Visualizations

Concept Webs	An interactive tool for playing with webs of related and embedded concepts.
Image Gallery	The gallery provides a place for members to share graphical representations of concepts such as images and interactive demonstrations.
Timelines	In order to help show the temporal relationships between concepts members can view entries in the Concept Database in a timeline format.
accommodation / assimilation distinction Assimilation: incorporation of new objects and experiences into existing schemas. Accommodation: modification of schemas as a result of new experiences. (ix) accommodation "the adjustment in details of a component required when it is integrated with another to form a composite structure\" [485] Analogy An analogy implies a similarity in some respects between things, persons, or events otherwise unlike. If the overall pattern is similar when comparing something or someone (primary analogue) with something or someone else (secondary analogue), the two things or persons can be linked together conceptually by their resemblence to each other. However, when the differences are focal as they are juxtaposed, the secondary analogue is seen a new light because of its differences with the primary analogue to which it is compared. At the same time, when their similarities are focal, the known thing or person provides "clues" about the behavior of the thing or person less known. [analogy -- "an inference that if things agree in some respects they probably agree in others" WordNet. See "notes."] analysis / analyze "Analytic induction is a technique used primarily by qualitative researchers to access commonalities across a number of cases and thereby clarify empirical categories and the concepts that are exemplified by the cases included in a category. It is a 'double fitting' of ideas and evidence that focuses on similarities across a limited number of cases studied in depth." (183) connectionist model of the mind [C]onnectionism is a description of a very small set of brain properties that might be crucially related to the brain's ability to process information. Tyically, the basic building blocks of a PDP network are a number of processing units, which almost always are of the same type. By connecting the processing units in a particular way, a specific task of interest can be accomplished. As a result of this 'neuronal inspiration,' connectionst networks appear to process information in a very different fashion from a Turing machine. This is why connectionists believe that this will lead to models whose performance is more like humans, and less like computers, on those 'natural' tasks that people find easy. (42) Cognitive Linguistics The concepts introduced in this chapter do not constitute an arbitrary set. Their interrelationship stems from the central role in Cognitive Linguistics of the notion of construal. The notions of perspective, highlighting, and framing constitute different aspects of that process, while metaphor is an important medium through which a particular 'imaging' (Langacker 1990: 5) is imposed on a given scene. In interaction with each other, these notions have significant implications for an understanding of the nature of communication. In particular, they suggest that meaning is not a property of utterances but a product of the interaction between an utterance and a human being's `knowledge base'—an idea that introduces an important relativist dimension to the process of interpretation. This view of language and interpretation brings linguistic theory much closer to related disciplines such as ethnography and cultural studies than do formally based approaches. Lee, Cognitive Linguistics, 2004. 12) categorization Eleanor Rosch saw the generalizations behind … studies of particu¬lar cases [see below] and proposed that thought in general is organized in terms of prototypes and basic-level structures. It was Rosch who saw categorization itself as one of the most important issues in cognition. Together with Carolyn Mervis and other co-workers, Rosch established research paradigms in cognitive psychology for demonstrating centrality, family resemblance, basic-level categorization, basic-level primacy, and reference-point reasoning, as well as certain kinds of embodiment. Rosch is perhaps best known for developing experimental paradigms for determining subjects\' ratings of how good an example of a category a member is judged to be. Rosch ultimately realized that these ratings do not in themselves constitute models for representing category structure. They are effects that are inconsistent with the classical theory and that place significant constraints on what an adequate account of categorization must be. The short history [of studies of categorization] I am about to give is not intended to be exhaustive. FAMILY RESEMBLANCES: The idea that members of a category may be re¬lated to one another without all members having any properties in common that define the category. [Ludwig Wittgenstein] CENTRALITY: The idea that some members of a category may be \"better examples\" of that category than others. [J. L. Austin] POLYSEMY AS CATEGORIZATION: The idea that related meanings of words form categories and that the meanings bear family resemblances to one another. [Lotfi Zadeh] GENERATIVITY AS A PROTOTYPE PHENOMENON: This idea concerns categories that are defined by a generator (a particular member or subcategory) plus rules (or a general principle such as similarity). In such cases, the generator has the status of a central, or \"prototypical,\" category member. [Floyd Lounsbury] MEMBERSHIP GRADIENCE: The idea that at least some categories have de¬grees of membership and no clear boundaries. [Brent Berlin & Paul Kay] CENTRALITY GRADIENCE: The idea that members (or subcategories) which are clearly within the category boundaries may still be more or less central. [Paul Kay & Chad McDaniel] CONCEPTUAL EMBODIMENT: The idea that the properties of certain catego¬ries are a consequence of the nature of human biological capacities and of the experience of functioning in a physical and social environ¬ment. It is contrasted with the idea that concepts exist independent of the bodily nature of any thinking beings and independent of their experience. [Roger Brown] FUNCTIONAL EMBODIMENT: The idea that certain concepts are not merely understood intellectually; rather, they are used automatically, un¬consciously, and without noticeable effort as part of normal functioning. Concepts used in this way have a different, and more impor-tant, psychological status than those that are only thought about consciously. [Brent Berlin] BASIC-LEVEL CATEGORIZATION: The idea that categories are not merely organized in a hierarchy from the most general to the most specific, but are also organized so that the categories that are cognitively basic are \"in the middle\" of a general-to-specific hierarchy. Generalization proceeds \"upward\" from the basic level and specialization proceeds \"downward.\" [Roger Brown] BASIC-LEVEL PRIMACY: The idea that basic-level categories are functionally and epistemologically primary with respect to the fol¬lowing factors: gestalt perception, image formation, motor move¬ment, knowledge organization, ease of cognitive processing (learn¬ing, recognition, memory, etc.), and ease of linguistic expression. [Paul Ekman] REFERENCE-POINT, OR \"METONYMIC,\" REASONING: The idea that a part of a category (that is, a member or subcategory) can stand for the whole category in certain reasoning processes. cognition "Cogniton is thought, the collection of all the mental processes we use as we perceive and recognize objects, as we learn and remember concepts and ideas, as we comprehend and use language, and as we think and reason\" (5). Communication Any process in which people exchange information, ideas, experiences, and feelings whether verbal or non-verbal. Interpersonal communiction: a dialogical relationship among persons. A dyadic communication is a subset of IP where only two persons are involved in a dialogicl relationship. Intra-personal communication: a self-reflexive interior dialogue. The exchange of a "message" (thoughts, concepts, information, or stories about something) through some media (speech, signals, writing, or behavior) between an "sender" and "receiver" where they share some code (codes) and contexts (experiences). Communication is often dialogical. comparing "... involves distinguishing followed by recognizing similarities" (103). "the operation that relates a standard of comparison and a target, registering any discrepany between them." [3.1.2.] "'comparison' as 'scanning' is the basis of analogizing" (103) concept "A concept is a mental representation or idea that includes a description of important properties of a class or tem." 77 concept A concept is a domain, ("A coherent area of conceptualization relative to which semantic units may be characterized") concept "A concept is that which is understood by a term, particularly a predicate. To possess a concept is to be able to deploy a term expressing it in making judgements: the ability connects with such things as recognizing when the term applies, and being able to understand the consequences of its application" concept \"A concept is a mental representation or idea that includes a description of important properties of a class or tem\" (77). conceptual blending Conceptual Blending Theory (BT) is a theory of online meaning construction. It accounts for some of the conceptual operations performed during discourse. BT is founded upon its precursor, Mental Space Theory (Fauconnier 1994, 1997). In Mental Space Theory, words do not refer directly to entities in the world but rather prompt for the construction of mental spaces, which contain certain elements. According to Fauconnier and Turner (1996: 113): Mental spaces are small conceptual packets constructed as we think and talk, for purposes of local understanding and action. They are interconnected, and can be modified as thought and discourse unfold. Elements in a mental space are, inter alia, the entities, objects, actions, and processes referred to explicitly or implicitly in discourse. In any stretch of discourse, a number of interconnected mental spaces may be constructed, where \"linguistic expressions will typically establish new spaces, elements within them, and relations holding between the elements" (Fauconnier 1994: 17). Amongst other phenomena such as reference and metonymy, metaphor is one particular kind of linguistic expression which prompts for the construction of a number of mental spaces. In the case of metaphor, mental spaces constructed during discourse undergo a specific conceptual blending operation whereby they are manipulated in an integrated network, producing inferential structure. Metaphor is a linguistic and conceptual phenomenon which should be of particular significance in CDA. Where Hodge and Kress (1993: 15) contend that ideology involves "a systematically organised presentation of reality", metaphors are ideological in so far as they "define in significant part what one takes as reality" (Chilton and Lakoff 1995: 56). According to Chilton (1996: 74), metaphors "can contribute to a situation where they privilege one understanding of reality over others". As Charteris-Black (2004: 28) states, then, "metaphor is . . . central to critical discourse analysis since it is concerned with forming a coherent view of reality". In BT, metaphor is treated as a conceptual projection involving four mental spaces. BT adopts a particular diagrammatic notation based in mathematical set theory to represent mental spaces and conceptual blending patterns. In the "basic diagram" of a conceptual blending network, mental spaces are represented by four large circles and elements within mental spaces are represented by points inside the circles. Whilst this diagram represents a "static" illustration of the conceptual blending operation, it is important to recognise, as Fauconnier and Turner (2002: 46) stress, that "such a diagram is really just a snapshot of an imaginative and complicated process". 2.1 Input spaces Blends arise in networks of mental spaces. The basic blending network consists of four mental spaces: two input spaces, a generic space, and the blended space.5 According to Coulson (2000: 23), "a new space is . . . set up when utterances concern objects or events that require different background assumptions". Metaphorical utterances in discourse are of precisely this kind; they involve spaces which contain elements belonging to two different (potential) scenarios with different background frames or assumptions. As metaphorical discourse unfolds, then, a space is created for each scenario. These spaces are input space] and input space2. In conceptual integration, the two input spaces share counterpart connections between elements, represented in the notation by solid lines. Counterpart connections can be of many different kinds, generally referred to as vital relations. Fauconnier and Turner (2002: 89-111) identify a number of vital relations including identity, role, intentionality, time, space, and category. Dashed lines connecting the elements inside the four spaces represent conceptual projections across the network. These connective lines correspond to neural coactivations and bindings (Fauconnier and Turner 2002: 46). 2.2 Generic space In addition to the two input spaces there is the generic space. The generic space contains abstract structure which is common to the counterpart elements in both of the input spaces. In other words, "at any moment in the construction of the network, the structure that inputs seem to share is captured in a generic space" (Fauconnier and Turner 2002: 47). Elements in the generic space project onto the counterpart elements in the input spaces. Improtantly, the generic space may also be projected back to from the blended space. We can think of structure in the generic space in terms of theta roles, semantic categories which structure the ideational representation in discourse of a given scenario. For example, with regard to who did what to whom, where, and how. 2.3 Blended space and emergent structure Finally, the fourth space, the blended space, is arrived at via conceptual blending operations. It receives structure from both the input spaces and has emergent structure, represented in the notation by a box inside the blended space and its contents. In blending, structure from two input spaces is projected to a separate space, the `blend'. The blend inherits partial structure from the input spaces, and has emergent structure of its own. (Fauconnier and Turner 1996: 113) The blended space also receives structure from the generic space. "Generic spaces and blended spaces are related: blends contain generic structure captured in the generic space" (Fauconnier and Turner 2002: 47). Emergent structure is structure unique to the blend. That is, the blended space contains structure which is not copied there directly from the input spaces but which rather is a product of blending operations. Emergent structure is generated by three blending processes: composition; completion; elaboration. 2.4 Composition Through composition, the projections in the blending network create new relations in the blended space. In Fauconnier and Turner\'s (2002: 48) words, \"blending can compose elements from the input spaces to provide relations that do not exist in the separate inputs". Counterpart elements can be composed to produce two separate elements in the blended space. However, in the case of metaphor, a special kind of composition occurs, referred to as fusion. Here, counterpart elements in the input spaces get projected into the blended space, creating a single compound element. It is important to note that the relation, or topology, between counterpart elements is maintained in the blend. 