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Language and Power

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8 views20 pages

Language and Power

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a351442
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Language and Power

The role of language in power relationships


• Spells

• We can think of the power of


Words to:
Hold audiences
Persuade voters
Convince consumers
Parents
Wound a person’s feelings, etc.
How does language accomplish this?
• “if a tree should fall in the forest with no one there to hear it, would it
make a sound?”

• If words were uttered and no one was there to hear them, would they
have any power?

• The answer is: No… power is also socially determined.


• It is really humans’ use and interpretation of language that is
powerful.

• There are various linguistic cues used and perceived as indicators of


power relations:
• Dominant speaker
• More aggressive
• Asserting knowledge
Power in conversations
• One of the most obvious ways to use language to express power is to
make a direct statement.

I am the King of the castle

I bow to your
lordship’s
wishes
Uh, well, yes,
um, thank
you…
• The association of particular linguistic characteristics with the
designation of power is also arbitrary…

• The power relationships expressed by language are defined by those


who use language rather than by any properties of the language.
• Silence can also be interpreted as a measure of power in conversation
in western cultures.

As Mendoza-Denton notes, whereas Thomas' lengthy testimony was


often followed by long pauses that gave importance to his words and
allowed his side of the story to "sink in," testimony by Anita Hill was
almost never followed by such pauses. Instead, Mendoza-Denton
writes, the questioning of Anita Hill was characterized by rapid-fire,
successive questions that accomplished three things. First, they gave
Hill little time to think. Second, they gave Hill little control in framing
her arguments. Third, they gave Hill little floor time to expand on her
testimony.
• Norma Mendoza-Denton's analysis of the Hill/Thomas hearings is
fascinating because it provides a window into the ways in which
language can be used as a tool of aggression and even domination.
Powerless language
• Use of hedges (it’s sort of hot, I’d kind of like to go)
• Polite or complimentary speech (would you please close the door?)
• Indirect statements

• Note: we must keep in mind that these particular markers were found
in American courtrooms.
Some indicators of power in language:

• The speaker’s prosody and volumen


• Morpho-syntactic structures: declarative sentences, active sentences
• Word choice
• Pragmatic factors (direct or indirect speech acts)
Power in Society
• Language is also a powerful tool for establishing more global power
relationships.

• A government can establish its power over the people it governs by


determining when and how they may use the language.

• Making a world language official in a country makes it easier for that


country to participate in the world economy.
An official language

• Helps those who speak the L,


• Hurts those who are not proficient speakers,
• It can send a message of indigenous inferiority.
ASL
In 1880, the International Congress of Instructors for
the Deaf of Milan, Italy, voted that it was preferable to
instruct deaf children to communicate orally by
teaching them to read lips, to vocalize, and to speak,
rather than to educate them using signed language.
It was only in the 1970s that a return to signed
language once again began to appear in the
classroom.
Some History…
• On March 6, 1988, the University's Board of Trustees announced a
hearing person selected as Gallaudet's seventh president. In the
months-or by some accounts, the years-leading up this date, many in
the deaf community and on campus had advocated for a deaf person
to be named to the presidency. After all, by then there were more
than 100 deaf people with doctorates, and many more who held
administrative positions. Because of this, and because two of the
three finalists for the position were deaf, many people were confident
that the next president of Gallaudet would be a deaf person.
However, in spite of all the evidence and support, the Board chose the
lone hearing candidate, Elisabeth A. Zinser, who was then the assistant
chancellor at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. Unhappy
with this decision, Gallaudet students, backed by a number of alumni,
staff, and faculty, shut down the campus.
The students and their backers then presented the
Board of Trustees with four demands:
• Elisabeth Zinser must resign and a deaf person selected president;
• Jane Spilman must step down as chairperson of the Board of
Trustees;
• Deaf people must constitute a 51% majority on the Board; and
• There would no reprisals against any student or employee involved in
the protest.
• By the end of the week, the students ended their protest and
proclaimed victory. All of their demands had been met and Dr. I. King
Jordan was named the Gallaudet's eighth-and first-deaf president.
• Could you give some examples from your experience about
establishing power in a conversation?

• What cues do you think might be particularly indicative of someone


exerting power?

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