Critical Theory

• Necessary to study the lived experience of real people

• Critical theorists examine social conditions to bring hidden structures to light.

• Critical theories align themselves with the interests opposed to those of the dominant culture.

Some CT

• Feminist Theory

• Habermas and universal pragmatics

• Dwight Conquergood and performance studies– Ex: biblical prophets

First: Conquergood

• Perspective: Critical Cultural Politics-ex: Four Seasons by Marc Chagall

-ex: Chagall

-Or go to www.google.com and type in Chicago and Chagall. Then visit the windy city and its art.

Feminist Theory as CT

• Introduction– Great Reasons to be a Guy or “Why Women

are Jealous of Men– How to impress a women/men– Haters of Men=Misindry– Haters of Women=Misogyny

CT Theory

• Remember CT’s think a lot about oppression

• Mission: to challenge/change things

• Use semiotics, poststructuralism, hermeneutics, whatever-they are rhetorical theories really

Back to Feminism

• A spectrum from liberal to radical– Liberal=equal rights– Radical=rejects entire patriarchal nature of

society

Two Approaches of F.

• Inclusion stage=more public recginition for contributions of women

• Revisionist stage=challenge definitions used to characterize communication in society “constructionist theory”

Muted Group Theory

• Based on notion that public discourse is dominated my masculine language

• Based on notion presented by Sapir-Whorf hypothesis in that the way we talk is the way we think and see or linguistic determinism

More on Muted

• Women uncomfortable to express in public

• Women monitor their own communication more intensely

• Women translate what they feel into male terms before speaking

• Masculine tends to win out whenever it conflicts with feminine expressions

Women's Special Characteristics

• Women express themselves with more difficulty

• Women understand men’s meanings more easily then vice versa

• Women create their own meaning outside male system ex: Foss “Women Speak”

• Women tend to express more dissatisfaction about communication than do men

More

• Women often make efforts to change the dominat rules of communication.

• Women are traditionally less likely to coin new words that become popular in society at large.– Ex: Now for a revision