Today Communication in Practice Quiz Share current uses

Today �Communication in Practice Quiz �Share current uses of silence �Media examples of silence �Silence activity �Key terms and discussion for each reading �Summary and preview

Communication in Practice Quiz (10 Min) • Write down one example of what silence has meant in your social interactions. Try to be as specific as possible �What are two of the five times Apache use silence? �Why did people get angry at the Quakers?

How Do You Use Silence? Share with the class

Silence as Protest �UC Davis Protest Background ◦ To 2: 06 �Silent Protest ◦ To 1: 13 �What’s the social business of this silence? �How is this an example of emergent communication?

Silence Activity • Pair up with someone you don’t know well • Sit facing each other in silence for 2 full minutes • What does your body do when you are silent? • Pay attention to whether/how you communicate with your partner in silence � Body language � Facial expressions

Bauman, Let Your Words Be Few ◦ Silence �The message of the deity can be received fully through silence – sound may alter it ◦ Language �One’s voice is an important tool, not to be used carelessly �Phatic communication ◦ “Language whose primary purpose is to establish a connection” (60) and which has a “lack of referential meaning” (62)

Bauman, Let Your Words Be Few �Politeness phenomenon ◦ “Means of acknowledging or upholding another person’s face” (68) �Face is the public self image that each person tries to protect ◦ Positive Face �“The positive consistent self-image or personality’…including the desire that this selfimage be appreciated and approved of” ◦ Negative Face �“the basic claim to…freedom of action and freedom from imposition”

Apply it to Ourselves �What are some examples of phatic communication and politeness phenomena today? ◦ Phatic Communication ◦ Politeness Phenomena �How does it protect positive face? �How does it protect negative face?

Keith Basso “TO GIVE UP ON WORDS”: SILENCE IN WESTERN APACHE CULTURE

Basso, To Give Up On Words �When ◦ ◦ ◦ do the Apache use silence? Meeting strangers Courting Children coming home Being cussed out Being with people who are sad �What, according to the book, do these situations have in common?

Some Context for Boarding School �Apache (and other American Indian) children were forced to attend federally funded boarding schools, sometimes literally taken by force ◦ ◦ Given Anglicized names, haircuts, and clothing Forbidden to use their native language Often taught by Christian missionaries Often in poor conditions, high rate of abuse �The intention was explicitly to destroy American Indian culture: “kill the Indian, save the man” �Began in 1870 s, continued through early 1990 s, peaked in the 1970 s

Before and After

Analysis �What is at stake, or what is the social business of silence for the Apache? �How do these practices compare with your own in similar situations? �When would we be likely to remain silent or even just talk less?

Summary �Silence is as much a social tool as speech; it does something �It’s important to note how silence is working when you take jottings and write fieldnotes �Politeness allows us to maintain face for ourselves and others in social interactions �Cross-cultural differences in silence can lead to misunderstanding and even violence

Preview for Wednesday �Susan Lepselter, “The License: Poetics, Power, and the Uncanny” ◦ Key terms: uncanny, the poetic function of language ◦ The two halves of this article are very different: stories first, then theory �Choose expert groups! �Greetings Assignment due in 1 week