Day 17: Nature of Social Groupsunit 4- communication of social groupsgroups use communication rituals and patterns to create a sense of belongingspeech communities have common language and social interaction patterns that serve tobondpolicecompetehow do you know what groups you belong to? Are there special speech patterns you use?Carbaugh- Speech CommunitiesGroup of people who share rules for using at least one communication practice (247)They share communicative normsThey often self-identify as a group, & consider it important to their social lifePeople can belong to multiple speech communitiesEthnography = analyzes the methods and meanings of communication particular to socio-cultural groupsEx: sports team, lingo for certain playsThink in terms of code switchingEx: politics, religion, educationGoffman – “Encounters”Encourage academic attention to everyday interactionsUnfocused v. focused interactionWhat characterizes an unfocused interaction?One sided, someone is observing another from afar, not a mutual interaction, between strangers, not necessarily a planned interactionIn a room observing how people are sitting, dressedWhat characterizes a focused interaction?People coming together for a certain amount of time to address a problem, address somethingSocial groupsGroups that exist when they’re not interacting. Don’t need a focus/ activityIndividuals in social groups:Recognize themselves as members who belong to & identify with the organizationReceive more support from other membersHave a sense of hostility toward outsidersElements are individual, special typeIn group vs out groupTYPE of social groupSmall groupsDistinct collective unit, characterized by what their size makes possibleDistinguished by:SizeClose bonds/ members know each other wellWide consensusInformal rolesGroups and interactions are different:A group still exists when members aren’t togetherAn interaction can be attended by total strangersHow would goffman characterize the following?3/7 Uses of SlangEckert- “Symbols of Category Membership”What is symbolic value or symbolic capital?Capital means you have accessMen control, women are constrained to accumulate symbolic capitalExternal cues that express values (remember wilce’s discussion of signs – icons, indexes, symbols)They stand for deeper cultural differencesWhat are the categories she observes?Jocks vs burnoutsDeveloping their identities in opposition to each otherMiddle class vs working classEckert sees the high school scene as a series of binary choices, which define your life (then and in the future) what are the implications of this argument? Do we buy it?Slang“a rich resource both for the negotiation of meaning and ofr the production of social and interactional identities linked to these meanings” (283)verbal equivalent of Eckert’s symbols of category membership. Have symbolic capitaluses of slangdifferentiate from adultsproduce identity – unify/differentiate (racial and subcultural)signal or construct youthful trendiness/styleachieving interactional goals3/19Women- Simmonsgirls kept each other in line because they would ignore the new girls, and not associate with them if a guy talked to themgirl that is all that is seen as a threat, breaks all the unwritten rules, has luxury itemsbring about negative reinforcementMen- Kuipervolleyball team brings each other together while talking during the playsrugby team uses sexual humiliation, call each other namesmake them strive to be manlymotivationSimmonsGirls maintain boundaries of acceptable feminine behavior through indirect forms of aggression:ManipulationExclusionCode words/ rumorsThe idea girl is..Physically perfect, indirect & manipulative, other orientedThe anti-girl is..Mean, opinionated & direct, professional/self-interested, sexualOur culture stigmatizes women who stand out, and girls reinforce this by disciplining one another(313)KuiperShows us how male solidarity is constructed in two different ways in new Zealand sports teamsVolleyballDevised verbal ways of saving one another’s face when they made mistakes, thus making the team a fun and less risky group to play withRugbyVulgar languageUsed sexually humiliating language to damage one another’s face. Solidarity is created out the fear of future humiliation, if you mess up on the field, your teammates will humiliate youIdea of Face – Bauman in relation to QuakersThe public image that everyone wants to maintain for themselvesDon’t worry about negative/positive faceFace savingPoliteness phenomenonInteraction that avoids or mitigates humiliation or coercive actsFace threateningInteraction that threatens humiliation, is coercive322 face saving, and politeness phenon3/21/13Key terms:Face savingInteraction that avoids or mitigates humiliation or coercive actsCode of the streetOrganizing principle for violence, respect, and survival in inner city, how one is supposed to actCode switchingAdopting different modes of behavior (decent v. street)How does anderson define the code of the streetsFight to gain respectSurvival of the fittestGarot – interviewsDialogue – Antoine pg. 328Code of saving faceDialogue – Everett pg. 333Walking away is justifiedMain pointAlthough the code says that you walk away from fight once you will get beaten up all the time, in reality, inner-city teens walk away from fights oftenGarot – ethnography of the mundane, people not getting into fightsIdentity work (348)What groups do to construct a visible, communal sense of self- an identityBoundary publics (350)Making spaces for an expression of unique identity/ community in public sphereRoger AbrahamsIU degree in folkloreNot attention to forms of verbal artistrySmitherman’s writingExample from p.357Bloods who can talk and testify, preach and prophesy, lie and signify, get much propsSome folk would tell you quickSo in the game of snappin, if you play, either you or yo momma got to playExemplifying in textKey termsDisInsult“the dozens”if you’re making a dis at someones mother/relativesignifyinany other kind of dis insulting a person or thingsnapsa general verbal play of insults, losing tradition strong dividing line b/t types (dozens & signifyin)disses/snapsexample of speech play, verbal artistryartistry in language involves:verbal action done for its own sakefocus on form – highlights poetic function of languageas important as content (if not more)not shallowbaumanbusiness of playspeech play serves vital communicative needs:playing