Psy
409b, 13 September 2005
My First Oral
Presentation of Assigned
By Cloe Bernstein
Intertwining Power
and Solidarity
Gender Discourse by Deborah Tannen
(Oxford Unversity Press, 1994). Pages
19-31.
Instructions for this activity are found at:
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy23/409b-g23-oral.htm
Instructor: Dr. Leon James
I．Power
and Solidarity In Communication
A. Asymmetrical relationships imply power (hierarchy in
communication), while symmetrical relationships imply solidarity
(equality/similarity).
a. Tannen believes one necessarily entails the other.
b. Man at her lecture wore a three-piece suit and
carried a backpack. Backpack
creates solidarity with the students.
Three-piece suit represents his power and differentiation from the
students.
B. Power represents the dominance model; Solidarity
represents the equity model.
C. I agree that the perception of an intention is
dependent upon the environment in which it is presented.
II. Ambiguity and Polsemy in Linguistic Strategies
A.
Ambiguity- Power OR solidarity is represented,
depending on the setting. Polsemy- Power AND solidarity are represented.
a.
Ambiguity- A man joins a women
while walking from one building to another. She greets him, Where s your coat? He responds Thanks, Mom. He assumed her remark was to depict
power in a mother-child way. But,
the women could have made the comment out of concern for her friend
(solidarity).
b.
Polysemy- The women could be
showing friendly concern and a mother-child
dominance at the same time.
B.
The example of ambiguity relates to the male
dominance model because it shows how the male s perspective of the situation
controls what the remark meant, no matter what the womens
intention was.
C.
I chose this concept to provide for a better
understanding of the different linguistic strategies that can be used to
analyze conversation.
A. American
Model vs. Javanese
Model
-------------------------------------- hierarchy
asymmetry symmetry
hierarchy equality closeness
distance
distance closeness
siblings
formal
B.
I believe the Javenese Multidimensional model
represents the equity model because it shows that at any intersecting point of
power and solidarity, both are present in a relationship.
C.
I think it is interesting to see the difference between how Americans
interpret communication and that of other cultures.
Links
http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/tannend/
http://www.medieval.org/music/world/java.html
MyHomePage: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/409bf2005/bernstein/bernstein-home.htm
The G23 Class Home Page:www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy23/classhome-g23.htm