LING30012: Language and Identity

Assignment 1 (50%): We first had to interview someone, preferably with a different a linguistic and cultural background. Then, focusing on language and language use, we had to identify two or more discourses that impacted on this person’s subjectivity, and how it parallels or contrasts with our own experiences. 2000 words, due mid-semester.

Assignment 2 (50%): We had to analyse a short spoken text involving public interaction among two or more participants using Critical Discourse Analysis and Conversational Analysis, as well as evaluate them as methodologies for examining identities in discourse. 2000 words, due end-semester.

This subject focuses on how individuals are constructed and represented as subjects of discourse, using the perspectives of thinkers like Foucault, Marx, Butler, Hegel, Fanon, Derrida, etc. With an emphasis on language, it covers topics like gender (particularly masculinity), sexuality (particularly homosexuality), the Orient (particularly anti-Semitism), everyday sexism, language socialisation, as well as some methods of analysing identities (eg. Critical Discourse Analysis, Conversational Analysis...). As trite as it sounds, it changed how I viewed myself (both in terms of what I am and what I am not) and offered me a wider perspective on historical events like the Holocaust, social issues like homophobia and racism, and even politics (Abbott's interviews were academically scrutinised and his responses found lacking, I'm sorry to say). As a subject on identity, it naturally got very personal (in a good way!) with Tim supplementing the lecture content with examples from his own life, and with the tutorial discussions often featuring our own opinions and experiences (which was great, coming from an extremely culturally diverse class). There was a lot of freedom given with the assignments too, so you could really take it in a direction you were interested in and write it to the best of your understanding.
tl;dr: content was great, staff were great, classmates were great, 10/10 would recommend.

Yes, with screen capture.

Tim McNamara

NA.

5 of 5

No textbook. Readings were provided on the LMS as pdf documents.

2 x 1 hour lectures and 1 x 1 hour tutorial per week. No tutorials in the first and last week of semester.

2014, Semester 1

H1