2.5 Completion Completion occurs as relevant structure from background knowledge associated with the elements in the input spaces is recruited into the blend. Such background knowledge may take the form of contextual information or conceptual frames, for example. According to Fauconnier and Turner (2002: 48): We rarely realise the extent of background knowledge and structure that we bring into a blend unconsciously. Blends recruit great ranges of such meaning . . . We see some parts of a familiar frame of meaning, and much more of the frame is recruited silently but effectively to the blend. A conceptual frame is a cognitive-based, stable but modifiable knowledge structure for (potential) scenes or scenarios stored in long-term memory. According to Fillmore (1985: 224), "a frame represents the particular organisation of knowledge which stands as a prerequisite to our ability to understand the meanings of . . . associated words". It is in this sense, then, that "mental spaces operate in working memory but are built up partly by activating structures available from long-term memory" (Fauconnier and Turner 2002: 102). Frames are activated by discourse and at the same time provide background information which gives meaning to discourse. In BT terms, elements in input spaces activate the wider conceptual frames to which they belong, relevant structure from which may in turn be recruited into the blended space via the process of completion. It should be noted that not all available structure from conceptual frames necessarily gets projected into the blended space, only that which is relevant to the speaker\'s intention in constructing the blend. This is known as selective projection and is guided by normal pragmatic constraints. Selective projection in conceptual blending contributes to the ideology of metaphor. Elements available for recruitment may not get projected into the blended space. Where selective projection in conceptual blending networks is a pragmatic phenomenon, integration networks are constructed according to speakers\' communicative (and rhetorical) intentions. In other words, ideologically, speakers may choose to recruit particular structure in order to promote a certain perception of reality.6 2.6 Elaboration Elaboration is the most significant stage in the blending process.' It is the "running of the blend". Fauconnier (1997: 151) states that elaboration "consists in cognitive work performed within the blend, according to its own emergent logic". Herein lays the importance of conceptual blending for CDA. As a function of emergent structure in the blended space, metaphor is "cognitively real". Moreover, metaphor in discourse thus has absolute consequences for further cognitive processes. "Blended spaces are sites for central cognitive work: reasoning . ., drawing inferences . . ., and developing emotions" (summary of Fauconnier and Turner 1996: 115). (108-112) conceptual domain a conceptual domain is "a coherent area of conceptualization relative to which semantic units may be characterized" (Foundations of Cognitive Grammar, 488). Langacker distinguishes between two types of conceptual domains—basic and abstract. Though the sense of domain used in this entry is "abstract,"his account of a basic domain is helpful in understanding the term. He writes: "The concept [KNUCKLE], for example, presupposes the coneption of a finger. It would be virtually impossible to explain what a knuckle is without somehow invoking the conception of a finger as a holistic entity; it would also be misguided, for the position of a knuckle in relation to the finger as a whole is surely a central and crucial feature of our understanding of the notion. Given the concept [FINGER], however, [KNUCKLE] is easily and straightforwardly characterized. [FINGER] provides the necessary context—or domain—for the characterization of [KNUCKLE] and hence constitutes one of its primary conceptual components. (147-148.)" The conceptual domain [COMMUNICATION] similarly provides a necessary context or domain for characterizing [SENDER], [MESSAGE], [RECEIVER], [CODE], [CONTEXT]. It needs to be noted that "most concepts require specifications in more than one domain for their characterizaiton" (154). "The concept [BANANA], for example, includes in its matrix a specification for shape in the spatial (and/or visual) domain; a color configuration involving the coordination of color space with this domain; a location in the domain of taste/smell sesnations; as well as numerous specifications pertaining to abstract domains, e.g., the knowledge that bananas are eaten, that they grow in bunches on trees, that they come from tropical areas, and so on." With respect to the "meaning" of the word "banana," Langacker takes an encyclopedic view rather than a dictionary view (155ff.). As a conceptual domain, communication "characterizes" the technical concepts used in studying the phenomena to which we refer when using the term. For example, the term "sender" does not necessarily imply a message. Senders can send packages of fruit. However, placed in the abstract domain, communication, itself understood in the domain of "technical term," it characterizes the qualities of the senders of message/texts not of baskets of fruit. Langacker's conception is summarized by jjs conceptual domain An important part of gaining an understanding of science , and of the nature of scientific theories in particular must be to examine the character of such grounds for the establishment of domains. But this question immediately leads to another: for in order that he are constituted by the related items be an area for investigation, there must be something problematic about it, something inadequate in our understanding of it. A domain, in the sense in which that term will be used here, is not merely a body of related information, it is a body of related information about which there is a problem, well defined usually and raised on the basis of specific considerations ("good reasons" ). In addition, that problem must be considered important ( also on reasonable grounds, not on the basis of some "subjective value judgment"); it must be worth making the effort to resolve. Further, as we shall see, it must —in general, though in certain rather well circumscribed sorts of cases not necessarily—be capable of being "handled" at the current stage of science. 521-522 In earlier stages of the development of a field, curiosity, general puzzlement, or general uncritical presuppositions undoubtedly play a predominant role in generating such problems—in determining whether an area is problematic and worth investigating. With the advance of science, however, and indeed constituting in part the very notion of scientific progress, the considerations leading to certain questions being raised about a domain, and to considering them important, become more specific, precise, and subject to constraints: the generation of problems and priorities becomes more a matter of reasoning. Investigation of the character of this reasoning constitutes another aspect of the attempt to gain an understanding of science. More specifically, and more directly relevant to our present concerns, such analysis will help us to understand the nature and function of scientific theories. For as we shall see, different sorts of questions, reflecting different sorts of inadequacies, can arise, even regarding the same domain; and we shall find that only certain of these sorts of questions are answered in terms of what are commonly and appropriately referred to as "theories." 522 A further aspect of scientific reasoning which arises at this point concerns the ways in which, at least often when problems arise at sophisticated stages of science, it is possible to formulate promising lines of research to pursue in attempting to answer those problems, and, sometimes, to assign at least rough rankings of degree of promise to such lines of research, thereby establishing research priorities. Further, expectations—sometimes amounting to demands—arise regarding the character of any satisfactory solution to those problems, even in advance of having any such solution ( and therefore certain proposed solutions are judged as more or less "attractive" ). And in many cases these expectations or demands do succeed in anticipating the actual solution ultimately arrived at; but whether they do or do not, reasons are given supporting the expectations, and the character of those reasons must be analyzed. ( In addition, of course, the patterns of reasoning in cases in which the actual solution is not in agreement with those expectations or demands must also be analyzed.) Again in primitive stages of a science, such conclusions are no doubt based primarily on general and uncritical presuppositions. But it is characteristic of sophisticated science that it tends more and more to depend on reasoned arguments for the generation of lines of research, the judgment of them as more or less "promising," and the generation of expectations regarding the character of possible answers to problems. An understanding of such reasoning is essential if we are to understand the nature of science, and in particular of scientific theories. 522-523 ASPECTS OF THE CONCEPT OF A DOMAIN We have seen that, in science, items of information come to be associated together as bodies of information having the following characteristics: (1) The association is based on some relationship between the items. (2)There is something problematic about the body so related. (3)That problem is an important one. (4)Science is "ready" to deal with the problem. Earlier, I called bodies of information satisfying these conditions domains. 525 conceptual logistics Conceptual Logistics is the study of how problematics (related research questions)are developed, how they are applied to the situations under investigation, how they are adjusted to it so that they more accurately describe the problem in order to facilitate its solution within the parameters of a specific research domain. construal "There is a long tradition in linguistics encapsulating the belief that the role of language is to map elements of the external world onto linguistic form. According to this view, situations can be dissected into a number of component parts, each of which corresponds to some element of language, so that mapping from the external world to language is a relatively straightforward operation. Essentially, it involves a one-to-one encoding of the elements of the situation into linguistic structure, this process being governed by formal rules of grammar. In contrast, cognitive linguists argue that there is no such direct mapping. Instead, they claim, a particular situation can be 'construed' in different ways, and that different ways of encoding a situation constitute different conceptualisations." (2) discipline "A compact discipline, then, has five connected features. (1) The activities involved are organized around and directed towards a specific and realistic set of agreed collective ideals. (2) These collective ideals impose corresponding demands on all who commit themselves to the professional pursuit of the activities concerned. (3) The resulting discussions provide disciplinary loci for the production of "reasons" in the context of justificatory arguments whose function is to show how far procedural innovations measure up to these collective demands, and so improve the current repertory of concepts or techniques. (4) For this purpose, professional forums are developed, within which recognized "reason-producing" procedures are employed to justify the collective acceptance of novel procedures. (5) Finally, the same collective ideals determine the criteria of adequacy by appeal to which the arguments produced in support of those innovations are judged. (379) "Disciplines ... are broadly based research programs designed to control the production of knowledge. A subject matter is identified. Various descriptions of it are advanced. These take the form of "models" and, thereby, a subject matter is legitimized as a "field of study." These models presuppose methods. If this model, then that method. By the exercise of the proper method, knowledge is reliably controlled." (??) discipline David Downing ties the development of academic disciplines in the American university to what he terms a "knowledge contract," formed by a "bond between the work of the university and the particular society in which it functioned" that set parameters on what counted as knowledge. He examines in detail the socio-economic aspects of disciplinarity, in particular the inclusions and exclusions of fields of study and what counts as "knowledge" at particular moments in the history of the American university. (Summerized by jjs.) discipline Shumway's work treats discipline as a historically contingent formation and his intention is to thereby deprivilege disciplinarity. . ... [He] identifies five conditions that make a study a discipline: it must have (1) a disciplinary object, (2) a well-defined set of discursive practices which (3) give form to its production of knowledge, (4) a supporting apparatus for the distribution of its researches, and (5) a way of transmitting its accumulation of knowledge to students (149-152). ... in Creating American Civilization[Shumway] investigates how American literature became a "sub-discipline" within the discipline of English literary study. The sine qua non of a discipline for Shumway is the construction of a language for a specific practice, a "disciplinary object" (1-3). Literature is just such an object of study. American literature's object is a selection of "writings produced in this country" known as "American Literature" and subject to "prior evaluation" owing to its status within the culture (1). It is studied through a well-defined set of discursive practices shared by the persons devoted to the study of the disciplinary object. These are "methods and procedures" which allow for the production of knowledge (152). The knowledge produced is a "body of statements" (152) with a specific form (97). From "Disciplining" in [i]Modern Skeletons in Postmodern Closets[/i], James Sosnoski discourse "It is generally agreed that the study of discourse takes us beyond the study of the sentence. However, as this book demonstrates, we are not always taken to the same place. In some cases, it seems, we are not taken that very far at all: thus according to the tradition set by Zellig Harris (1951), discourse is a structural unit which can be studied by analogy with the sentence. For example, Salkie (1995) suggests that while grammar is "basically about how words combine to form sentences, text and discourse analysis is about how sentences combine to form texts." And Hovy and Maier's (1994) work in artificial intelligence is based on the claim that "one of the first observations that one makes in analysing discourse is that it exhibits internal structure" (1994: 2). In other cases, we are taken beyond and away from the notion of structure altogether to the notion of discourse as social behavior which must be studied in terms of its function. Thus Fasold (1990) defines the study of discourse as the study of any aspect of language use (1990: 65). And of course, one of the most influential books on linguistic aspects of discourse, Halliday and Hasan's (1976) Cohesion in English, is based on the view that a text is a "unit of language in use" (1976: 2) which must be studied in terms of its function in communication." (100). discourse / text distinction The distinction between text and discourse A text is to a sentence as a discourse is to an utterance.' That is to say, a text, like a sentence, is somewhat of an abstraction which is made for purposes of analysis. What it is abstracted from is its context. Let us assume that it is preferable to derive theoretical units from phenomena which actually occur (or, at least, which we perceive as occurring). Then our starting-point in this equation must be the discourse, since it is a term which characterises actual stretches of language. We can say, therefore, that a discourse is a complete language event, i.e. one with a perceived beginning and end. In practice, a discourse can be as short as a single word,' such as 'Fire!' or as long as a written record spanning many generations of authors, like the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The point is that it should be perceived as a single language event. I would like to point out two important aspects of this approach to definition which will later be seen to fit into the broad cognitivist philosophy which underlies the whole book. The first is that what I have given is not strictly a definition of the term `discourse\'; rather, it is a characterisation of the frame, or prototype, notion of discourse. (A frame is a descrip¬tion which sets the working conditions within which a term is used; a prototype is a description of the central sense of a term.) (2) experience "Experience occurs continuously, because the interaction of live creature and environing conditions is involved in the very process of living. Under conditions of resistance and conflict, aspects and elements of the self and the world that are implicated in this interaction qualify experience with emotions and ideas so that conscious intent emerges. Oftentimes, however, the experience had is inchoate. Things are experienced but not in such a way that they are composed into an experience. There is distraction and dispersion; what we observe and what we think, what we desire and what we get, are at odds with each other. We put our hands to the plow and turn back; we start and then we stop, not because the experience has reached the end for the sake of which it was initiated but because of extraneous interruptions or of inner lethargy. In contrast with such experience, we have an experience when the material experienced runs its course to fulfillment. Then and then only is it integrated within and demarcated in the general stream of experience from other experiences. A piece of work is finished in a way that is satisfactory; a problem receives its solution; a game is played through; a situation, whether that of eating a meal, playing a game of chess, carrying on a conversation, writing a book, or taking part in a political campaign, is so rounded out that its close is a consummation and not a cessation. Such an experience is a whole and carries with it its own individualizing quality and self-sufficiency. It is an experience." (35) experience Along with *consciousness, experience is the central focus of the philosophy of mind. Experience is easily thought of as a stream of private events, known only to their possessor, and bearing at best problematic relationships to any other events, such as happenings in an external world or similar streams in other possessors. The stream makes up the conscious life of the possessor. With this picture there is a complete separation of mind and the world, and in spite of great philosophical effort the gap, once opened, proves impossible to bridge: both *idealism and *scepticism are common outcomes. The aim of much recent philosophy, therefore, is to articulate a less problematic conception of experience, making it objectively accessible, so that the facts about how a subject experiences the world are in principle as knowable as the facts about how the same subject digests food. A beginning on this task may be made by observing that experiences have contents: it is the world itself that they represent to us as being one way or another, and how we take the world to be is publicly manifested by our words and behaviour. My own relationship with my experience itself involves memory, recognition, and description, all of which arise from skills that are equally exercised in interpersonal transactions. Recently emphasis has also been placed' on the way in which experience should be regarded as a 'construct', or the upshot of the workings of many cognitive sub-systems (although this idea was familiar to *Kant, who thought of experience as itself synthesized by various active operations of the mind). The extent to which these moves undermine the distinction between 'what it is like from the inside' and how things are objectively is fiercely debated. It is also widely recognized that such developments tend to blur the line between experience and theory, making it harder to formulate traditional doctrines such as *empiricism figure / ground distinction "figure/ground organization is a valid and fundamental feature of cognitive functioning. By the assumptions of cognitive grammar, the prevalence of figure/ground organization in conceptual structure entails it simportance for semantic and grammatical structure as well. Indeed