Lakoff Moral politics.
- Lakoff sees metaphor not just as a nice stylistic device, but as the very way we think. Explain
what he means by “conceptual metaphor” (p.4). Find two other conceptual metaphors on
- Explain how conceptual metaphor theory can explain the difference between a liberal and a
conservative worldview, according to Lakoff.
- Use Lakoff’s theory of family-based morality (Ch.2) to analyze your own family’s morality:
what aspects correspond to the Strict Father model, which to the Nurturant Parent model
of morality? To what extent do they map onto Lakoff’s view of liberals vs. conservatives
in the U.S.?
de Certeau The practice of everyday life
- Explain what de Certeau means by ‘making-do’ or ‘ways of using’? What is the ‘logic of
making-do’?
- What distinction does de Certeau make between strategies and tactics?
- InFoucault and Bourdieu, de Certeau criticizes Foucault for ignoring the
« polytheism of scattered practices” that survive under the panoptic procedures
described in Discipline and Punish (p.48). What does he mean ? Do you
agree with his assessment?
Bakhtin The dialogic imagination 259-280
- Explain in your own words what Bakhtin means by the following terms: social heteroglossia ( p.263), unitary language (p.270), internal dialogism of the word (word
meaning here ‘language as discourse’)(p.280)
- On p.271 Bakhtin writes: “We are taking language not as a system of abstract grammatical
categories, but rather language conceived as ideologically saturated, language as a world
view, even as a concrete opinion, ensuring a maximum of mutual understanding in all
spheres of ideological life.” What does he mean by ‘ideologically saturated’? Explain in
your own words how Bakhtin defines “language”.
- On p.272, Bakhtin writes: “Alongside the centripetal forces, the centrifugal forces of language
carry on their uninterrupted work; alongside verbal-ideological centralization and
unification, the uninterrupted processes of decentralization and disunification go
forward”. Explain Bakhtin’s notion of centripetal and centrifugal forces of language.
Bakhtin The dialogic imagination 281-300
- On p.288, Bakhtin writes: “[Language] is unitary only as an abstract grammatical system of
normative forms. . . and in isolation from the uninterrupted process of historical
becoming that is a characteristic of all living language”. What does he mean by
‘historical becoming’? How different is Bakhtin’s view of language from that of
Saussure?
- Bakhtin writes: “At any given moment of its historical existence, language is heteroglot from
top to bottom: it represents the co-existence of socio-ideological contradictions
between the present and the past, between differing epochs of the past, between
different socio-ideological groups in the present, between tendencies, schools,
circles and so forth, all given a bodily form”.(p.291). 1) Explain the phrases in italics. 2)
What does Bakhtin mean by the ‘heteroglot’ nature of language? give an example 3) How can we use Bakhtin’s ideas to counter the discourse of fast capitalism
- Bakhtin writes: “Language is not a neutral medium that passes freely and easily into the
private property of the speaker’s intention, it is populated – overpopulated – with the
intentions of others. Expropriating it, forcing it to submit to one’s own intentions and
accents, is a difficult and complicated process.”(p.294) What does he mean? Give an
example from the essays you had to write for your applications to college.
Butler “On linguistic vulnerability”, p.1-24.
- To what extent is the distinction between illocutionary and perlocutionary acts relevant to Butler’s argument in this chapter?
- Explain in your own words what Butler means by the statement: “The ‘moment’ in
ritual is a condensed historicity: it exceeds itself in past and future directions”?(p.3)
- How does Butler explain the tension between ‘the agency of language’ and ‘the
agency of the subject’ mentioned p.7?
Butler “On linguistic vulnerability”, p.24-41 Rethinking vulnerability and resistance p.12-27.
- How does Butler use the Morrison story to illustrate the title of this chapter: “On linguistic
vulnerability”? Butler uses only the first half of Morrison’s story. Compare the end of
Morrison story and the interpretation that Judith Butler gave of the beginning of that story.
- At the end of her essay, Judith Butler enjoins us to ‘expand the domain of linguistic
survival’ (p.41). Survival of who? Of what? How should we envisage such an expansion?
78.. Explain in your own words how Butler views the relationship between vulnerability and
resistance.
