ELL_P2SB_EXAMPLES_AND_CASE_STUDIES_A_LEVELS_NOTES

ELL P2SB EXAMPLES & CASE STUDIES Identity discourse: Of self ● Viven Burr, 2002: the modern conception of the individual regards it as defined by a fixed set of traits constituting his/her personality, as a Cartesian being whose actions are a result of rational deliberation, as someone who strives for moral integrity and is well separated from his / her group ● Zygmut Bauman, 2005: post-modern life is characterized by uncertainty, fracture, physical and social displacement, and the experience of flow and disunity As a social construction ● Butler, 1990: Gender identity cannot be defined in terms of a core of fixed common characteristics, but is a much more flexible construct ● (cont. from Butler) Identity is not something that one has, but rather something one ‘does’ or ‘performs’ and recreates through concrete exchanges, discourses and interactions between human beings ● Social reality does not exist as in independent entity but is socially constructed ● Hall, 2000: one should look at identity as a process rather than as an attribute or series of attributes ○ Through indexicality: when associations are created between a type of accent or the use of specific words and expressions and a certain kind of persona ■ 2008 presidential election, Sarah Palin (governor of Alaska) ’s language was used to depict her as an outsider to Washington politics, unpretentious, down to earth, ‘regular hockey mom’ → ‘hi, mom and dad’ / ‘can I call ya Joe?’ / ‘fersure’ ● Identities can be ascribed, rejected, and assumed ○ But not all identities can be easily negotiated as social agents are involved in power relations that may allow some to have a voice while denying this basic right to others ○ Allen, 1983: While the seeming purpose of a slur is to insult and injure, at an unconscious level it is an effort to control the behaviour of the disparaged group by imposing a negative social identity on them

Types of identities ➢ Individual - e.g., personal identities are constructs that may include not only sets of membership categories, but also moral and physical characteristics that distinguish one person from another ➢ Collective ➢ Social - large categories of belonging such as race, gender, political affiliati on (these may not have concrete, but rather abstract referents that are no associated w/ particular people) ➢ Situational - roles related to the specific context of interaction General e.gs of language influencing attitudes: ● Description of immigrants by political leaders ○ British Premier, David Cameron: swarm (of migrants crossing the Channel) ○ Northern League leader, Matteo Salvini: clandestini ■ Italian for ‘clandestine’ ○ V.s. refugee: means someone whose application has been granted, giving them specific rights and benefits. BUT also means someone who’s fleeing from war, persecution or natural disasters, regardless of whether they have applied for asylum ❖