I will make extensive use of this notion. The profile/base, subject/object, and head/modifier distinctions are among those to be analyzed wholly or patrially in these terms. Impressionistically, the figure within a scene is a substructure perceived as "standing out" from the remainder (ground) and accorded special prominaence as the pivotal entity around whcih the scene is organized and for which it provides a setting. [3.3.2.1] Langacker, Foundations of Cognitive Grammar focal adjustment Variation in how a situation is conceived, particularly variation pertaining to selection, perspective, and abstraction. [3.3] Langacker, Foundations of Cognitive Grammar perspective The way in which a scene is viewed. Aspects of perspective include figure/ground alignment, vantage point, and subjectivity. [3.3.2] Langacker, [i]Foundations of Cognitive Grammar[/i] NOTE: ground: The speech event, its participants, and its setting. (Distinct from the sense of ground that contrasts with figure.) [3.3.2.3] (Cf. epistemic grounding: An entity is epistemically grounded when its location is specified relative to the speaker and hearer and their spheres of knowledge. For verbs, tense and mood ground an entity epistemically; for nouns, definite/indefinite specifications establish epistemic grounding. Epistemic grounding distinguishes finite verbs and clauses from nonfinite ones, and nominals (noun phrases) from simple nouns. [3.3.2.3] Langacker, Foundations of Cognitive Grammar foreground / background distinction A scene can generally ve viewed from different vantage points [perspectives]. A particular choice of vantage point imposes on the scene an alignment into foreground and background, where the foreground is an area of indeterminate size extending from the portion of the scene most nearly adjacent to the vantage point. A participant in the foreground is typically more prominent and easily perceived than in the background, simply because of the greater promixity to the viewer.” Langacker, Foundations of Cognitive Grammar , 124-125 frame A frame is a mental model of experience located in a conceptual structure in an individual's memory system and expressed as a typical situation. frame To frame is to select some aspects of a perceived reality and make them more salient in a communicating text in such a way as to promote a particular problem definition causal interpretation moral evaluation and/or treatment recommendation for the item described frame framing: selecting and highlighting some facets of events or issues, and making connections among them so as to promote a particular interpretation, evaluation, and/ or solution. frame A frame is a data structure representing stereotypical situations in terms of features that are always true of such situations, as well as terminal slots for features which may take on a variety of different values but must be assigned some value in a given situation. frame By the term 'frame' I have in mind any system of concepts related in such a way that to understand any one of them you have to understand the whole structure in which it fits; when one of the things in such a structure is introduced into a text, or into a conversation, all of the others are automatically made available. I intend the word 'frame' as used here to be a general cover term for the set of concepts variously known, in the literature on natural language understanding, as 'schema', 'script', 'scenario', 'ideational scaffolding', 'cognitive model', or 'folk theory'.' frame "What unifies all these branches of research [on framing] is the realization that people approach the world not as naive, blank-slate receptacles who take in stimuli as they exist in some independent and objective way, but rather as experienced and sophisticated veterans of perception who have stored their prior experiences as "an organized mass," and who see events and objects in the world in relation to each other and in relation to their prior experience. This prior experience or organized knowledge then takes the form of expectations about the world, and in the vast majority of cases, the world, being a systematic place, confirms these expectations, saving the individual the trouble of figuring things out anew all the time. At the same time that expectations make it possible to perceive and interpret objects and events in the world, they shape those perceptions to the model of the world provided by them. As Bartlett put it, one forms a general impression (we might say, one labels something as part of a certain scene, frame, or script) and furnishes the details which one builds from prior knowledge (that is, from the script). Thus, structures of expectation make interpretation possible, but in the process they also reflect back on perception of the world to justify that interpretation. All these theories have referred to frames and other structures of expectation, but they have shown no way of discovering what those structures consist of, for they have been mainly concerned with language comprehension. In this chapter, I would like to consider how expectations affect lan-guage production, and, in the process, show a way of discovering what constitutes them—that is, to show how we can know what's in a frame. (20-21) frame "I assume that definitions of a situation are built up in accordance with principles of organization which govern events--at least social ones--and our subjective involvement in them; frame is the word I use to refer to such of these basic elements as I am able to identify. That is my definition of frame" (10-11) frame "In principle everything that a speaker knows about the world is a potential part of the frame for a particular term, even though some aspects of that knowledge base are more immediately relevant to a particular term than others (and therefore more strongly activated when the term is used." Lee, [i]Cognitive Linguistics[/i], 2004. 8) "a good understanding of the word wicket requires a significant amount of knowledge that extends well beyond the dictionary definition. We refer to this background knowledge as the 'frame'." The frame is not in itself what is generally thought of as 'the meaning' of a word but it is nevertheless crucial to an understanding of it" Lee, [i]Cognitive Linguistics[/i], 2004. 8) frame [career pattern of a public event] In the career pattern of a public event, an occurrence passes through a set of agencies (individuals or groups), each of which helps construct, through a distinctive set of organizational routines, what the event will have turned out to be using as resources the work of agencies who came before and anticipating what successive agencies "might make out of it." (103) frame [decision frame] A decision problem is defined by the acts or options among which one must choose, the possible outcomes or consequences of these acts, and the contingencies or conditional probabilities that relate outcomes to acts. We use the term "decision frame" to refer to the decision-maker's conception of the acts, outcornes, and contingencies associated with a particular choice. The frame that a decision-maker adopts is controlled partly by the formulation of the problem and partly by the norms, habits, and personal characteristics of the decision-maker. frame [schema] Schema refers to an active organisation of past reactions, or of any well-adapted organic response. That is, whenever there is any order or regularity of behaviour, a particular response is possible only because it is related to other similar responses which have been serially organised, yet which operate, not simply as individual members coming one after another, but as a unitary mass. Determination by schemata is the most fundamental of all the ways in which we can be influenced by reactions and experiences which occurred some time in the past. (201) frame, history of its conceptions Go to: http://www.sclcr.com/histories frame, history of its conceptions Go to http://www.sclcr.com/histories frame, media frames Frames are principles of selection, emphasis, and presentation composed of little tacit theories about what exists, what happens, and what matters. In everyday life, as Erving Goffman has amply demonstrated, we frame reality in order to negotiate it, manage it, comprehend it, and choose appropriate repertories of cognition and action. 4 Media frames, largely unspoken and unacknowledged, organize the world both for journalists who report it and, in some important degree, for us who rely on their reports. Media frames are persistent patterns of cognition, interpretation, and presentation, of selection, emphasis, and exclusion, by which symbol-handlers routinely organize discourse, whether verbal or visual. Frames (6-7) frames [themes] The selection of news on the basis of themes is one component in the ideological production of crime news. It constitutes a "procedure not to know." This procedure requires that an incident be stripped of the actual context of its occurrence so that it may be relocated in a new, symbolic context: the news theme. Because newsworthiness is based on themes, the attention devoted to an event may exceed its importance, relevance, or timeliness were these qualities determined with reference to some theory of society. In place of any such theoretical understanding of the phenomena they report, newsworkers make incidents meaningful only as instances of themes-themes which are generated within the news production process. Thus, something becomes a "serious type of crime" on the. basis of what is going on inside newsrooms, not outside them. (536) framing framing: the ability to shape the meaning of a subject, to judge its character and significance. To hold the frame of a subject is to choose one particular meaning (or set of meanings) over another. When we share our frames with others (the process of framing), we manage meaning because we assert that our interpretations should be taken as real over other possible interpretations. (The Art of Framing, p. 3) inquiry "Inquiry is the controlled or directed transformation of an indeterminate situation into one that is so determinate in its constituent distinctions and relations as to convert the elements of the original situation into a unified whole" Dewey delineates the \"stages\" in the process of inquiry in the following way: 1. the indeterminate situation 2. the institution of a problem 3. the determination of a problem solution 4. reasoning 5. the operational character of facts meaning 6. the determination of the common sense or scientific inquiry (101-119) mental model The models are constructed in working memory as a result of perception, the comprehension of discourse, or imagination. A crucial feature is that their structure corresponds to the structure of what they represent. Mental Models are accordingly akin to architects' models of buildings and to chemists' models of complex molecultes. (525) mental model "Discourse rarely provides us with a fully explicit description of a situation; instead we appear to make 'bridging' inferences whose conclusions have their source in a model of the situation" (224). mental spaces "I introduce the notion of mental spaces. constructs distinct from linguistic structures but built up in any discourse according to guidelines provided by the linguistic expressions." Fauconnier, [i]Mental Spaces[/i], 16 narrative narratlve. The recounting (as product and process, object and act, structure and structuration) of one or more real or fictional events communicated by one, two, or several (more or less overt)narrators t one, two, or several (more or less overt) narratees. narrative … what makes Narrative unique among the text-types is its "chrono-logic," its doubly temporal logic. Narrative entails movement through time not only "exter¬nally" (the duration of the presentation of the novel, film, play) but also "internally" (the duration of the sequence of events that con¬stitute the plot). The first operates in that dimension of narrative called Discourse (or récit or syuzhet), the second in that called Story (histoire or fabula). In traditional narratives, the internal or story logic entails the additional principle of causality (event a causes b, b causes c, and so on) or, more weakly, what might be called "contingency" (a does not directly cause b, nor does b cause c, but they all work together to evoke a certain situation or state of affairs x). Non-narrative text-types do not have an internal time sequence, even though, obviously, they take time to read, view, or hear. Their underlying structures are static or atemporal—synchronic not dia¬chronic. For instance, Arguments are texts that attempt to persuade an audience of the validity of some proposition, usually proceeding along deductive or inductive lines. Descriptions render the properties of things—typically, though not necessarily, objects visible to or imaginable by the senses. They "portray," "depict," or "represent." narrative In very general terms, narrative is the encoding of previous experiences that took place at a specific point or over a specific interval in a past-time story-world (Polanyi 1985: 41). In their narrativisation, experiences are segmented into a sequence of discrete events that are temporally ordered. Although the definitions of an event are numerous and often controversial, an event in its wide sense refers to \'an occurrence in some world which is encoded in a proposition which receives an instantaneous rather than durative interpreta narrative If critical theory in the 195os had too few words for the classification of narratives, literary history had too many. An anthology of literature that is arranged chronologically will usually contain examples of the long narrative forms that preceded the novel�the epic and the romance. Short forms such as the humorous fabliau, the animal fable, the exemplum (an example with a moral), the Christian legend, and the folktale may be represented in selections from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, which, like Boccaccio's Decameron and the Thousand and OneNights, uses a "framework" to unify a number of short tales. Some narratives may remain unclassified (is Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene a courtesy book, a romance, an epic, an allegory, or all four?). Other narrative kinds, such as the detective story, gothic fiction, and science fiction, are not represented in most anthologies. While all these names are useful in indicating what sort of story is involved, they are the haphazard products of history: narratives that are in many respects similar may have different names simply because they appeared at different times, and one name such as "romance" may include three or four kinds of story that have little in common. It is this gap between history without theory and an oversimplified theory that cannot account for literary history that Frye tried to fill in his classifications of narrative. One difficulty presented by this welter of names for narratives is that the criteria used to distinguish them keep shifting. Sometimes the subject of a story will determine its name (as in the case of science fiction and the gothic); in other cases, a formal feature (verse or prose, long or short) is the defining characteristic; the work may even be classified on the basis of the reaction it evokes (comic, serious) or its method of creating meaning (as in the case of allegory and the exemplum). Frye was conscious of this problem, and solved it by redefining literary terms in accordance with one particular aspect of their meaning. In order to produce a coherent scheme that would give literary history some theoretical order, he classified "modes" of literature according to the nature of the worlds and characters they depicted (their subject matter). One virtue of Frye's schema is that it breaks down the artificial barriers that had separated verse from prose, oral from written, and short from long narratives, thus inhibiting discussion of what they had in common. Another advantage is that it reveals a general relationship between the course of history and changes in fiction. The progression from myth to irony corresponds roughly to the evolution from pre-Medieval Europe to the twentieth century. This same pattern can be discerned in classical literature, from Homer to Roman satire. Perhaps society and literature change in a cyclic rather than a linear pattern; if so, the imaginative strains of recent fiction may auger a return (with a difference) to myth. Frye's historical theory is much clearer than history itself. Once a type of narrative has been preserved in writing, it can always be imitated later in Frye's cycle, as he himself points out; thus oral epics served as models for cultivated counterparts, and medieval romances were reborn in the Romantic period. Another complication of his theory is that while the subdivisions are clear, they identify certain tendencies in literature, not kinds of narrative, drama, and lyric. Parts of epic poems are spread across three modes. Perhaps this is inevitable because oral narratives may be modified and expanded over long periods, assimilating varied materials, and even written works can incorporate diversified fragments of the author's reading. When he turns from literary history to a discussion of the kinds of literature, Frye provides a taxonomy that is more empirical. For the three categories drama, poetry, and fiction (an obviously faulty division, because fictional poetic narratives were common before the modern period), he substitutes three that are more precisely defined, on the basis of how they are presented to the audience. If acted before spectators, the work is a drama; for works originally spoken, sung, or chanted to listeners, Frye uses the word "epos"; if written to be read, he calls them "fiction." For those interested in narrative, this classification has disadvantages in that it separates stories that are delivered orally from those that are written. But the comparison of different theories to different maps is relevant here: by disregarding some aspects of literature, Frye's theory of genres throws others into sharp relief. There is an important difference between oral and written narrative traditions. Scholars have studied the former in detail, but until recently they had not considered how writing and printing