Practice Theory: The Bourdieu and the Habitus

Practice theory: Bourdieu and the habitus

Mauss – Techniques of the body: The culturally specific ways in which people came to be aware of and use their bodies. Habitus: acquired embodied ability or facility instilled through processes of education and imitation.

Habitus- Practical knowledge: Developed through the process of socialisation during childhood. Individuals are still free to follow their own strategies. The goals and values on which these strategies are based are determined by the habitus. The habitusis is continually being developed through experience. 

Bodily Hexis: "Bodily hexis is political mythology realised, embodied and turned into a permenant disposition. A durable way of standing, speaking, walking and thereby feeling and  thinking. The opposition between male and female is realised in posture, in the gestures and movements of the body, in the form and opposition between straight and bent, between firmness, uprightness and directness... and restraint, reserve and flexibility." (Logic of Practice p60-70)

Embodied Habitus: Acquired through an unconscious process of practical imitation, a practical reproduction. It isn't a knowledge which a person has but something that a person is. Since it's beyond the grasp of consciousness, it can't be deliberately reflected upon or deliberately manipulated.

Embodied knowledge: Initiation recreated the social order, people are informed and given to form a habitus. Values of scoiety are inscribed on the body and change it. Maturity is a matter of common sense which is formed and achieved when inner thoughts are consistent with spoken words and external actions- experiental truth rather than knowledge reflected upon.

 

Grices Maxims Theory

Grices maxim theory:

Cooperative Principle-
 
Grice suggested that conversation is based on a shared principle of cooperation, something like:

“Make your conversational contribution what is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged.”
This principle was fleshed out in a series of maxims.

What are the maxims?
• The maxim of quantity, where one tries to be as informative as one possibly can, and gives as much information as is needed, and no more.
• The maxim of quality, where one tries to be truthful, and does not give information that is false or that is not supported by evidence.
• The maxim of relation, where one tries to be relevant, and says things that are pertinent to the discussion.
• The maxim of manner, when one tries to be as clear, as brief, and as orderly as one can in what one says, and where one avoids obscurity and uncertainty.

Violating a maxim-
There are several ways/reasons a speaker might break one of the rules:
1. Violating the Cooperative Principle. (See “Grice’s Cooperative Principle.”) One instance in which a speaker might break the maxim of quality is if they are really trying to deceive the listener; but this would also be a violation of the cooperative principle. For the really interesting violations, let’s assume the Cooperative Principle holds. 2. Signaling a violation (minor violation). A person might essentially come out and tell you they are violating a maxim and why.

Examples.
“I don’t know if this is relevant, but...” (relation)
“I’m not sure how to say this, but...” (manner)
“I can’t tell you; I’m sworn to secrecy.” (quantity)
“This is just the word on the street; I can’t vouch for this information.” (quality)

Critisms of the maxims:
  It’s not clear whether the maxims work in other languages and cultures. Some key concepts are undefined. A lot of intuition must be used to figure out, for example, when a speaker is being irrelevant. They’re not a complete listing of the rules we follow in conversation; for example, there are also rules about, say, politeness, which are not addressed. There is some overlap, so it’s not always clear-cut which maxim is being violated.

I Come From

I Come From

I come from holidays on the islands

Every year from the tiny age of one

BBQs on the beach

Melting marshmallows over the fire

I come from roasts every Sunday

Fighting over mum or dads roast potatoes

Asking why no Yorkshire puddings?

Commentary On Flash Fiction

The way I started to write my flash fiction was by coming up with an original idea inside our topic of Halloween. I came up with the idea of people having a go and do an ouija board through researching Halloween and seeing someone talk about them. This inspired me to do my story about one that went wrong. I hate reading a story with a boring start and with the short word count so wanted to get straight to the dilemma of a story and to the exciting part. I decided that by starting with the capital letters and explanation marks with “BOO!!” it made it exciting from the beginning. I then put Mona saying the idea of playing in fairly soon to get to the problem faster.

I organised it in the structure of beginning, middle and end because I wanted it to be realistic so it could appear more like a real life story which would make it scarier. Through making it more realistic I wanted my characters to be similar to real life and I feel like I did this through having a more dominant person in the group as that is realistic.

In my story I put text in italics to be Mona’s thoughts. The reason I did this was to contrast her character from how she appears to the other girls to her feelings in the inside to the reader so they would understand her character better. By doing that I showed that she isn’t completely fearless and she can be wrong like everyone else.

 

Halloween Flash Fiction

“BOO!!”

“AHHHHHHHH” Hope shrieked at the top of her lungs whilst Tegan, Mona and Faye cried their eyes out with laughter. It was Halloween night and the four girls were staying at Tegan’s house, alone.

“Girls, you’ll never guess what I brought for us to do” Mona stated to the others with a mysterious grin. “I took my sisters Ouija board, we have to do it!” All the girl’s faces showed a mixture of eager and anxious at the same time.

“Isn’t it dangerous?” Faye hesitantly enquired.

“Na don’t be stupid, it’s a laugh! Come on, don’t be a bore” Mona abruptly replied. She was the leader of the pack and it was common knowledge that you don’t over power her; the girls knew this and so they set up the board. The lights were dimmed and a candle was lit next to the board that was positioned in the centre of the circle formed by their bodies with a glass placed upside down upon it. Silence fell.

Mona led and asked “is anyone there?” Nothing happened. Faye let out a deep breath displaying a sigh of relief. Mona’s head turned and she looked with spite at her, it had to work now she bitterly thought... come on take two. “Is anyone there?!”

