Speech Codes Theory: Chapter 33 – Flashcards

Second ethnographic study. American spelled backward. People from Santa Barbara, California and Seattle, Washington. Philipsen's cultural informants whom he labeled because their way of using language was intelligible to, and practiced by, a majority of Americans. Typical Nacirema speech is a "generalized U.S. conversa- tion that is carried out at the public level (on televised talk shows) and at the interpersonal level in face-to-face interaction." For Philipsen, me, and many reading this text, "Nacirema are us." Philipsen defines the Nacirema culture by speech practices rather than geo- graphical boundaries or ethnic background. It's a style of speaking about self, relationships, and communication itself. one characteristic feature of that speech code is a preoccupation with metacommunication—their talk about talk.

develop a general theory that would capture the relationship between communication and culture. Such a theory would guide cultural researchers and practitioners in knowing what to look for and would offer clues on how to interpret the way people speak.

the ethnography of communnication. He has found, however, that many people can't get past the idea of ethnography as simply a research method, so now that his theory has moved from description to explanation, Philipsen labels his work speech codes theory.

answer questions about the existence of speech codes, their substance, the way they can be discovered, and their force upon people within a culture.

six general propositions

Wherever there is a distinctive culture, there is to be found a distinctive speech code.

a naturalist who watches, listens, and records communicative conduct in its natural setting.

realized that Teamsterville residents say little until they've confirmed the nationality, ethnicity, social status, and place of residence of the person with whom they're speaking. Most conversations start (and end) with the question Where are you from and what's your nationality? They discuss "place"

the issue of whether a person is from "the neighborhood." This concern isn't merely a matter of physical location. Whether or not a person turns out to be from "around here" is a matter of cultural solidarity. Teamsterville does not welcome diversity. Teamsterville conversation is laced with assurances of common place among those in the neighborhood.

express and celebrate psychological uniqueness. Dinnertime is a speech event where all family members are encouraged to have their say. Everyone has "something to contribute," and each person's ideas are treated as "uniquely valuable."

"to be seen, not heard." Among the Nacirema, however, it would be wrong to try to keep a child quiet at the dinner table. Communication is the route by which kids develop "a positive self-image," a way to "feel good about themselves." Through speech, family members "can manifest their equality and demonstrate that they pay little heed to differences in status—practices and beliefs that would puzzle and offend a proper Teamsterviller

In any given speech community, multiple speech codes are deployed. Philipsen later added this proposition to the other five that he first stated in 1997. He did so because he and his students now observe times when people are affected by other codes or employ dual codes at the same time.

gauge their relative worth by com- paring their style of talk with that of residents in other city neighborhoods. They respect, yet resent, middle-class northside residents who speak Standard English. On the other hand, they are reassured by their perceived ability to speak better than those whom they refer to as lower-class "Hillbillies, Mexicans, and Africans." Any attempt a man makes to "improve" his speech is regarded as an act of disloyalty that alienates him from his friends. Thus, the men define their way of speaking by contrasting it with other codes.

Nacirema. Their repeated references to the importance of "a good talk" or "meaningful dialogue" distinguish speech that they value from "mere talk," or what today is parodied as "blah, blah, blah." As Philipsen notes, the Nacirema characterized "their present way of speaking ('really communicating') by reference to another way of speaking and another communicative conduct that they had now discarded."

one code operating within a speech community.

A speech code involves a culturally distinctive psychology, sociology, and rhetoric. With this proposition, Philipsen takes a step back from the cultural relativism that characterizes most ethnographers. He continues to maintain that every cul- ture has its own unique speech code, but this third proposition asserts that whatever the culture, the speech code reveals structures of self, society, and strategic action.

According to Philipsen, every speech code "thematizes" the nature of individuals in a particular way. The Teamsterville code defines people as a bundle of social roles. In the Nacirema code, however, the individual is conceptualized as unique—someone whose essence is defined from the inside out.

Philipsen writes that "a speech code provides a system of answers about what linkages between self and others can properly be sought, and what symbolic resources can properly and efficaciously be employed in seeking those linkages." According to the unwritten code of Teamsterville, speech is not a valued resource for dealing with people of lower status—wives, children, or persons from outside the neighborhood who are lower on the social hierarchy. Nor is speech a resource for encounters with bosses, city officials, or other higher-status outsiders. In cases where the latter kind of contact is necessary, a man draws on his personal connections with a highly placed intermediary who will state his case. Speech is reserved for symmetrical relationships with people matched in age, gender, ethnicity, occupational status, and neighborhood location. Words flow freely with friends.