affect the production of stories "told" by an author who is not present to a solitary reader. Second�by defining fiction as "some- thing made for its own sake" rather than as something false that appears true, Frye can show that the novel and short story represent only one type of fiction, and that there are others equally deserving of attention. Having defined genres on the basis of what he calls their "radical of presentation" (acted, spoken, or written), Frye identifies four species of fiction. It is not subject matter (the basis of his theory of modes) but the author's perspective on the subject that governs this classification. The author's gaze may be directed outward or inward�extroverted or introverted�producing a record of the world, or a vision of reality as transformed by the imagination. The subject may also be apprehended in personal or in intellectual terms. Frye says that "the forms of prose fiction are mixed, like racial strains in human beings, not separable like the sexes." Between the four primary types�novel, romance, anatomy, and confession�are four secondary ones produced when they combine. Two secondary forms that belong on the diagram do not appear there because of typographical limitations: the diagonal combinations of anatomy and romance (e.g., Moby Dick) and of novel and confession (fictional autobiography, such as Defoe's Moll Flanders). The center of the diagram is occupied by what Frye calls a "fifth and quintessential form," the encyclopaedic, which combines all the others. He does not explore the question of why writing and reading should yield these types of literature, but his emphasis on the intellectual patterns found in the anatomy and the confession implies that they can be created and understood only when author and reader can repeatedly refer to a written record in a non-sequential fashion. The same is true of encyclopaedic forms. But the effect of writing on the novel and romance is less evident, in view of their close relationship to the oral tradition. (32-34) perspective "One factor involved in alternative construals has to do with perspective. Consider: The path falls steeply into the valley. The path climbs steeply out of the valley. Although these sentences could be used to describe the same scene, we would hardly want to say that they express the same meaning. The difference between them has to do with perspective. In (3) the viewpoint is that of someone looking down into the valley, whereas in (4) it is that of someone looking up from the valley floor." (2-3) post-disciplinary "Disciplines look at what they recognize, or more precisely, see only what they recognize no matter where they look. The irregular, ad hoc procedures of lore are "non-disciplinary," to be sure. But it seems possible to construe them also as "post-disciplinary" in their willingness to use, but refusal to be constrained by, existing institutional rules of knowledge production." prototype [A prototype is the best example of a conceptual category, for example, the category “bird.”] For example, take [Eleanor Rosch’s] results showing prototype effects within the category bird. Her experimental ranking shows that subjects view robins and sparrows as the best examples of birds, with owls and eagles lower down in the rankings and ostriches, emus, and penguins among the worst examples. … Rosch's ratings … are just ratings and do not make any claims at all. They are consistent with the interpretation that the category bird has strict boundaries and that robins, owls, and penguins are all 100 percent members of that category. However, that category must have additional internal structure of some sort that produces these goodness-of-example ratings. Moreover, that internal structure must be part of our concept of what a bird is …. Category structure plays a role in reasoning. In many cases, prototypes act as cognitive reference points of various sorts and form the basis for inferences (Rosch 1975a, 1981). The study of human inference is part of the study of human reasoning and con¬ceptual structure; hence, those prototypes used in making inferences must be part of conceptual structure. (44-45) register, semantic "Types of linguistic situation differ from on another, broadly speaking, in three respects: first, what is actually taking place; secondly, who is taking part; and thirdly, what part the language is playing. These three variables, taken together, determine the range within which meanings are selected and the forms which are used for the expression. In other words, they determine the 'register.' The notion of register is at once very simple and very powerful. It refers to the fact that the language we speak or write varies according to the type of situation. This in itself is no more than stating the obvious. What the theory of register does is to attempt to uncover the general principles which govern this variation, so that we can begin to understand what situational factors determine what linguistic features. It is a fundamental property of all language that they display variation according to use; but surprisingly little is yet known about nature of the variation involved, largely because of the difficulty of identifying the controlling factors." (31-32) computational model of mind The theory that the mind works much as a computer (thesis of Dawson's Chapter 2 — jjs) expression Expression is the pairing of a conceptualization and a vocalization, or the schematic representation of such a pairing. Linguistic expressions constitute a continuum, varying in level of specificity and contextual inclusiveness, that subsumes the traditional "sentences" and "utterances" as special cases. [I.I.I;11.2.1] Langacker, Foundations of Cognitive Grammar configuration In general, a configuration is the expression that accompanies configuring. To put the matter as simply as possible, a configuration offers an analogy from one realm of experience to suggest the contour of an experience in another realm. script Some episodes [we experience] are reminiscent of others. As an economy measure in the storage of episodes, when enough of them are alike they are remembered in terms of a standardized generalized episode which we call a script. Thus, rather than list the details of what happened in a restaurant for each visit to a restaurant, memory simply lists a pointer (link) to what we call the restaurant script ... (19) experience gap The differences between the experiences of different persons communicating with each other. When persons do not understand other persons because they "lack" the experience(s) to which the other persons refer, metaphorically speaking, there is a "gap" in their memory systems that prevents them from understanding--the experiential context is missing. null experience In instances where persons cannot share experiences, either of two conditions usually pertains: (1) one of the persons has not yet had experiences that would enable communication, or (2) one of the persons CANNOT actually have the experiences that would enable communication. This study focuses upon experiences that persons cannot actually have which are termed "null experiences" Type 1 is a TYPICAL null experience and occurs frequently. Type 2 is a RADICAL null experience and occurs in specific racial, gendered, generational, or specialized communications. The adjective "null" refers to the significant absence of an experience that would aid a person in understanding another person(s). It also reflects the fact that there is a "gap" in a person's experience owing to the circumstance that not having had a particular experience means that there is no "record" of it in a person's memory system. virtual experience A virtual experience is the sensation of having an experience in effect but not in fact. It takes place by visualizing (imagining or imaging) a script assembled from the memory of past experiences. It can be accompanied by immersion, transportation or, when the sensations are vivid, by entracement. story A causal sequence of events pertinent to a character or characters seeking to solve a problem or reach a goal. As such, though every story is a narrative (the recounting of one or more events), not every narrative is necessarily a story (consider, for instance, a narrative merely recounting a temporal sequence of events that are not causally related). life story A life story is a fairly complete narrating of one's entire experience of life as a whole, highlighting the most important aspects. [It] is the story a person chooses to tell about the life he or she has lived, told as completely and honestly as possible, what is remembered of it, and what the teller wants others to know of it, usually as a result of a guided interview by another. (8) narrative structure [A narrative structure is] a description of [a narrative] according to its componet parts and the relationship of these components to each other and to the whole... [T]he functions of the dramatis personae are basic components of the tale .... understood as an act of a characcter, defined from the point of view of its significance for the course of the action... Functions of characters serve as stable, constant elements in a tale, indpendent of how and by whom they are fulfilled. They constitute the fundamental compponents of a tale. Let us compare the following events: 1. A tsar give an eagle to a hero. The eagle carries the hero away to another kingdom 2. An old man give Sucenko a horse. The horse carries Sucenko away to another kingdom 3. A sorcerer gives Ivan a little boat. The boat takes Ivan to another kingdom 4. A princess gives Ivan a ring. Young men appearing from out of the ring carry Ivan away into another kingdom, and so forth. Both constants and variables are present in the preceding instances. The names of the dramatis personae change (as well as the attributes of each), but neither their actions nor functions change. (19-21)[All four of the partial narratives above have the same narrative structure because the characters have the same function in each one. jjs] personal history A personal history is an individuals recollection of the events of his or her own life as well as the events included before it. It is an idiosyncratic view of what happened in the world before and during one’s lifetime. A personal history is the narrative a person would tell in response to a question such as “what happened in World War II?” On the one hand, the person to whom the question is directed may be able to respond with anecdotes or stories about his role in that war. On the other hand, he or she may have to report the virtual experiences that are stored in his or her memory systems. In the later case, the virtual experiences are just as much a part of the personal history of a person as actual experiences. In many cases, actual and virtual expriences are merged in personal histories. Given the current accounts of our memory stores, personal histories are likely to be “scripted,” that is, likely to rely on the same narrative structures that are used in simulating situations in everyday life. In other words, the activity of forming a personal history is configural, that is, depends upon transpositions of scripts. culture A culture is primarily a way of living, a set of practices which are inculcated in the members of that culture by the institutions which authorize them on the basis of the beliefs that constitute the authorizing institution. [ Take marriage as an instance of a cultural practice central to the specificity of a particular culture. The ritual which joins persons in marriage is authorized by the institution of marriage (as a religious or civil service) which is founded and maintained on the basis of a beliefs like monogamy, incest taboos, and so forth. Thus you have a ritual, which establishes a custom as valid. The validity of this ritualized custom is maintained by the threat of punishment--being demoted in the social order of things. ] culture Raymond Williams identifies three common meanings of the term, "culture": (1) "a general process of intellectual, spiritual, and aesthetic development"; (2) "a particular way of life, whether of a people, a period or a group"; (3) "the works and practices of intellectual and especially artistic activity" --the "most widespread use" (from Raymond Williams's Keywords, 80). He remarks that these "complex senses indicate a complex argument about the relations between general human development and a particular way of life, and between both and the works and practices of art and intelligence" (80-81). culture "In this book I shall use the word culture to suggest an environment, process, and hegemony in which individuals (in their private circumstances) and their works are embedded, as well as overseen at the top by a superstructure and at the base by a whole series of methodological attitudes. It is in culture that we can seek out the range of meanings and ideas conveyed by the phrases belonging to or in a place, being at home in a place. The idea of culture of course is a vast one. As a systematic body of social and political as well as historical significance, 'culture' is similarly vast (Kroeber, A. L. and Clyde Kluckhohn. Culture: A critical Review of Concepts and Definitions. 1963, 8) "In the first place, culture is used to designate not merely something to which one belongs but something that one possesses and, along with that proprietary process, culture also designates a boundary by which the concepts of what is extrinsic or intrinsic to the culture comes into forceful play." (89). . . "But, in the second place, there is a more interesting dimension to this idea of culture by virtue of its elevated or superior position to authorize, to dominate, to legitimate, demote, interdict, and validate; in short, the power of culture to be an agent of, and perhaps the main agency for, powerful differentiation within its domain and beyond it too." (9.) from Edward Said's "Secular Criticism": cultural configuration A cultural configuration is a configuration (which offers an analogy from one realm of experience to suggest the contour of an experience in another realm) that employs a story as an analogy to the performance of a cultural practice so that the listerner or reader can learn how to behave as a member of the culture. Fairy tales are good examples of cultural configurations because they teach children how to behave. Aesop's fables is another good example. Their "moral" lesson at the end makes explicit what the listener is supposed to learn about being a member of a culture. The most promineant cultural configuration in European civilization is the life of Christ. Cultural configurations are not limited to fairy tales and biblical stories, any story that is continuously repeated in a culture configures a practice that supports the beliefs associated with that culture. Thus classical literature is a storehouse of cultural configurations. With the advent of the electronic age TV shows that are continuously repeated, novels that are continuously republished, and films that are contintuously shown are cultural configurations. Bildungsroman ". . . the Bildungsroman [is]. the novel of all-round development for self-culture, of which Wilhelm Meister is the archetype, and which flourishes today in countless modern German novels. (p. 6). Bildungsroman Jerome Hamilton Buckeley suggests that English Bildungsromane all tell a story in which: A child of some sensibility grows up in the country or in a provincial town, where he finds constraints, social and intellectual, placed upon the free imagination. His family, especially his father, proves doggedly hostile to his creative instincts or flights of fancy, antagonistic to his ambitions, and quite impervious to the new ideas he has gained from unprescribed reading. His first schooling, even if not totally inadequate, may be frustrating insofar as it may suggest options not available to him in his present setting. He therefore, sometimes at a quiet early age, leaves the repressive atmosphere of home (and also the relative innocence) to make his way independently in the city. There his real "education" begins, not only his preparation for a career but also. . . his direct experience of urban life. The latter involves at least two love affairs or sexual encounters, one debasing, one exalting, and demands that in this respect and others the hero reappraise his values. By the time he has decided, after painful soul-searching, the sort of accommodation to the modern world he can honestly make, he has left his adolescence behind and entered upon his maturity. His initiation complete, he may then visit his old home to demonstrate by his presence the degree of his success or the wisdom of his choice Grail Quest The QUEST story is one of the oldest stories we have, dating back to [i]Gilgamesh[/i]. [i]Jason and the Argonauts[/i] is another ancient quest story and perhaps the prototype of the genre in which a young man discovers who he is by searching for a treasure—in Jason's case, the golden fleece. In the medieval period, the Grail quest stories continued this tradition of storytelling. The Grail story begins with Perceval as a boy seeing King Arthur's knights and wanting to become one. He goes to Arthur's court. At the round table is a chair in which only the grail questor can sit. None of Arthur's knights have been able to sit in it. Perceval, not knowing about the chair, sits in it. Everyone is astonished. Perceval then finds out who he is—the person who finds the Grail. The "treasure" at the end of the quest is a symbol of identity. configuring Configuring is a process by which one person projects unto another person in a recognizable situation an explicit or implicit narrative pattern of virtual experience drawn from the memory of past experiences and constructed (blended) from the perspective of the other person in the interaction to fit the actual interpersonal experience. Configuring is a "figuring out" through analogies (& combining elements of framed memories), an attempt to trace in general the contour of interactions to see how specific instances work. transposition This again is not an act of deliberate judgment. I do not begin by observing the presence of a feeling in my mind and then judge that it is a reflection of something in his, but it is