-
Tuesday 11:30- 12:30
-
Thursday 11:30 - 12:30
- By Appointment
COURSE
GOALS:
This course introduces students to some basic issues in that branch of
the philosophy of language devoted to the study of utterances. This area
of contemporary philosophical linguistics is known as “speech act
theory” or “pragmatics.” We begin with an examination
of the basic structure and classification of utterances and then turn
to the analysis of indirect speech acts, metaphorical utterances, and
communication via implication. Next, we study the variety of different
ways in which speakers refer to things via indexicals, pronouns, and definite
descriptions. One of the central questions addressed in contemporary pragmatics
is how a hearer understands or “figures out” what a speaker
is saying and doing. We will examine two influential and competing conceptions
of linguistic comprehension: "bottom-up" inferential and "top-down"
holistic models of language processing. With such resources in hand, we
then examine the complexity of language use in Shakespeare’s Twelfth
Night. In the next segment of the course, we turn to a highly influential
account of speech acts – a theory of “communicative action”
-- that emphasizes the potential of speech acts to secure mutual understanding
and therein action coordination. We test this controversial view of language
as having such a rational action-coordinating function by analyzing three
David Mamet plays -- Glengarry Glen Ross, Oleanna, and
American Buffalo – which exhibit Mamet’s dark and
poignant view of language as agonistic contention and predatory subterfuge.
In the final third of the course, we become familiar with Mikhail Bakhtin’s
views regarding the highly refined and context-specific ways in which
modern speakers use language, which provides a strong connection to literary
analysis.
EVALUATION:
Students will be evaluated on the basis of class participation, vocabulary
quizzes, a midterm assignment, and a final paper.
| TYPE OF EVALUATION |
FREQUENCY |
TOTAL |
| Class Participation: Seminar presentations, classroom discussion
and email correspondence |
|
10% |
| Midterm Assignment |
1 @ 30% = |
30% |
| Quizzes |
6 @ 5% = |
30% |
| Final Paper (10-15 pages) |
1 @ 30% = |
30% |
POLICIES:
Students are expected to follow the reading schedule and to come to class
prepared to actively discuss the texts they have read. More specifically,
students must bring their texts to class with marginal notes, highlighted
or underlined passages of particular importance, and pages marked where
they have encountered difficulties in understanding the material. Quizzes
offer students the opportunity to identify and to clarify central terms
and concepts. The midterm assignments allow student to write essays on key
philosophical issues and arguments, and the final paper offers students
the opportunity to respond in depth to a single topic. The final paper is
due on the day scheduled for the final examination. 3 unexcused absences
will result in a full grade reduction. Late papers will be marked down a
half grade for the first day and a full grade for the second day. All work
must be turned in at the end of term, unless alternative assignments have
been given by the instructor.
REQUIRED
TEXTS:
- Davis, Steven (ed.). Pragmatics
(Oxford University Press, New York, 1991).
- Habermas, Juergen. On the Pragmatics of
Communication (Cambridge, Massachusetts:The MIT Press 1992)
- Bakhtin, M. M. Speech Genre and Other Late
Essays (University of Texas Press, Austin, 1986).
RECOMMENDED TEXTS
- Searle, John. Expression and Meaning: Studies
in the Theory of Speech Acts (Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge 1979).
- Searle, John. Speech Acts: An Essay in the
Philosophy of Language (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Cambridge
University Press, 1969).
- Cruse, Alan. Meaning in Languages: An Introduction
to Semantics and Pragmatics (Oxford, UK: Oxford University
Press, 2004)
- Horn, Laurence & Gregory Ward (eds.). The
Handbook of Pragmatics. (Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing).
GERMAN ACROSS THE CURRICULUM COMPONENT:
Selected texts may be read in the German
original. GAC students will be given alternative assignments and weekly
tutorials.
BRIDGE READING COMPONENT:Students
interested in linking course material to their major course of
study will be given special readings and assignments. Tutorial meetings
are required, and the final paper must
be completed in consultation with a professor in the student's home department.
English and Foreign Language:
Students interested in exploring how speech act theory can be used
for either literary analysis or second-language instruction are encouraged
to write a final paper on this interdisciplinary topic.