Philipsen uses the term rhetoric in the double sense of discovery of truth and persuasive appeal. Both concepts come together in the way Teamster- ville men talk about women. To raise doubts about the personal hygiene or sexual purity of a man's wife, mother, or sister is to attack his honor.

a code that grants worth to an individual on the basis of adherence to community values. The language of the streets in Teamsterville makes it clear that a man's social identity is strongly affected by the women he's related to by blood or marriage. "If she is sexually permissive, talks too much, or lacks in personal appearance, any of these directly reflects on the man and thus, in turn, directly affects his honor."15 In contrast, Philipsen discovered that a verbalized code of dignity holds sway among the Nacirema.

the worth that an individual has by virtue of being a human being. Within a code of dignity, personal experience is given a moral weight greater than logical argument or appeal to authority. Communication is a resource to establish an individual's uniqueness.

The significance of speaking depends on the speech codes used by speakers and listeners to create and interpret their communication. Proposition 4 can be seen as Philipsen's speech code extension of I. A. Richards' maxim that words don't mean; people mean (see Chapter 4). If we want to understand the significance of a prominent speech practice within a culture, we must listen to the way people talk about it and respond to it. It's their practice; they decide what it means.

communication. the Nacirema use this key word as a shorthand way of referring to close, open, supportive speech. These three dimensions set communication apart from speech that the Nacirema dismiss as mere communi- cation, small talk, or normal chitchat.

distant affiliations, where others are "kept at arm's length."

in which parties listen and demonstrate a willingness to change, are distinct from routine associations, where people are stagnant.

in which people are totally "for" the other person, stand in opposition to neutral interactions, where positive response is conditional.

almost interchangeably. In Burkean terms (see Chapter 23), when not qualified by the adjective casual, communication and relationship are "god terms" of the Nacirema. References to self have the same sacred status.

none of the potency that it has for the Nacirema. To the contrary, for a Teamsterville male involved in a relationship with someone of higher or lower status, communicating is considered an unmanly thing to do.

The terms, rules, and premises of a speech code are inextricably woven into speaking itself.

to analyze the speech of native speakers. Philipsen is convinced that speech codes are on public display as people speak; they are open to scrutiny by anyone who cares enough to take a long look. Proposition 5 suggests that it couldn't be otherwise.

symbols and meanings, premises, and rules that might not be accessible through normal conversation. For example, social dramas are public confrontations in which one party invokes a moral rule to challenge the conduct of another. The response from the person criticized offers a way of test- ing and validating the legitimacy of the "rules of life" that are embedded in a particular speech code.

A careful performance of a structured sequence of actions that pays homage to a sacred object.

sacred trinity of self, communication, and relation- ships.20 Known as "a good talk," the topic is often a variation on the theme of how to be a unique, independent self yet still receive validation from close others. The purpose of the ritual is not problem solving per se. Instead, people come together to express their individuality, affirm each other's identity, and experience intimacy.

1. Initiation—a friend voices a need to work through an interpersonal problem. 2. Acknowledgment—the confidant validates the importance of the issue by a willingness to "sit down and talk." 3. Negotiation—the friend self-discloses, the confidant listens in an empathic and nonjudgmental way, the friend in turn shows openness to feedback and change. 4. Reaffirmation—both the friend and the confidant try to minimize different views, and they reiterate appreciation and commitment to each other.

"Whatever the problem, communication is the answer."

The artful use of a shared speech code is a sufficient condition for predicting, explaining, and controlling the form of discourse about the intelligibility, prudence, and morality of communication conduct.

Philipsen thinks it does. Speech codes theory deals with only one type of human behavior—speech acts. Proposition 6 does suggest, however, that by a thoughtful use of shared speech codes, participants can guide metacommunication— the talk about talk. This is no small matter.

A research methodology committed to performance as both the subject and method of research, to researchers' work being performance, and to reports of field- work being actable. Performance ethnography almost always takes place among marginalized groups. The theoretical rationale underlying this fact is that oppressed people are not passive but create and sustain their culture and dignity.

The Teamsterville and Nacirema codes are so diametrically opposed, it's tempting to divide the world into two cultural clusters: (1) Teamsterville: Collectivistic, Hierarchical, Code of honor, A man's world; (2) Nacirema: Individualistic, Egalitarian, Code of dignity, A woman's world