immediately projected and perceived by me as his. This projection Dilthey calls a "transposition of myself" (Uebertragung, Transposition, Sichhineinversetzen). It means perceiving the other person as possessed of an inner life essentially like my own, and so " rediscovering myself in the Thou. [Dilthey's conception as explained by H. A. Hodges] self self: the sense of personal continuity that characterizes every individual’s personality; the organized body of knowledge that everyone has abut who one is, that one feels and believes, and who one wishes to be; and the subjective sense of being at the center of experiences in which one is involved. … The self has the capability of … taking aspects of its own context and its own functioning as the object of its awareness. [Eysenck, The Blackwell Dictionary of Cognitive Psychology] others All \'identities\' require an other: some other in and through which a relationship with whom self-identity is actualized. ... By complementarity I denote that fuction of personal relations whereby the other fulfils or completes self. ... A woman cannot be a mother without a child to give her the identity of a mother. A man needs a wife for him to be a husband. (82-83) models of & models for The term "model" has, how-ever, two senses—an "of" sense and a "for" sense—and though these are but aspects of the same basic concept they are very much worth distinguishing for analytic purposes. In the first, what is stressed is the manipulation of symbol structures so as to bring them, more or lessclosely, into parallel with the pre-established nonsymbolic system, aswhen we grasp how dams work by developing a theory of hydraulics orconstructing a flow chart. The theory or chart models physical relationships in such a way—that is, by expressing their structure in synoptic form—as to render them apprehensible; it is a model of "reality." In the second, what is stressed is the manipulation of the nonsymbolic systems in terms of the relationships expressed in the symbolic, as when we construct a dam according to the specifications implied in an hydraulic theory or the conclusions drawn from a flow chart. Here, the theory is a model under whose guidance physical relationships are organized: it is a model for "reality." (93) The intertransposability of models for and models of which symbolic formulation makes possible is the distinctive characteristic of our mentality. (94) synchonic & diachronic axes Synchrony and Diachrony. Although the term "synchrony" and "diachrony" entered conventional linguistic terminology only with F. de Saussure, they can be [i]defined independently of the Saussurian theses[/i]. A linguistic phenomenon is said to be synchronic when all the elements and factors that it brings into play belong to one and same moment of one and the same language (that is, to a single language state). It is diachronic when it brings into play elements and factors belonging to different states of development of a single language." Ducrot, O., & Todorov, T. (1983). Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Sciences of Language. [emphais jjs] storyworld Storyworlds are mental models of who did what to and with whom, when, where, why, and in what fashion in the world to which recipients relocate—or make a deictic shift (Galbraith 1995; Segal 1995; Zubin and Hewitt 1995)—as they work to comprehend a narrative. As I discuss in more detail below, I here use the term world (and storyworld) in a manner more or less analogous with linguists' use of the term discourse model. A discourse model can be defined as a global mental representation enabling interlocutors to draw inferences about items and occurrences either explicitly or implicitly included in a discourse (Emmott 1997; Green 1989; Grosz and Sidner 1986; McKoon et al. 1993; Webber 1979). By the same token, and like Jahn's cognitive frames, storyworlds—or models for understanding narrative discourse—function in both a top-down and bottom-up way during narrative comprehension. They guide readers to assume that jets, cell phones, and plasma-guns do not exist in the world of Madame Bovary (Flaubert 1992). But they are also subject to being updated, revised, or even abandoned with the accretion of textual cues, as when the reader of John Lanchester's [i]The Debt to Pleasure[/i] (1996) gradually realizes that the storyworld is not at all the way its narrator, a homicidal gourmand, says it is. (Herman, Story Logic, 5-6) episodic memory "Episodic memory does exactly what the other forms of memory do not and connot do—it enables the individual to mentally "travel back into her personal past." . . . "Episodic memory has evolved from other forms of memory, and obeys the basic time relations of its constituent mileposts: The individual does something at Time 1 and remembers it at Time 2. But episodic memory differs from all others in that at Time 2, its time's arrow is no more an arrow, it loops back to Time 1" Tulving, E. (1998). Neurocognitive Processes of Human Memory. (265) Cultural Studies Stuart Hall felt that media should not be studied as a seperate topic rather how it interacts with culture and specifically power relations. Cultural studies analyzes how media preserves the status quo. Stuart Hall believes that the media works to oppress the poor and maintain the rich and powerful's elite status. Something that most citizens are unaware of. Cultural Studies is a wholistic view of medial and culture, it examines how media controls society and the way culture operates. Instead of people getting news from the television, Hall would argue that televsion controls how we as a society think. Cultural Studies Hall focuses on the idea of how media plays a role in how power is distributed within a society. Marxism and other theories dealing with power distribution between the public and private sphere have influenced much of his own ideas. Media plays a strong role on how the private class communicates with the public. What the media communicates to the public and what the public should and should not know has become controversial. With that said, cultural and media studies correlate in understanding the imbalance of power distributed within a society. Stuart Hall refers to his work as cultural studies rather than media studies for several reasons. The term media, plural of medium, focuses on how information is sent out and received. However, how media communicates is extremely important to understanding culture. Hall argues that many theorists have failed to realize that it is not what information is being given, but how the information is communicated. Hall’s terms that he prefers to use hold a strong emphasis on how media plays a strong role in cultural studies. In certain cultures, media tends to introduce several different ideas and values to the public, yet they conclude with what will most likely be accepted by the dominant group. The Pentad Theory According to Kenneth Burke, all of life is a narrative or story from which we act out. Every situation that we are a part of has distinct parts to it that can be clearly identified and observed. He states that all of our ways of communicating with one another can be described in 5 elements which he puts together and calls the pentad. The 5 elements are act, agency, agent, scene, and purpose. The act describes exactly what is going in on the situation, what the agents are doing, the agent is who carries out the act, the agency is how the situation is carried out or done or if the agent relied on anyone or anything to complete the act, the scene is when and where the act takes place, and the purpose is why the acts were done. Different people within or across different cultures can interpret the pentadic elements of any communicated situation in different ways. Sometimes certain parts of the pentad are more important than others in different situations. The terms are always ambiguous and can always be argued for or against. The terms often over lap each other and depend on each other to make the entire “story” or human act complete. It is necessary for some of these elements to overlap, the overlap makes the pentad work and be a valid theory Every time two of the elements overlap, it allows space for the ambiguity. People can interpret things differently and these areas where the two elements overlap is the area which can come to their own conclusions about the situation which in turn allows us to better understand how different people communicate in different situations and scenarios. Burke states that if you can point out the 5 elements of every act than you will be able to understand what is going on in a given situation. Agenda setting Agenda setting is a concept which the media tells viewers and society what to think about. The theory postulates that the media enlightens the same stories day after day which give us no other choice but to discuss them amongst one another. The media does not tell us what to think rather what to think about by giving us topics which the media think are important to discuss. Through this function of mass media people tend to attribute importance according to media exposure. Heavy media exposure of the same topics only gives the impression that we should discuss them publicly even if there are disagreements. Agenda setting function plays a large part in the lives of a submissive audience. The two most popular topics used through agenda setting are politics and violence. Since those topics are heavily exposed on the news the media portrays the topics as very tragic because it gives the audience something to talk about after watching it. In today’s society public opinion goes a long way. If you are not within the public beliefs and what the media views as important then you become socially inadequate to discuss the relevant topics. cultivation theory The Cultivation theory looks at the effects of media, television especially on the attitudes and behaviors of people. Developed by George Gerbner who fathered the term, cultivation theory can be linked to everyday television viewing and the effect of violence on television. In Gerbner and Larry Gross's article, Living with Television: The Violence Profile, looks at the effects of violence on television in regards to adults and children. They wanted to research how extensive television viewing reflects the ideas of violence by its viewers. Television as Gerbner and Gross stated has become America’s main source of entertainment. Therefore the views and ideas expressed on them become those of the viewers. The consumption of a lot of violence on television leads individuals to believe that the world is truly this violent when in reality it is not. Gerbner also developed the term the “mean world complex”. This complex states that people see the world as being more violent than it actually is. Showing violent content on television or certain violent aspects of a news program is a form of control over the public and changes how they see the world. Gerbner and Gross state that, “ TV violence is a dramatic demonstration of power which communicates much about social norms and relationships about goals and means, about winners and losers, about the risks of life and the price for transgressions of society’s rules” (Gerbner & Gross). This means that the images and situations presented on television programs establish control over its viewers by showing them the consequences of certain acts and acceptable behavior. For example, if a person living in the suburbs of Chicago is constantly bombarded with images of violent minority youth, they will begin to associate violence with all poor minority groups. Although they may have never been around another minority group before, because those certain images are constantly being showed on the news and referenced to in television programs, they will use the events happening in those shows with reality as a backdrop. Pentad Theory Kenneth Burke believed that all human action is dramatic. Burke said that because our language is dramatic we think dramatically and look at life through a dramatic lens. The foundation of his idea of Dramatism is the concept of motive: the reasons why people do the things they do. Burke said that the ways in which we communicate can be described using five elements: the act, scene, agent, agency, and purpose, these became known as the Pentad. The act element is what happens or what was done, the scene describes when and where it was done, the agent is who did it, the agency is how it was done, and the purpose is why the act was done. Burke believed that if you could figure out these 5 elements in every act you will be able to understand what is truly happening in any situation. Each and every one of these elements serves a purpose. Although we have many words to choose from, we often select these as the basics for any story or situation. These elements will always be ambiguous, some elements are more important than others in situations and sometimes they even overlap. When the elements over lap they depend on each other and it helps to make the story more complete. Leaving room for ambiguity is helpful because then we can see how different people react in certain situations and be able to study their ways of communicating. Cultural Studies It is through cultural studies that Stuart Hall believes one is able to comprehend the role of the media in preserving the status quo. Hall questions why Marx’s prediction that the lower class would revolt against the elite after WWII, never took place. Hall argues that those in power are able to hold on to it thanks to the support of the media, and therefore, the media impacts the lower class by defending the status quo and those in power. Hall calls these ideas cultural studies instead of media studies because he feels it is a mistake to separate the study of individual behavior from the study of communication. The media presents its audience with carefully selected news/information that supports the ideology of the elites in society, where the few that have economic and social power hold dominance over the rest of society. Hall moves beyond the Marxist interpretation of the status quo, and tries to empower the exploited by making them conscious through cultural studies. News Propaganda News media does not aim to provoke thoughtful discussion but rather leave the audience with a vivid image. It is impossible for news sources to cover everything that happens from day to day. News outlets have to make selection about which stories to feature, inevitably leaving out “more than 75% of potential news items of the day.” In our western society, this kind of selectiveness in the news is subject to criticism by the public. Since reporters typically cover a certain beat it becomes difficult for audiences to get a rich, in-depth idea of all the news of the day. Instead they get redundant stories with little variance. These assigned beats also make it difficult for reporters to get a variety of stories. Often they fall into routine, placing biases in their stories. In addition, there is only a small amount of companies who own a primarily large portion of media outlets including daily newspapers, magazines, record companies, and film studios. Reporters working for the companies that mainly dominate the media industry get pressure from to report on stories that reflect positively on those companies and their parent companies; again creating biased news. Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis states that ones language determines what he or she is able to think about. From this hypothesis the idea of Linguistic Determinism developed. According to the idea of Linguistic Determinism, becasue language determines what we think, it also determines the way we view the world. At the same time language limits what are are able to think about and comprehend. Sapir and Whorf hypothesized that if one does not have a word or label for an object or idea, they are unable to think about it. In relation, Sapir and Whorf also believed that because language determines how one views the world, people from different cultures and with different languages view the world in different ways. Agenda Setting Agenda setting theory is a theory that argues that the news media puts into action to somewhat force viewers, what to think about rather than just what to think. With agenda setting, the media will concentrate on a few specific topics and issues on a daily basis that they feel are more important and deserve special attention. Because the viewers continue to see the same subjects day after day, they then tend to believe that what is being shown is much more important than other issues. The one topic that can be seen the most in agenda setting, is politics. Politics consist of people in power positions trying to persuade us to believe in what they have to say, and therefore the agenda setting theory fits in perfectly with those who can force us to see their message and issues. Agenda setting theory can be related to cultivation theory, which happens when viewers view reality similarly to what they see on television. So therefore, if a viewer watches the same thing over and over again (due to agenda setting), they will start to view what they see as the only reality (cultivation theory). The Cultivation Theory George Gerbner asserts in the Cultivation Theory that the mass media is in basically control of the shaping of a culture in regards to its general values, attitudes, expectations, behaviors, roles, etc. of members within the culture. By constantly being exposed to popular culture via the media, individuals begin to perceive the world and reality in accordance with the way it is presented on television. While individuals of a given culture are limited to a very specific type of media coverage and entertainment, they begin to process information in a way that is compatible with their most familiar conceptions. As technology has become such a vital part of our everyday lives, individual transformations eventually expand to cultural transformations. Ultimately, the culture in general develops an agreeance over what issues are prominent and what entertainment is most heavily valued. The Cultivation Theory declares that a culture is literally cultivated by the effects of mass media. Bases of Modern Rhetoric When we talk about the