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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
'You're Lying To Jesus!': Humor And Play In A Discussion About Homelessness, L. David Ritchie
'You're Lying To Jesus!': Humor And Play In A Discussion About Homelessness, L. David Ritchie
Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations
This study applies recent theories about humor to a sample of talk among a group of young adults about the issues and problems associated with homelessness. In this conversation, participants demonstrate a pattern of joking and language play that expresses a complex and ambivalent set of attitudes and feelings toward homelessness and toward the homeless as both outcasts and refugees from conventional society. Humor is used both to express complex responses to homelessness and as a tool for managing the tone and direction of the conversation. The results demonstrate how the identification of patterns of joking and wordplay can provide …
Bombing At The Box Office: Reviewers’ Responses To Agnosticism In Bill Maher’S Religulous, Rick Clifton Moore
Bombing At The Box Office: Reviewers’ Responses To Agnosticism In Bill Maher’S Religulous, Rick Clifton Moore
Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations
This paper examines reviewers' reactions to Bill Maher’s documentary film Religulous as a way of beginning a discussion of media and religious hegemony. Hegemony theory posits that dominant ideology typically trumps contesting views, even when the latter do manage to leak through the system. Given this, one might expect that film reviewers serve as a second line of defense for entrenched worldviews. Here, however, a thematic analysis of reviews from major national newspapers reveals that critics provided only slight support to traditional religious views Maher challenges in his filmic plea for agnosticism.
"Justice Is Blind": A Model For Analyzing Metaphor Transformations And Narratives In Actual Discourse, L. David Ritchie
"Justice Is Blind": A Model For Analyzing Metaphor Transformations And Narratives In Actual Discourse, L. David Ritchie
Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations
In this article I present a model of how metaphors are transformed and re-presented as narratives, how this process helps shape communicative interactions, and how it contributes to relevance effects and the generation of meaning, often by simultaneously affecting multiple cognitive contexts. I demonstrate the application of the model to samples of discourse from current research and show how it can contribute to understanding troubled communicative relationships and potentially to improving communication in situations of misunderstanding and conflict.
You Think I Am Stupid? Face Needs In Intercultural Conflicts, Yanrong (Yvonne) Chang
You Think I Am Stupid? Face Needs In Intercultural Conflicts, Yanrong (Yvonne) Chang
Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations
Embedded in intercultural conflicts are identity or face-based goal issues (Rothman, 1997), which, when not effectively managed, may lead to unresolved conflicts. This study examined actual email interactions over a period of five months between an American visiting professor and an International Office staff member at a University in China. It showed three patterns of interaction that failed to manage each other’s face or identity needs and led to unresolved conflicts, hurt feelings, and ruined intercultural relationships. It suggested principles or lessons for effectively handling intercultural conflicts.
Community Newspapers Play Significant Role In Election, Lee Shaker
Community Newspapers Play Significant Role In Election, Lee Shaker
Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations
This article compares coverage of the 2007 Philadelphia mayoral campaign in the city's major daily and community newspapers. The findings show that community newspapers serve as a complement to the dailies but also prove to be sources of campaign information in their own right.
Why The Block Is The Block: Reinforcing Community Through Casual Conversation, L. David Ritchie
Why The Block Is The Block: Reinforcing Community Through Casual Conversation, L. David Ritchie
Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations
This study combines Discourse Dynamics (Cameron, 2007) with Perceptual Simulation Theory (Barsalou, 2007; Gibbs, 2006), to analyze a sample of talk among residents of an urban neighborhood about topics related to community safety and the quality of life in their community. The results demonstrate the role of casual conversation in structuring complex social relationships, and the usefulness of close attention to metaphors, story-telling, and humor. By their use, re-use, and development of metaphors and stories the participants in this conversation express and reinforce the patterns of sociability and mutual watchfulness that contribute to a feeling of safety and comfort in …