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LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading this chapter, you should be able to do the following: • Define culture and society in such a way as to distinguish them clearly from each other. • Describe the problems that can result from using the term “culture” inaccurately. • Understand the difference between terms like language and languaging. • Contrast the American idea of ritual with that of social scientists, especially anthropologists. • Define signs in relation to metasigns and language in relation to metalanguage. • Understand communication-centered approaches to culture. Introduction In this first chapter, we explore the argument for studying communication from the perspective of culture and society – which is another way of saying that we explore languages as “forms of life” (Wittgenstein 1958). We begin by defining culture and society in such a way as to carefully distinguish between the two as different but interacting types or orders of reality. Along these lines, this chapter explores speaking as a social activity and language as a cultural resource (Duranti 1997:1–2). In this chapter, I also advocate studying what we often call “identity” or even “identities” – social, cultural, and personal – from the perspective of identification (meaning actions, often laden with emotion, linking oneself to another individual, group, or practice ). I further call for the processualization of not just identity, but culture, society, and language. That does not mean I completely eliminate these more familiar terms, but I do emphasize them as denoting the products of processes because it is crucial to give process its due. With all of that in mind, let's get back to directly considering the terms culture and society. Both are notoriously difficult concepts to pin down – even before processualizing these concepts (for instance, by replacing “culture” with “enculturate/enculturation”). Thus, the distinction between culture and society can easily be blurred. By taking care to avoid such blurring, I aim to help you understand the intersection of culture, society, and communication as a foundation for understanding the rest of this book. |
