mauss’ chapter, choose either
Geertz’ or Fajans’ paper to illustrate how the self and personhood
can be shaped by culture.
2. Social identities
Feb 21
Identity, discourse, and social positioning
Workshop with Prof. Michael Bamberg, Clark University
M. Bamberg, A. De Fina, & D. Schiffrin, “Discourse and identity
construction”
Feb 28
Group identity
A. Strauss, Mirrors and Masks, Ch.1
E.Goffman, Stigma, Ch.4
P. Eckert, Jocks and Burnouts, Chs. 1, 4 and 5
200 word response: Summarize the main insights you have taken
away from the workshop with M. Bamberg.
Mar 6
Ethnicity and race
Multi-party debate: Conflicting visions of ethnicity
F. Fanon, “Black faces, white masks”
F. Barth, Ethnic Groups and Boundaries, Introduction
M.Moerman, “Accomplishing ethnicity”
D. Day, Being ascribed and resisting membership in an ethnic
category
Touré, Who’s Afraid of Post-Blackness, Ch.7
Prepare to represent one of the positions; be aware of the others.
Mar 20
Gender
J. Butler, Gender Trouble, pp.111-128
H. Garfinkel, Studies in Ethnomethodology, Ch.5, “Passing and the
managed achievement of sex status in an intersexed person”
300 words: If Garfinkel’s chapter had been published after Butler’s,
could one read it as an implementation of Butler’s approach to
gender categories and gender performance?
Midterm (due March 27)
3. Identity as communicative performance
Mar 27
Performing identity
E. Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, Introduction,
Chs. 1, 6, 7
Apr 3
Talking identity
S.C. Hadden and M. Lester, Talking identity: The production of ‘sefl’
in interaction’
D. Zimmerman, “Identity, context, and interaction”
Apr 10
Identity as style: The linguistics of social representation
J. Irvine, “’Style’ as distinctiveness: the culture and ideology of
linguistic differentiation”
M. Bucholtz, White Kids. Chs. 1, 4, 6 and 11
P. Eckert, “Social meaning”
Apr 17
Identity crossing
B. Rampton, Crossing, Ch.3
A. Deppermann, “Playing with the voice of the other”
Sebba, Identity and language construction in an online
community: The case of Ali G.
4. The ethics of identity
Apr 24
Authenticity and the ethics of identity
K. A. Appiah, The Ethnic of Identity, Ch.3, “The demands of identity”
400 words
May 1
Brief research presentations