terms of language, we are refering to the ability that grammar has on rhetoric and our language motives in communication. Language allows us to structure out thought. Kenneth Burke's idea of the modern basis of rhetoric is and has been warranted as being very popular in communication studies. According to Burke, our sense of self comes from the society we are accustomed toward. This means that one's ideas and words are defined by one another's ideas and words. Burke also expressed the idea that the systems of beliefs in our communication society keep us from seeing the outside of our beliefs which in turn motivate us in decision making. An important communication concept in this instance is that motivation brings things together through identification. Identification stems from an argument which serves as the common-ground in Burke's idea of con-substantiation. Con-substansiation means the bringing together of a common ground when referring to the motives of argument and identification. This derives from his idea of core motivation. The relationship is what is important; you need to have a relationship in order to have a conversation in Burke's vision. Also, everything is motivated. Motivation, another key concept in the communication process, influences the rhetoric pursuasion elements in communication practices. According to Burke, "nothing is unmotivated" and most importantly, "drama is a nice way to look at our motives while communicating through them." The symbolic aspect of motive techniques has evolved dramatically over the years. However, Burke gives us an ideal model of how communication works and has evolved within the many counterparts of our society. We as humans, think in terms of language. We make our points interact through rhetoric. It is the basic substance of our argument. In Burke's vision, we use words to get to the end, or our "terminal screens" which is symbolic for every idea has a motive, a language, and a terminal ending point. The words that we use in daily rhetoric; whether it be narrative story telling, or argumentive persuasion, creates the voice of logic used and practiced in everyday communication. Re-thinking Objectivity Brent Cunningham argues that we should reconsider the aspect of objective journalism. Watching George Bush's speeches carefully led him to believe that the coverage of the War of Iraq had holes due to objective journalism. He claims that Bush mentioned all the glory in taking over Iraq for U.S. control to help the Middle East and in revenge of the terrorist attacks, but never mentioned the aftermath. Beca use reporters refused to bring up such an obvious issue, he concluded that it was because reporters rely on objective journalism. Reporters are hesitant to bring up issues into the news that aren't already there. By doing this, they satisfy government and continue to gain access to important documents, etc. Objective journalism makes reporters lazy and makes them rely on official sources, satisfying readers on the he said, she said premises. He days that the only reason this type of journalism is still relevant ia because there is nothing else better available. Face-Negotiation Theory Theorist, Stella Ting-Toomey explains how cultural values are linked to cultural conflict. Facework, communication strategies used to save our own or someone else´s public image, plays a large factor on how an individual or a group of people deal with conflict depending on their own cultural background. When dealing with conflict, people deal with the process of managing self-identity that is acceptable by their own culture. The way people deal with conflict correlates with how they were raised and what they observed from their own cultural experience. This theory has opened the doors to direct research dealing with how one specific culture responds to conflict compared to another. Dramatism Kenneth Burke was a theorist who introduced his theory of Dramatism. He felt that the way people conducted communication was through dramatic exchanges of motives and information. He managed to concentrate his theory around five key principles: Act, Scene, Agent, Agency, and Purpose. These five principles were Burke’s Pentad. Each principle is meant to help one understand how another may think or act by answering five questions: What happened? (act). When or Where it happened? (scene). Who’s the one who made it happen? (agent). How it happened? (agency). And why it happened? (purpose). Using the Pentad allows one to simplify the conversation in order to help understand the motive behind information presented. Utilizing the principles, Burke stated that people strategically emphasize on certain ones in order to achieve a certain goal in a conversation. Also, for one to emphasize on certain principles may reflect ones culture as well. Symbolic Interactionism Symbolic Interactionism is the study of human behavior and life. Herbert Blumer thought of the theory as the process through which humans make meaning of symbols. There are three main principles that are involved in this theory, they include; meaning, language, and thought. Meaning is central in human behavior and people act towards other human beings or things based on the meanings they have given them. Language, the second core principle in the theory, it allows humans to engage in speech acts which permit them to identify meaning and develop conversation. George H. Mead influenced Blumer in his thought of language because Mead believed that naming objects was the instrument that allowed for humans to communicate about society and acquire knowledge. Thought, the last core principle can be explained as one having a mental dialogue or taking another person's point of view. Individuals are allowed to interpret symbols through thought and create their own interpretation of meaning. The theory of Symbolic Interactionism is successful in evaluating human behavior because it provides a starting point to comprehend the creation of meaning. Sapir-whorf Hypothesis The principle of Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, as cultivated by American linguist and athropologist Edward Sapir and collaborative student Benjamin Lee Whorf, illustrates the notion that social realities are constructed through the use of organizational language. The complete hypothesis embodies two key principles: linguistic determinism and linguistic reality. The concept of linguistic determinism renders that language determines the way in which we think. The latter, linguistic relativity, furthers this idea by including that the type of language affects the way one view’s the world. The differences in one’s linguistic structure channels cognitive divergence, therefore altering the ways in which one interprets their surroundings. Human beings organize their environment into specific concepts definitive to their language and accredit unique meaning based on the associated linguistic codes. Without language, an individual would lack the capacity to think critically and extensively. Agenda Setting Agenda setting is a way for the media to control what the audience thinks about. What is shown in the news and printed in the newspapers is limited to events that are commons on the news; events that people are used to seeing or hearing about. These events include sports, weather, politics, and violence. Within these events there is also selection as to what is important and what should be shown. There is not much of an option for the audience to choose from. There is so much news in the world that the media can cover and we think we know it all. However, the truth is that we talk about what we are shown because that is what we consider important. The media decides what is important for people to talk about and the audience has no choice but to go along with it. It would be expected that a journalist is free to write about anything they want and the audience gets to hear about everything because there is so much a journalist can be interested in. Yet, Journalists do not have as much freedom as one might thinks. Censorship helps companies and the government control what people can see and how they basically think. One example Pratakanis gives is how the Nazi party had established their own publishing company and controlled more than 150 publishing companies. The Nazi party was about to control what people could see and what they couldn’t. They determined what was important for the audience to discuss. That is one reason Hitler was able to have some much control over people and their thinking. Agenda setting can be seen in the Nazi party way of controlling what people see and think is important. If the media tells the audience that a certain thing is important and keeps emphasizing on it, then the audience will think about it because there is no other option. If everyone is talking about something then one person would not want to be left behind ; would eventually consider that news important and be interested in it. Narrative Storytelling From the perspective of Prof. Sosnoski, story telling can be told and used to understand not only ourselves, but others as well through configuring patterns. Null experiences, transpositions, and cultural/counter cultural narrative structures influence and enhance how we tell our own personal history from the cultures to which we belong. It has been said by many scholars throughout history that humans are rhetorical beings. I see this relationship toward Fisher's theory of the narrative paradigm. Thus, the theory of symbolic actions/words transposed into stories have sequence and meaning for those who live, create and interperet them. Humans are essentially rational beings. "Stories are the enactment of the whole mind in concert with itself"(Fisher, 1984.pg10). Fisher believed that the narrative paradigm in shared story telling offers ways for different individuals from different cultural backrounds to resolve the problems of public moral argument. This is what Sosnoski attributes configuring to story telling. "Storytelling is based on our ability to draw analogies between our experiences and those of others. It is the ability by which we are able to understand other human beings from different cultures"(Sosnoski,2010). Both Fisher and Sosnoski attribute storytelling in the narrative as a fundamental form of human communication. Narrative comes closer to capturing the experience of the world while discovering our cultural identity and that matter makes one story better than the other. Hence, the process of narrative story telling from both authors perspectives enhance the understanding or common ground between ourselves and others through the process of configuring. This is important in communication because we have the ability to learn a lot about a different cultures through the identification of storytelling. Sapir-Wharf Article The Sapir-Wharf article main thesis according to the article is that if you expand yourself by learning other languages you will began to see the world differently. It also states that language determines how and what you think, it controls your thinking process. The article also states that language confines you in a particular area, and that if you do not take it upon yourself to know more languages than you will be hindered as a individual. Sapir-Wharf article also stated that without language you are not a human being. That language is the determining factor of the level of exposure you will experience in one’s life. Sapir-Wharf stated “structural differences between language systems will, in general, be paralleled by nonlinguistic cognitive differences, of an unspecified sort, in the native speakers of the two languages.” Another main point in this argument is one that states that different languages change without limiting factors, which means that languages change and continue to change without any limitation. Language is always a key point on the interactional level, and without language you will be restricted. In laymen’s terms Sapir-Wharf stated that the more knowledge you know about different languages the more self- knowledge you will have as well as the more exposure you will experience. Sapir-Wharf believes that having and knowing more language improves your quality of life. The author of this article believe that all of Sapir-Wharf hypothesis should be rejected. The author believes that in this case that languages differ in meanings but not without constraint. He also believes that language does play a huge role in cognitive differences but is not the so strongly that widespread cognitive processes cannot be found under certain conditions. They believe in Sapir-Wharf when they stated that language is important but they do not believe the stated that language plays a significant role in your exposure to life and what all life has to offer. The article states that Sapir-Wharf believed that “We English-speakers "habitually" think of time as a segregable and aggregable quantity (or perhaps tend to think of it this way).” But Kay and Kempton believe that this pattern can be broken. They article stated that Kay and Kempton do not agree with Sapir-Wharf hypothesis and that they are flawed in many ways. Sapir-Wharf are stating that language is everything and Kay and Kempton are stating that yes language plays a huge part in everyday life but it is not the key determining factor in your everyday life experiences and advancement. Null Experience A null experience is when one person has experienced something and tries to relate this experience to another person. However, the other person cannot understand or grasp this experience because they themselves have not actually experienced it. A null experience can cause misunderstandings or a gap between people if they are unable to find an analogous event to compare it to, an analogous event can help the other party to better understand and relate to an experience they have never endured, by comparing it to something similar in their view. A null experience can be common between older generations and new generations because the old generation cannot relate to or understand the new generations experience because they lack the context. It is also often to find null experiences between different cultures because again they do not understand the experience because they lack the context behind it. Null experience Certain experiences that a person goes through can be related to by others. In the Cognitive Studies article, one of the main aspects that were touched on was the null experience. Through certain forms of configuration such as transposition, and transportation, a person may be able to relate to someone else’s experience without actually having to go through it. Transposition refers to one believing they can see the world as the other person does. The null experience refers to experiences that someone has gone through that are similar to the original but not identical. In order to relate to a story that is being told people tend to use instances in their own lives in order to fully understand what the other person was talking about. For example, if a person is to tell a story of how they almost lost their life in a car accident, though the listener may not have been in a car accident themselves they may bring up a story of someone they know has been in an automobile accident or an even in which they hurt themselves very badly as well. We use storytelling and narrative in order to create connections between one another. Configuring Configuring occurs when one person identifies so strongly with another’s previous experience that they feel similar emotions of the person who had the experience. This phenomenon occurs through the telling of a narrative, which causes the receivers to experience the same emotions that the teller experienced during the time the occasion took place. Configuring can take place through interpersonal communication, group communication, and even forms of mass media, such as films or novels. The act of configuring allows one to develop a better understanding of what the teller actually experienced, and how it felt for them. This is often applied to cross culture relationships, where unshared experiences are common. Configuring James J. Sosnoski defined the process of configuring as to figure something out through use of analogies. A person will attempt to describe in general the contour of similar intepersonal interactions that suggests how specific instances work. It draws an outline of personal interactions metaphorically. The best way to try and understand a different culture is through the process of configuration. To understand others we tell ourselves stories about them based on similarities between what they do and what we have done. Since we do not yet have the technology to see into people’s minds we have to draw analogies to understand them. Simply put, to configure is to use information from relationships we do understand in order to understand a new concept. Counter-Culture According to Sosnoski, Counter-Cultural identity recognizes an individual or a group of people who go against the norms of mainstream culture. Culture is constructed by configuration, a process in which stories are told to represent our identity within a culture. Therefore, when elements of configuration are deconstructed within a culture, it is defined as counter-cultural configuration. When mainstream culture identity is questioned, this can bring upon controversy between those for the mainstream culture and those who go against it leading to cultural conflict. Conflict can be caused by differences in religion, sexuality, or any other set of beliefs or ideas that differ from the norm. Cultural conflict can end through compromise, however, cultural conflict will always be a factor in behavioral patterns. Counter-Culture According to Sosnoski, Counter-Cultural identity recognizes an individual or a group of people who go against the norms of mainstream culture. Culture is constructed by configuration, a process in which stories are told to represent our identity within a culture. Therefore, when elements of configuration are deconstructed within a culture, it is defined as counter-cultural configuration. When mainstream culture identity is questioned, this can bring upon controversy between those for the mainstream culture and those who