Language, Ideology, and Institutional Encounters Institutional practices which people draw upon without thinking often embody assumptions which…legitimise.

Language, Ideology, and Institutional Encounters

• Institutional practices which people draw upon without thinking often embody assumptions which…legitimise power relations. Practices which appear commonsensical can often be shown to originate in the dominant class…and to have become naturalized (Fairclough, 2001:27).

• While names, words and language can be and are used to inspire us, to motivate us, …they can also be used to dehumanise human beings and to “justify” their suppression and even their extermination (Bosmajian, 2004: 9).

Understanding the place of language in hierarchical societies• Language and ideology-- ideology as part of

language • Language and social status--social status as a

non-partial aspect of society connected to ‘authority”

• Ideology as the content of thinking characteristic of an individual, group, or culture

• Social status: the relative position or standing of things or especially persons in a society.

Power relations in hierarchical societies

• Politics: power relations within social groups in the public arena

• Power: the social force that allows one person or group to mobilize others and overcome resistance

• Authority; the “right” to take certain kinds of actions. Based on the person’s ascribed and achieved status.

• Influence: ability to achieve a desired end. Social and moral pressure without force. Reinforced by social position, status

Status and authority (power) are not impartial forces of nature

they are created and maintained by society

Coercion and Consent

• Coercion--through force or threat of force--institutions instruments for power--Example:Apartheid• Consent --winning others' approval--less costly, less risky--ideology key mechanism of rule by consent

and language (discourse) is the main instrument of ideology

Discourse

• Is language (speech) is a form of social practice --linguistic units, several sentences, affect our views on all things (Foucault 1926-1984).

• Embodies ideological assumptions: sustain and legitimise existing relations of power

• Social conditions determine properties of discourse: discourse reflects social reality

Assumptions and common-sense

• Implicit

• Non awareness

• Authority and hierarchy as natural

• Aura of authority

• Assumptions embedded in language

Hierarchical assumptions embedded in language

• “If you take them right, you are going to be in pretty good shape… and of course, everybody uses birth control pills.”

• Assumptions are ideologies• Ideologies are connected to power

Language and Ideology

• Language = Belief systems = social orders

• Inherent superiority and inherent inferiority

• Messages social order consciousness

Development of ideologies about language

• Standard languages

• Naturalization of language

• Only one correct form of language

• Standard language and nation-states

• Language and social control

Non-standard languages

• Less power

• Viable alternatives: group solidarity

• Resistance to power : French Kreol, Haiti

Standard language becomes naturalized

• Common-sense unquestionable

• Deviation as backwards, incorrect

• Part of everyday thinking: political

• Uncritical thinking

• Manipulative usage of language

Language and status

• Rights and values manifested in language

• Power of naming, classifying, etc

• The power of defining others

• Definire: to limit

• Power to speak and the power to label

Paris 1909:

• A while ago...Gabriel Rene Moreno discovered that the native and meztizo brains are cellularly incapable, and that they weight from five to seven or even ten ounces less than the brain of the white man. Now he proclaims that mestizos inherit the worst characteristics of theirforbears and this is why the Bolivian people do not want to wash or learn, can’t read, only drink, are two-faced, egotistic, lazy, and altogether deplorable (Eduardo Galeano 1988).

Who are the people who have the power to name or label others? Why do they have this power?

Language is not neutral

• Exposes attitudes, intentionalities

• Conveying authority

• Talk is part of social and cultural meanings

• Beliefs systems serve specific functions

Institutional Settings and Discourse (i.e. The Media)

• Social arenas in which power relations are manifested through discourse

• I.e. Educational, health, judiciary, the media, etc.

• Contexts transmit and maintain societal structures (hierarchies, inclusion and exclusion)

Two types of discourse

• Face to face discourse (a class conversation)

• Media discourse (TV, Radio, Film, etc)

• Involves participants separated in place and time

• Involves hidden power relations

*The nature of power relations enacted in mass media is often

not clear*There are differences between

face-to-face interactions and media interactions

Differences: face-to-face discourse and media discourse

• 1. One-sided nature of media discourse--sharp division: producer and audience (interpreter)--no room for contestation

• 2. Lack of close interaction in media discourse --adaptability of face-to-face discourse--mass media design for mass audiences

Why do the media need an ideal audience?

Why do we need to understand media discourse? Why is it important in the study of

language and culture?

• Influence of media unquestionable

• Construct and reconstruct particular realities

• Expressed bias: they highlight some items and ignore others

• Aura of partiality of media is deceiving

The assumption of neutrality: Media Discourse

• TV• Sustained by form and content• Form: familiarity• Familiarity creates a sense of trust• Printed Media• Neutrality by anonymity• Language control: institutional control• Language devices: nouns, verbs, etc

Syntactic Constructions and Media Discourse

• Agents of actions as subjects• Example:

--Anna ate a pizza

--The pizza was eaten by Anna

Shifting focus from agent of action to recipient of action

--The pizza was eaten

Two headlines: The Times and the Guardian

• RIOTING BLACKS SHOT DEAD BY POLICE AS ANC LEADERS MEET---Eleven Africans were shot dead and 15 wounded when Rhodesian police opened fire on a rioting crowd of about 2,000 in the African Highfield township of Salisbury this afternoon.

• POLICE SHOOT 11 DEAD IN SALISBURY RIOT----Riot police shot and killed 11 African demonstrators and wounded 15 others here today in the Highfield township on the outskirts of Salisbury.

They both focus on different aspects of the story

• Times: focuses on recipients, minimizes roles of agents, passive syntax, negative connotations

• The Guardian: police as agents, no negative connotation, more information of context

TV, Film

• Similar hidden messages

• Focus on particular topics

• Sounds influences moods

• Organization of images

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• How is the power of the media hidden?

• From whom is the power of the media hidden?

• Is it hidden from audiences and from media workers?

Discussion question

• To what extent are ideologies variable within a society, and how are such variations manifested in discourse?