Political Science and Psychology:
Students interested in examining the use of speech act theory for the
analysis of social power are encouraged to write a final research paper
on this topic. Possible readings from Judith Bulter, Axel Honneth, Louis
Althusser, Slovoj Zizek, or Iris Marion Young.
READING
SCHEDULE
1. INTRODUCTION:
WEEK ONE
- TUESDAY:
- Course Mechanics.
- Syntax, Semantics and Pragmatics: Three levels of abstraction.
2. THE BASIC STRUCTURE AND ELEMENTARY CLASSIFICATION
OF SPEECH ACTS:
- THURSDAY
- "What is a Speech Act" (John Searle, 1965).
- “Speech Acts,” Cruse, pp. 343-361 [Handout].
WEEK TWO
- TUESDAY
- "A Taxonomy of Illocutionary Acts" (John Searle, 1979).
- “Speech Acts,” Horn, pp. 53-74 [Handout].
- Quiz #1.
- THURSDAY
- Review.
- "Linguistic Communication: A Schema for Speech Acts"
(Bach & Harnish 1979).
3. IINDIRECT SPEECH ACTS, METAPHOR, AND
IMPLICATION:
WEEK THREE
- TUESDAY
- "Indirect Speech Acts" (John Searle, 1975).
- Reading of Amelia Bedelia.
- "Literal Meaning" (John Searle, 1979).
- First Midterm Assignment #1.
- THURSDAY
- "Implicature," Cruse, pp.
- Quiz #2.
Thursday Evening Movie: Twelfth Night (8:00
PM, Dewing 103). 4. MEANING AND
REFERENCE: INDEXICALS AND DEFINITE DESCRIPTIONS:
WEEK
FOUR
- TUESDAY
- "Reference and Definite Descriptions" (Keith Donnellan,
1966).
- “Reference and Deixis,” Cruse, pp. 315-343 [Handout].
- Quiz #3
- THURSDAY
- "How to Bridge the Gap Between Meaning and Reference"
(Howard Wettstein, 1984).
- Review.
5. MODELS OF LINGUISTIC COMPREHENSION: THE SPEECH
ACT SCHEMA AND ITS CRITICS:
WEEK FIVE
- TUESDAY:
- "The Pragmatics of What is Said" (Francois Recanati,
1989)
- Literal Meaning
- Introduction
- Two Approaches to 'what is said'
- THURSDAY:
- .Literal Meaning
- Primary Pragmatic Processes
- The Syncretic View
- Quiz #4.
6. THE CLASSIFICATION, FUNCTIONS AND VALIDITY
DIMENSIONS OF SPEECH-ACTS: COMMUNICATIVE VERSUS STRATEGIC ACTION:
WEEK SIX
- TUESDAY
- "Toward a Critique of a Theory of Meaning" (Habermas).
Wednesday Evening Movie: Glengarry Glen Ross (8:00
PM, Dewing 103).
- THURSDAY
- Social Action, Purposive Activity, and Communication" (Habermas)
- Quiz #5.
WEEK SEVEN
- TUESDAY
- Review
- "Reflections on Communicative Pathology" (Habermas handout)
Evening Movie: Oleanna (8:00 PM, Dewing 103).
- THURSDAY
- "Actions, Speech Acts, Linguistically Mediated Interactions,
and the Lifeworld" (Habermas).
- Quiz # 6.
7. THE PROBLEM OF SPEECH GENRES AND EMPIRICAL
PRAGMATICS:
WEEK EIGHT
- TUESDAY
- "The Problem of Speech Genres," from Bakhtin, M. M.
Speech Genre and Other Late Essays.
Evening Movie: American Buffalo (8:00 PM, OU 103).
- THURSDAY
- "The Problem of Speech Genres" (Continued).
- Midterm Examination #2.
8. THE EXTENSION OF SPEECH-ACT THEORY TO LITERARY
ANALYSIS:
WEEK NINE
- TUESDAY
- Literal Meaning
- Non-literal Uses
- From Literalism to Contextualism
- THURSDAY:
- "On the Distinction between Poetic and Communicative Uses
of Language" (Habermas)
- Review.
9. REVIEW AND EVALUATIONS:
WEEK TEN
- TUESDAY
- Review for Final Assignment
- Student Evaluations
FINALS WEEK |