go against it leading to cultural conflict. Conflict can be caused by differences in religion, sexuality, or any other set of beliefs or ideas that differ from the norm. Cultural conflict can end through compromise, however, cultural conflict will always be a factor in behavioral patterns. Counter-Culture According to Sosnoski, Counter-Cultural identity recognizes an individual or a group of people who go against the norms of mainstream culture. Culture is constructed by configuration, a process in which stories are told to represent our identity within a culture. Therefore, when elements of configuration are deconstructed within a culture, it is defined as counter-cultural configuration. When mainstream culture identity is questioned, this can bring upon controversy between those for the mainstream culture and those who go against it leading to cultural conflict. Conflict can be caused by differences in religion, sexuality, or any other set of beliefs or ideas that differ from the norm. Cultural conflict can end through compromise, however, cultural conflict will always be a factor in behavioral patterns. Transposition A transposition means the observer is taken out of his or her location and takes on the point of view of the figure they are watching. A figure must be present and has to be someone the audience can relate with. Going through a transposition means the persons watching are going through the same experience as the self-figure. As the audience member becomes attached to the self-figure’s, the opponents of the self-figure become the audience member’s opponents as well. For example, in the popular comic book turned motion picture Spiderman, the character the green lantern is not only Peter Parker’s enemy but everyone in the audience who is relating to Peter Parker. The power of the transposition is shown in the onlooker’s emotional reaction. The strong emotions that are brought up by the transposition can be therapeutic and healing to audience’s members; it liberating to release emotions. It is important to note that a liberating release of emotions is only present when problems with the self-figure are resolved, otherwise feeling of tension may remain. Virtual Reality The basic concept of virtual reality is a sensory immersion through a computer generated environment. Included in the experience are sight, sound, touch, and smells. This is basically a kind of controllable reality simulation. Virtual communication technology refers to any means of interacting with others in virtual reality. Technology has globalized the communication process by making interacting with others more accessible. Understanding communication norms of other cultures will help individuals effectively communicate with people from other countries. There are many ways virtual reality will have a major impact on individuals. For instance, virtual reality will be integrated into daily life and activity and will be used in various human ways. Techniques will be developed to influence human behavior, interpersonal communication, and cognition (that is, virtual genetics). As we spend more and more time in virtual space, there will be a gradual “migration to virtual space,” resulting in important changes in economics, worldview, and culture. The design of virtual environments may be used to extend basic human rights into virtual space, to promote human freedom and well-being, and to promote social stability as we move from one stage in socio-political development to the next. Virtual reality will likely bring about major changes in social and economic life. Virtual reality will be used potentially in various fields such as entertainment, medicine, biotechnology, engineering, marketing and design. Nevertheless, virtual reality will increasingly merge with experienced reality, and change our cognition and behavior. Nonetheless, virtual reality will lead to a number of important changes in human life and activity. Self Story Self story is the idea that individuals are able to better understand problematic areas of their lives by explicitly forming them into a story. Sosnoski notes that keeping a diary is considered a form of therapy when a person is undergoing a stressful situation, but he goes beyond that notion and argues that it is in a form of a story and not simply facts that one is able to understand the connection between the cause and the effect of the distress. The relationship between the person and the self story is that he/she believes the story they have formed and are affected by that story. The self story also relies in others in the sense that if they do not accept and confirm the person’s story, then he/she will have trouble accepting their own story. A self story is essential in understanding one’s identity. Cultural Configuration A configuration is a concept where one comes up with an experience they can relate to or understand; that is an analog to an experience that they cannot relate to. This way, one is able to relate to a story they have heard from another person or a different culture. Cultural configuration compromises of a story that a person hears and uses analogy to ralate it to real life and have greater knowledge of a culture. One example would be the fairy tail The little red riding hood, from which the reader get the message to stay away from strangers. Target audience for the story are children and by reading the story they learn that message. By learning to stay away from stranger they can configure a cultural practice that is good for their age. The stories can help a person fit into a culture or even help a person understand another culture through configuration. An example of understanding another culture through configuration is the story of the “japanese tea ceremony”. By listening to how the ceremony is conducted, a person can cinfigure it by acting on it and trying to follow the culture. A example by Sosnoski is that when a person watches the ritual and transposes him/herself in the story, he/she can configure the tea ceremony. This can be true for several stories or rituals a person might hear about or see. Configuring According to the James S. Sosnoski, configuring is a way we use stories to understand things we do not understand and apply them to relationships we do know. This is a strategy is use to communicate with a culture using the plot method. Plots are the bases of configuration. He also stated that configurations enable cultures. The author states that culture configuration is used as a form of communication, that configuring is used with analogies in order to understand one another. The author also stated that many cultures main problem is that lack of understanding and with the process of configuring it makes communication easier. Transportation Theory Transportation Theory is a state of immersion into a story or narrative. People become "transported" into a story by their own cognitive construction of scenarios in the forms of movies, television or literature. When the viewer or reader becomes so engrossed in the scenarios they are experiencing, they mentally implement themselves into these scenarios. When a story or advertisement has the ability to transport a person, it then has the ability to persuade people to feel as though they can walk away from the narrative feeling that it was realistic. When witnessing narratives, we create the same events in our mind the difference being that we see ourselves in story as the main character. The results of people creating and experiencing these situations leads to persuasion, realism of experience, and strong affective responses. Null Experience A null experience is an experience in which someone else has had but you haven’t and don’t understand. Often times we try and use experiences that we have had to try and better understand that of which someone else is trying to explain to us. In order to be a good story teller and allow the audience to completely understand the feelings and emotions that go along with the experience we must one must be able to transpose them into the situation. Transposing is placing yourself in another person’s shoes and being able to use your own experience to understand theirs. Sometimes certain experiences may happen, such as giving birth to a baby or sky diving, that not everyone can relate to or understand the emotion and feeling that takes place at the given time. If we try and explain things to people from different cultures it may not translate as well or have the same effect especially if the people have never have the experience. In order to be able to allow people from any culture the ability to understand our stories they must be able to relate to the experience on some level. They must take one of their own experiences, a null experience, and relate it back to the experience that is being described. The best way to achieve this is to ensure that the audience is able to transpose themselves into your experience, in this way they can choose a similar experience that they have had to relate to the one that is being described. Null Experience Because each individual human being encounters an entirely unique set of experiences and emotions from childhood, we are shaped to view and respond to the world through those experiences. The null experience is the lack of shared experience with another person. Furthermore, when we cannot relate to a particular experience, we consequently do not understand that experience. Being unable to understand particular experiences of others is crucial in that our experiences often control the way we understand the world and respond to situations. Null experiences affect us on an individual basis as we communicate with others within our community; although we have relatable wide experiences among members of our own culture, our individuality is constructed based on our differences. On a broader spectrum, null experiences often lead to cultural differences and, more importantly, cultural misunderstandings. When we are removed from any given cultural experience that is unfamiliar to us, we are likely to misinterpret the actions or thought processes of individuals within the culture. Cultural misconceptions often stem from the null experience. It is important to keep in mind and be accepting of other cultures and ideologies that may seem unfamiliar to us; we can avoid cultural confusion or judgments through awareness and attempting to broaden our own cultural perceptions. Configuring Configuration is a concept that allows one to learn an experience through experiencing emotion(s) associated with that experience. Configuring or “storytelling” is a central feature of configuration. Configuring allows a person to transpose oneself as the storyteller to help enhance the emotion(s) associated with the experience described by the storyteller. Through configuration, it allows one to understand oneself and others better. To elaborate more, configuring is seen as a continuous process in discovering or understanding oneself because as one tells a story to one’s audience, that story may change later in life. This may happen because the storyteller may have reconsiderations of the experience or this may happen because the storyteller simply wanted to enhance the story for the audience to help them understand or experience the intended association or experience. “Storytelling is a fundamental form of human communication” (Sosnoski). In order for one to make another understand oneself, configuring a link for the other is the best technique in communication. Configuring Configuring is the process of storytelling in the context of understanding ourselves and others as defined by James S. Sosnoski. A configuration is the means by which we close the gaps in experience when we communicate with persons unlike us. These experiences that we do not share with others are called null experiences. In order to understand a story, a configuration, one must identify with the character, who is other than us, by configuring. Persons are able to bridge those gaps in null experiences through analogies that evoke powerful emotions with experiences the other person is undergoing. The audience must be transported into the virtual world and transpose. A key element of configuration is transportation in which the person becomes so engrossed in the story they believe they are in it. The element of transposition is when one places themselves in the situation of a character in a story and lives vicariously through them. These elements are very important in the process of configuring. In configurations one will usually find figures or characters with contradictory desires with whom the audience will transpose and then transport into the virtual world of the story. The Null Experience and the Yada-Yada Troupe When communicating with others, we typically pursue people with related experiences in which we can relate. “When people differ from each other because they do not share experiences, this "gap" in their relationship often occasions serious misunderstandings.”(Sosnoski, 90). In some instances one may have yet to encounter the said event, or perhaps they are indeed unable to experience it at all. When it is impossible for one to experience an event, it is referred to as a “null experience”. For example, it is unfeasible for one to experience being on another planet, unless they physically travel there. Photographs, film and other tangible evidence provides an experience considerably incomparable to an actual outer space encounter. Here I will take Sosnoski’s concept of the “null experience” a step further to illustrate his idea of the “Yada-Yada Troupe”. In his article, Sosnoski refers to a specific episode as an example: “[An] episode that…aired on April 24, 1997, "The Yada Yada," draws its name from the frequent use of the phrase by George's girlfriend. At one point she says: "I went shopping; yada yada." George believes that she might be leaving out some significant details with her use of the phrase "yada yada." So, he gets her to fill them in; and discovers more than he wants to know, namely, that she was arrested for shoplifting”. (80) In instances like this, people like George’s girlfriend “employ empty words in statements and let their audiences "fill in the blank" with experiences they associate with the topic” (Sosnoski, 80). When you ask someone “What’s the best bar around here?” the other may advise their favorite dance club, while in your mind you prefer the pub atmosphere. Without specifying whether you want one or the other, the person to whom you are asking will deem you an appropriate answer based on how they would go about the event. The ways in which we interact with persons around us rely heavily on past events in our lives. To ensure effective communication, people tend to respond to others based on congruent events they have encountered similar to the other. Face-Negotiating Face-negotiating is based on conflict and how face is used as a symbol of self-respect. Face is the public image of an individual, or group, that their society sees and evaluates based on their cultural norms and values. Face is also important because it is universal, and absolutely necessary for a person to be respected. Professor Ting-Toomey states, "How face is managed, and or saved, differ greatly between cultures." Face saving, face giving, and face losing are the three most prominent categories in the face-negotiating theory. Face saving is more individualistic and helps a person save their self-image. Face giving refers to allowing a person to recover their face so both people in a conflict can gain face. Finally, face losing is when one experiences personal failure and/or loss of self-esteem and self-pride. Intercultural Conflict Intercultural conflict is defined as the study of conflict that arises due, in part, to differences amongst cultural groups. Furthermore, it is about inheriting the knowledge and skills to manage these differences effectively. Ting- Toomey and Oetzel believe that the root of conflict is a result of cultures and their different expectations, stemming from their values and norms. It can also derive from cultural ignorance or understanding, or "deep- seated hatred" and "historical grievances." They understand that there is a variation in how certain cultures define conflict, understand events leading to that particular conflict, and come to a resolution. It is mere miscommunication. It is important to come to a resolution when there is an intercultural conflict, so the conflict will not develop into a polarized conflict situation. When this happens, one's trust and respect is threatened, and distorted perceptions and biased attributions occur. When managing intercultural conflict, the conflict should be handled productively, effectively, satisfactorily, and appropriately. The best approach is a competence-based approach. Dialectic The dialectic concept basically states that mankind is merely a series of constant philosophical conflict. Lamb suggested that the highest state of mankind can only be attained through constant ideological conflict and resolution. The rules of the dialectic means mankind can only reach its highest spiritual consciousness through endless self-perpetuating struggle between ideals, and the eventual synthesizing of all opposites. For example, it is a kind of thinking that can be distinguished from inductive or deductive thinking which is engaged by the single mind; however, dialectic involves a duality of minds. Lamb also says that he wants us to realize that the mind can converse or dispute with itself. Dialectic thinkers maintain that in all contradictions multiple points of view interact. In addition, Lamb discusses the dialectic between autonomy and connection which refers to our simultaneous desires to be independent and to be bonded with significant others. In addition dialectic is the basis of an inter-culture conflict. Nonetheless, thinking is an activity of reason which employs no non-rational elements, or no elements that are submitted to reason. All in all, Lamb proclaims that the evolution of ideas occurs through a dialectical process-that is, which a concept gives rise to its opposite, and as a result of this conflict, a new and third view, the synthesis, arises. Face Negotiation Theory Face negotiation theory refers to how different