Movement. Sudden movement. Yes. The glass stirred creeping nearer to the “no”. Abruptly a change of direction back towards “yes”. Eyes around the board widened. Closer and closer to “yes” the glass went. A gust of wind swept through the room. The glass then halted faster towards “no” again before swerving around it in a perfect circle and finishing smoothly on the part of the wooden board with the letters carved “Yes”. A timid gasp came out of Mona’s mouth; even she didn’t really believe it would work. Now it had she had no choice but to carry on.

“How many people are there in this room?”

“No, no don’t ask that!!!” Faye let escape her mouth under no control.

“I second that.”

Movement. Sudden movement. Once again it twitched away from the “yes” carved on the board and second by second floated over to a “4” along the bottom of the board. “Well that’s a relief” Oh.

She spoke too soon.

The glass continued, after resting over “4” for a few seconds, along the bottom of the board. A sudden change of direction shook the girls along with the window suddenly jolting open. They were all halted in their positions holding hands for comfort with fear plastered over their faces. How many really are in here?! I shouldn’t have even asked. BANG. The living room door slammed open just as the glass finished jolting around the board and sat on “1”. “There are 41 people in here?!” Mona screamed.

The glass flew over to the “yes” on the board at the speed of light. “HOW DO YOU STOP THE GLASS MOVING?!” The glass continued to dart around spelling out the letters “Y O U C A N T” one by one. The doors and windows in the room were as active as flames continuously slamming shut and open.

Maybe we shouldn’t have played. 

Travel Writing

 

"Habibi is a charming villa situated in the serene ‘West Golf’ setting of El Gouna, which is a relaxing and peaceful retreat. This modern villa has been built in typical Nubian style with beautiful domed ceilings in both the living areas and bedrooms. Attractively decorated throughout, Habibi features all the facilities you would require whilst on holiday for complete comfort and relaxation. Offering air-conditioning throughout, it also benefits from a lovely open-plan lounge and dining area, and a flat-screen television with multiple English channels and a DVD player. The kitchen is fully-equipped and comes with a handy water dispenser. Habibi is perfect for outdoor living, and the ideal place to unwind. The covered terrace, complete with seating area and built-in barbecue is a wonderful place to dine alfresco, meanwhile the large infinity pool boasts a whirlpool. The terrace area gives you direct access via steps down to the beautiful lagoon and your own jetty, which looks even more special when the sunsets."

James Villa have used the adjectives "relaxing and peaceful" to describe El Gouna to decribe how your trip to this destination would be as it makes it very appealing and desireable to go to. By using these words they immediatley target couples without children that want to go away to have a quiet stress free trip and this makes it attract them.
By using the adjective "beautiful" to describe the lagoon they make the location more attractive to the reader. The writer not only wants to sell the villa to the reader but also the location as the two things together make someone have a good holiday which the reader will take into consideration when deciding to use the villa.

 

"Zulema is situated on a large plot within the desirable, yet peaceful South Marina area of El Gouna. The villa is spacious, light yet cosy, and has been tastefully decorated in a modern style, providing a feeling of relaxation and comfort. Equipped with everything which you may need, it provides air conditioning throughout, and Satellite television with English channels. Zulema is perfect for outdoor living, and offers pretty gardens and a huge, private terrace area around a delightfully inviting swimming pool. The Abu Tig Marina, is only a 5 minute walk away, and here you will find an abundance of shops, bars and restaurants, surrounding the pretty marina, as well as the ‘Cheeky Monkeys’ area, complete with crazy golf and kids play area."

The adjective "modern" to describe the decoration of the villa makes it appealing a reader that doesn't like the old fashioned taste and wants to stay somewhere new and fresh. It makes the villa sound looked after and somewhere that you would like to stay in. This villa is more trying to appeal to a family so inform the reader about the "cheeky monkeys area" and the "kids play area" so they have entertainment for them.

Linguistic Methods

Headlines homework

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2424289/Miley-Cyrus-performances-slammed-Pink-Cher-Elton-John-pop-too.html#ixzz2fFWjyQsU  'I don't give a s**t if she comes out naked... just do better!' Cher blasts Miley Cyrus over recent performances... as Pink labels her 'tacky'

The use of the quote at the begining of the headline with the swearword "S**t" in it implied aggression and strong passion towards the subject matter, drawing the reading attention. The headline shows emphasis over the subject because appearing in public naked would be a rather bold and striking thing to do, proving that her rehabilitation is far more important compared to things seen as outrages in day to day life.  By labeling her performance as tacky, this is seen as an insult to Miley Cyrus showing that she is on a downward spiral because of the drugs emphasising the importance of the rehabilitation.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2424286/Youd-better-benefits-Council-adviser-tells-struggling-single-mother-job-shed-3-000-year-better-off.html#ixzz2fFZJRNX8 'You'd be better off on benefits': Council adviser tells single mother to give up her job because she'd get £3,000 a year MORE

The use of the outrageous quote at the beginning of the headline is used to shock the reader and attract them to read on to the rest of the headline followed by the article. By then naming the occupation of the person who said it, being a council adviser who is someone with importance, gives the quote more significance than if somebody less superior had said it. With the quote now having more impact it makes it even more outrageous and striking to the reader. Finally by putting "more" in capital letters this makes the headline stand out to the reader more visually and gives emphasis on the sentence as well as meaning meaning to get the message across clearer.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2424268/Arabella-Campbell-Fit-sporty-teenager-dies-cardiac-arrest-homework.html "'Fit, sporty' teenager, 16, dies after collapsing and going into cardiac arrest while doing her homework"

The descriptive words "fit, sporty" at the start of this headline with her age "16" give you an immediate vision of this person as healthy and young. It then straight after tells you that she dies. The use of the order of these words has been done to create a large contrast of what you would expect and therefore shock the reader. By telling you that the teenager was doing their homework it immediately relates your thoughts to a young person, as that is something younger people has to do, giving the horrid news even more of a tragic feel that it happened to somebody so young.