Bloody- Australian culture

The initial words which come to mind when I think of bloody are; bloody hell, bloody oath and bloody shit. I personally along with many other Australians believe that in the right context, the great Australian adjective “bloody” isn’t so bad. Obviously being brought up seeing ‘bloody’ written in newspapers, hearing bloody in public speech by respected figures, for example when former prime minister Bob Hawke commented on his appointment of Governor General Bill Hayden, “I thought he would be an alright bloke for the job so I appointed him…. I didn’t consult me bloody cabinet”, it was normalised in my vocabulary, not as a swear word but as an expressive term which provides emphasis.  For example if I was to say something was better than amazing, instead of saying “that was amazing”, I’d say “that was bloody amazing”, for me the addition of the one word ‘bloody’ heightens the whole expression. I regard such forms as acceptable, however I recognise statements such as “You’re a bloody dickhead” or “Bloody bastard” to be quite offensive.  I think when the word bloody is employed or directed towards an individual that is insulting, however as a descriptive or heightening term, it is tolerable.

Hong’s article (2008) focussed on the controversy surrounding the Australian tourism campaign, which features Lara Bingle and the infamous catch phrase “Where the bloody hell are you?” As an Australian watching it, I see no problem; I see it as a light-hearted play on the characteristics of a typical Australian; informal and laid back. However this ad sparked much debate around the world. Some believe since the ad represents Australia, it should show more politeness and courtesy in standing for the country. Like Weirzbicka discussed in her article, Hong similarly address’ how the word ‘bloody’ is often considered offensive and impolite in other cultures. However, I agree with Hong’s conclusion that since the term bloody has been declared to NOT be a swear word since 1942, and has since been part of the ordinary discourse of Australian English language, it should therefore be respected as a common and casual Australian phrase used in everyday life to show their characteristics of casualness and friendliness.

References:

Hong, M 2008, ‘Where the bloody hell are you? Bloody hell and impoliteness of Australian English’, Griffith Working Papers in Pragmatics and Intercultural Communication, vol.1, pp33-39.

Wierzbicka, A 2001, ‘Australian cultural scripts- bloody revisited’, Journal of Pragmatics, vol.34, pp1167-1209. 

Week 8 - Social Order / Codes

This week topic was what my group presentation in class was based on, therefore having read the extremely repetitive and lengthy 40 page article by Weider,  ‘Telling the code” twice and having looked at a number of different readings on social order, codes of conduct and everyday spoken accounts, I feel I have somewhat of a better understand on this topic than all the other weeks we’ve looked at in this course.  

Basically through the lecture content and the reading, the notion of ‘codes’ was emphasised. Before this week, I had never really stopped to think about codes in everyday situations, as discussed in lecture/class- the bus/train code, the school code, the working code etc.  I find it interesting that we as humans have this innate ability to recognise how the codes work. I mean we are never really taught most of these codes, but rather we just acquire the knowledge and perhaps observe from those around us working the code. 

Gerald Schueler in his paper, “ Social Influences of Behavior” discuss’ the influences society has on people’s behaviors. Schueler suggests that society controls behavior of most citizens for our inherent psychological need for psychic growth and maturity, whether we call it self-actualization or individuation, there seems to be a natural disposition within the human psyche to behave in a moral or ethical manner. In accordance with Schuelers argument, I believe society influences the behavior of its members in many ways. It can pass laws through governmental institutions, creating severe punishments for antisocial behaviours, it can develop a strong desire for ethics and morals, usually through religious outlets and it can educate and inform through its school systems and media outlets. I believe these codes and social order constructions are crucial to maintaining stability and structure within our society and I would be really interested to find out what it would be like to live in a world where such codes cease to exist. 



References:
Schueler, G 1997, 'Social Influences of Behaviour", accessed 14/9/2012. 

Wieder, D. Lawrence (1974) 'Telling the code'. In: Roy Turner, ed. Ethnomethodology: selected readings. Harmondsworth: Penguin: 144-72

Week 7- Ethnomethodology

Ethnomethodology- what did Garfinkel mean by this term? In my understanding of the reading and lecture material, he basically meant it was the study of people’s methods with one another and how they behave in everyday situations. A focus in the reading was based on Garfinkel’s “breaching experiments”. These would basically involve the conscious exhibition of unexpected behaviour, an observation of the types of social reactions such as behavioural violations engenders, and an analysis of the social structure that makes these social reactions possible.

“Social actors come to want to do what the institutionalized normative patterns require them to do” To a certain extent and based on the majority of society, I agree with Parson’ statement; however there are exceptions to the rule. Does committing a crime such as robbery exhibit a social actor institutionalising normative patterns in society? In my understanding it doesn’t, this would be going against social norms, and rather a breach of social morality.

Jeremy Suizo wrote the article, "The Breaching Experiment is a simple ethnomethodological method of testing sociological concepts of cultural norms and conformity". He made an interesting point about breaching experiments; he suggests that breaching experiments show how people often take for granted the unwritten social norms that are generally assumed by members of a society. I completely agree with this statement, before I started this subject, I would never have thought about why and how social norms come to exist.

I will leave you with this clip on breaching experiments in a university setting. It is based on the social norm of people holding doors open for the next person to walk in.

                                 

References: 

Heritage, John. 1984. “The Morality of Cognition.” Pp. 75-102 in Garfinkel and
Ethnomethodology. Cambridge: Polity Press. 

Suizo, J 2010, 'The Breaching Experiment is a simple ethnomethodological method of testing sociological concepts of cultural norms and conformity', accessed 7/9/2012. 

Dramaturgy- To what extent is our life an act?

This week’s topic ‘Dramaturgy’ is a continuation from last weeks ‘Self Presentation’, leading us to a further analysis of the self.  So what exactly is Goffman trying to say throughout the article? My understanding is that he is trying to establish the grounds for which everyday interaction works upon, theorising that humans in their daily interaction act much like as if they were in a stage production.

I do agree with Goffman in his argument that we often portray

ourselves differently in a range of social settings, however I believe his attitude throughout the reading was a little cynical. I mean for Goffman to say we are all playing part of an act/drama our whole lives is a bit ridiculous. I can understand at times this is probably true, however I can’t wholey agree with such a strong statement. I think Goffman’s concept of dramaturgy is more applicable to say a younger age group- for example, when you are trying to fit in during school years, trying to be ‘normal’, which requires one to act in a certain way that others will approve of.  I think this period of life is perhaps when you aren’t sure of yourself (generalisation offcourse but probably true for the greater proportion of society), so you will change your behaviours to suit those who may appear to be ‘popular’.  I truly believe and would hope that as you get older (and wiser) you don’t care as much and feel more comfortable in yourself, therefore you wouldn’t feel the need to necessarily play the part in the so called ‘drama’.