cultures deal with conflict. Face negotiation theory looks at how a culture portrays or interprets Facework (communication styles to either maintain or restore a certain image or face). The theory analyzes the types of culture (high or low culture), the types of Facework (positive or negative) and the types of conflict management (avoiding or dominating) used in order to understand the culture’s way of responding to conflict. Each culture uses or favors a different style to manage conflict. The styles include: Dominating, Integrating, Compromising, Obliging, or Avoiding styles. However, these styles are not fixed on the culture itself but the person using the style. The style a person chooses is merely influenced by his/her culture. Face Negotiation Theory Face Negotiation Theory states that the basis of conflict is the way in which one maintains their identity, and that people are constantly trying to influence the way others perceive them. This is most often done with the use of face work. Face work refers to the ways in which one attempts to preserve or save his or her self-image, or the self-image of another. Face Negotiation Theory is relevant to all cultures, but they way in which people attempts to save face can vary from culture to culture. This is often related to different conflict styles among cultures, and can cause difficulties when attempting to resolve an intercultural conflict. Communicative Competence and culture It is clear by now that culture is a powerful force that affects every aspect of our lives. We also see and understand how sensitivity to cultural norms and values increase our competence as communicators, and how ignoring the effects of culture can lead to conflicting and unsuccessful interactions. Arthur Jensen explains how our communicative competence between the dialectics of culture reduce tensions that result in conflicts in interpersonal communication. There is a section of the text that relates to what we have been talking about recently in class with regards to conflicts between cultures. In this section, Jensen describes the relationship between culture and interpretive schema, social roles, goal achievement, notions of self, and message choices. For instance, not only does culture determine what we see, it determines how we see. "Members of some cultures, for example, think in terms of linear, sequential, time ordered patterns, while members of other cultures think in terms of picture configurations"(Jensen, 2008). This is a major factor in how misleading information or meaning can cause a conflict between two interpersonal contexts, similar to what Martin and Nakayama were identifying in their article. Jensen uses the 1)role, 2)goal, 3)self, and 4)message as forms of competence that communicators could adhere to as a way of not only reducing the threat of conflict between cultures, but making us aware that cultural norms and understandings change over time. He also points out that when communicators don't understand the language all too well, it is difficult to understand conflict and how to handle it when it arises. These points are similar to the types of conflict categories that were presented to us in class. If a culture is to survive through communication, it must evolve through communication. Therefore, understanding a culture that is foreign to us involves understanding what separates it from other cultures. This will enable us to be better communicators toward other cultures, helping us resolve and reduce the conflicts that surface. Dialectic Dialectic is when two opposing ideas that are related to the same topic or issue cause tension. This term has origins dating all the way back to Ancient Greece and Plato. Plato use to use dialectics as a form of argument and in order to examine reason. An example of this is when a person desires to be successful however, they do not want to put in the hard work to become successful. Dialectic issues can often cause cultural conflict, because the different cultures feel differently about a similar topic. An example of this might be marriage, some cultures believe in arranged marriages while other cultures believe in individual choice. This could cause tension because one culture believes that people should have the freedom to choose while the other culture does not and they both think that they're way of thinking is correct. Face Negotiation Theory Face negotiation theory links cultural values to facework and conflict styles. This theory explains how different cultures communicate and manage conflict. Facework is the specific strategy we use to “save” our own or another person’s face and is a universal concept. The process of using facework is different amongst cultures and influences conflict styles. Conflicts occur when someone has their face threatened, this shows just how much facework impacts us. Ting-Toomey explains that people deal with conflict based on the way they were raised and what they learned from the culture they are a part of. In this theory they look at the type of culture, the type of facework, and the type of conflict management that a person uses based on their culture. Five Styles of Managing Conflict “The ways in which people respond to conflict may be influenced by their cultural backgrounds. Most people deal with conflict the way they learned to while growing up and watching those around them deal with contentious situations”(Martin & Nakayama,438). Conflicts arise in all types of situations and the resolutions to these conflicts can take on a number of forms. The five styles as outlined by Robert Blake and Jane Mouton consist of dominating, integrating, compromising, avoiding and obliging. The dominating style reveals selfish motives and results can be thought of in terms of a win-lose outcome. The means to finding a solution often involves the use of force and aggression and may end in a dysfunctional result. The style of integrating embraces understanding as each party strives to reach an agreeable solution. This style often is referred to as a win-win situation where each person feels the conflict resolution is fair and reasonable. “It assumes collaboration, empathy, objectivity, creativity and recognition of feelings”(Martin & Nakayama,438). The compromising style is similar to the integrating style in that each party leaves the situation with feelings of a suitable result. The difference, however, involves the means to which each agrees. In a compromising situation, each person must give something up upon their agreement. “Sometimes this style is less effective than the integrating approach because people feel forced to give up something they value and so have less commitment to the solution”(Martin & Nakayama,438). The avoiding approach involves little concern from both sides involved in the conflict. This style is often used to evade an argument and save face. This tactic can be suitable for trivial matters, insignificant conflicts or if the solution can be handled sufficiently by other means. “The obliging style describes a situation in which one person in the conflict plays down the differences and incompatibilities and emphasizes commonalities that satisfy the concerns of the other person”(Martin & Nakayama,438). This approach is fitting for situations in which the relationship between the two parties is considered more important than the issue at hand. On the downside, this resolution can produce a pseudo solution, or a result involving false pretenses. Each of the above styles is congruous with the structure in which a person is raised and the social surroundings to which each is exposed. While there is no right or wrong way to end a conflict the five approaches listed above outline the most common ways of deriving solutions. Facework In order to understand facework we week to know what face means; Face refers to a person’s image of self description. It is how an individual goes about acting in order to get approved social attributes. Facework, then, is the actions that an individual takes to make whatever it is they do consistent with face. It is important for individuals to maintain face because it makes them feel good about themselves. People have an attachment to it and that is why they feel they must maintain it. When an individual or culture does something to lose their facework it results in a loss of support internally. This internal support was protecting that individual or culture in social and political situations. In order to save facework that individual or culture has to be socially discerning. The process of facework is not only internal but a process of having an audience as well. Helping someone maintain their facework can be just as critical as the person who needs to uphold it. Facework can be saved through avoidance mechanisms, overcompensating, apologies, challenge offering, acceptance, and appreciations. facework Face is a sense of a positive self appraisal or value, which one feels others should acknowledge, respect and support. When someone is embarrassed, ashamed, or humiliated this is known as losing face. On the other hand, when a person is being complemented or acknowledged in a positive way they are saving face. Facework is a way of dealing with conflict. It refers to communication behaviors that people use to preserve and recover that sense of self value after it has been threatened, and to either confirm or challenge other people’s face. . Kurogi and Ting-Toomey point out that culture defines the face/facework of an individual. It is through culture that one shapes the “personal” and “social” self. Managing Conflict Styles According to the author there are many different ways to manage conflict. Nakayama and Martin stated that conflict is usually defined as involving a perceived or real incompatibility of goals, values, expectations; processes, or outcomes between two or more interdependent individuals or groups. The concept of Conflict is broken down into five specific styles of managing conflict: 1. The first style of managing conflict is the dominating style. The dominating style is when a person is involve in a certain conflict they are more concern about oneself and not about the other person. The dominating person has characteristic such as loud, forceful, and demanding. In this case there is a win-lose situation. 2. The second style is Integrating style. This style is more to benefit both parties in the situation. This style holds a high level of concern for both. After the two parties talk in a open and direct format the solution is acceptable by both parties. Out of all the styles Martin says that this is the most used in all situations. 3. The third is the compromising style. The compromising style is when both parties give up information pertaining to the problem and they come to a common ground in order to form a solution. 4. The fourth style is the obliging style. The obliging style is when a person involved in a conflict lets the other person win in order to uphold the relationship with that person. The person is not willing to argue and stand his/her own ground, but they do the total opposite and bypass there opinions for the sake of the relationship. This style is frequently seen in hierarchical relationships, were there is someone that holds more power status or power than the other. 5. The fifth style is the avoiding style. The avoiding style is when someone bypasses or ignores the situation. This style reflects little concern for the other person as well as themselves. This can be viewed a positive and negative way. It can be viewed negatively because the person that is doing the ignoring can be viewed as trying to be rude to the other person by ignoring them, then they come across as not caring or avoiding the problem. This style can also be viewed in a positive way, as a way to help the situation. It can be beneficial because it can give both parties time to think of other resolutions in order to better solve the problem. Affective Conflict While conflict is an everyday occurrence in our daily lives, it is crucial to understand the very different types of conflicts that exist within relationships. In doing so, we are more fully equipped to understand the conflict and resolve a solution more effectively and timely. Affective conflict is just one of the five types of conflict addressed by Mark Cole. Affective conflict occurs when two or more individuals experience an emotional contradiction regarding an issue. A disagreement of emotion occurs within the relationship, causing a misunderstanding or incompatibility. An example of this would perhaps be the death of a pet: while the individual whose pet passed away may feel intense feelings of emotion, as if he/she had lost a family member, a friend/romantic interest/family member of that person may feel that he/she is acting inappropriately for mourning the loss of an animal. These contradicting emotions regarding the same issue may lead to a severe misunderstanding between the two. Because our emotional capacities are generally based on our experiences and upbringing, they effect our everyday relations. For this reason, it is vital to attempt to zone in on not only our own emotions, but the potential emotions of those around us. Face-Negotiation Face negotiation theory was developed by a Professor by the name of Stella Ting-Toomey. Conflict occurs when people feel that their face is threatened. People of different cultures all use different approaches to resolve conflict and save "face" which is referred to as facework. She argues that people of every culture are concerned and aware of the way they display their faces. People of different cultures manage conflict differently and often times peoples values and beliefs play a major role in why conflict may begin and the approach taken to resolve it. All these difference can be taken into account for each of the individuals “face”. People may get offended by another person’s facial expressions simply because they are from different cultures. There are several different ways of managing conflict such as dominating, integrating, compromising, obliging, and avoiding. Different cultures in different situations use different techniques in order to manage conflicts they have with others. Face negotiation theory argues that each of these strategies also has its own face. The person is either concerned with saving their own face or saving the face of the other. Each party usually wants to resolve the conflict and must find a way to reach an understanding with the other person and negotiate face. The face negotiation theory is heuristic and still growing. Communication researchers are becoming more interested in it and therefore doing more studies on it. There are still things being applied and added to the theory to improve it and further develop it. Facework Facework is communication strategies that we use in order to “save” our own as well as another person’s image in public. How on deals with facework depends on lot on their cultural background. It varies from different cultures, depending on how different cultures deal with conflict; it is a universal concept. People tend to deal with conflict the way they have learn to or seen while they are growing up. Some people see others around them feeling with conflict in a more aggressive approach; therefore, they might imply that approach when they are in a conflict situation. Others might deal with it in a more passive way because that is what they have been brought up with. People learn their conflict styles from their culture and that is how they develop their own facework. Intercultural Conflict Intercultural conflict can be described as disagreement between two or more cultural groups. One of the distinguishing features of intercultural conflict is vagueness which causes one to resort to the style one is most comfortable in dealing with conflict. In most cases a person tends to be comfortable in resolving conflict in a default style, the one learned while growing up. This nature of people which may seem almost impulsive, may lead a confronting person to become more confrontational and someone who prefers to avoid conflict to draw back further. There are different ways to manage conflict and these can vary by culture. A culture may view conflict as constructive and having the characteristics of being normal, useful, and at times inevitable. Conflict can also be perceived as destructive and can be described as rare, that which disturbs the peace and one in which the culture is more important. Intercultural conflict is especially important because a culture can shape what a person considers valuable enough to fight over. Obtaining the knowledge necessary about dissimilar cultures can close the gaps that separate cultures. Conflict The concept of conflict presented in this article was explained through interpersonal and intergroup conflict. The concept infers that the interaction between two or more individuals that is fully determined by their interpersonal relationships and individual characteristics are not all affected by their respective social groups. The other extreme is that interactions between two or more individuals or individuals in a group which are fully determined by their membership in various social groups which are not all affected by their individual personal relationships. An example of interpersonal conflict would be a married couple. The conflict that may be present between them would involve their ow personal experience and would not be influenced by their involvement in certain social groups. An example of intergroup conflict would be soldiers from opposing armies. The conflict that they have between on another is influenced by their involvement in that certain social group and does not necessarily reflect their personal views or interactions. Within each example feelings and thoughts are affected by groups or individuals they are surrounded by. It can also be expressed that the more intense an intergroup conflict is, will affect how those individuals will behave towards the other group, which does not express their own personal ideas or characteristics. Wordle Gallery	Wordle is a tool for taking large amounts of text and visually demonstrating the relative significance of individual words. Click the icon to play with a Wordle gallery of the Concept Database.