Discouse as a dance

Throughout his chapter "Tools of inquiry and discourses," James Gee uses extended metaphors or examples to characterized and explain his definition of "'Discourse,' with a capital 'D'" (21). It incorporates language into action, situation, and acceptance--it is highly contextual and social. Gee uses the example of the who and what in a discourse allow for a person to belong, such as the "real Indian" (23-26). To further investigate and clarify his notions, Gee turns to references of dance, cartography, and even Barbie dolls. All of these examples seemed repetitive at first, but I found that I had a greater understanding of Gee's "Discourse."

Discourse as a dance makes sense: there are styles, actions, props, motions, words, and a places where a dance may occur, all within the broad terms of Discourse (Gee 28). People in a dance take roles similar to that of the teacher and student--the lead and the follow. Dance may be local or universal; it may be learned and, when learned, expressed through the accepted elements of the certain type of dance. People learning a dance do not belong to the discourse community, yet they are trying to learn all of the elements so that members--"real"--may accept them. (This makes sense to me because I am taking a social dance class right now--my first dance class ever. I am clearly an outsider, trying to learn the elements of the dance community.)

The idea of acceptance into a certain community brings up the issue of identity, and how many identities a person may have--a mixed discourse, perhaps. Gee notes that belonging to a Discourse involves "recognition" (26) by others in the community. Additionally, a person in a Discourse must act "in the 'appropriate way' with the 'appropriate' props at the 'appropriate' times in the 'appropriate' places" (26). Discourse is about belonging and being accepted. Moving into a new Discourse is difficult and, at times, impossible.

Barbara Monroe discusses what is seen as appropriate and acceptable within certain cultures in her chapter "Storytime on the Reservation." Due to their socialization at home, students of certain cultural backgrounds approach writing and narrative differently, telling a story in concordance with what they know is acceptable in their home (Monroe 100-101). While story-telling is one of the greatest aids for young students to excel in school, it is typical of white families, definitely not typical in Latino, Mexican-descent households (Monroe 97-98). How students talk is directly related to their socialization--what is appropriate for their culture. Similarly, the simple act of storytelling or bedtime reading teaches students to think beyond the present or the facts; storytelling teaches children to ask why, to elaborate, and to think of potential outcomes. Monroe describes these as discourses similar to academic discourse.

While the comparison of Discourses to dance and kits (Barbie doll kits) work for me, I struggle with Gee's use of a map to describe Discourse (28-30). While he notes that discourse does not have clear boundaries, a map does. To amend for this, Gee's "map" becomes a grid, or a map with flexible boundaries. Boundaries create borderlands, which in turn may create mixed discourses; however, a boundary also attempts to draw a line where an identity must end. Gee states that "A given Discourse can involve multiple identities" (33); this may be understood as Bizzell's "mixed" discourses. However, as a Discourse is highly contextual and subject to those within the discourse, can identities be flexible and fluid? or are they fixed?

Lastly, as a note on his writing style, Gee uses a plethora of quotation marks in his writing. While he notes that the use of these marks may be due to his inability to claim membership within a certain discourse; for example, he uses the notation to clarify that he is referring to certain terms like "real Indian" and not claiming the "right" to use the term (Gee 23). In effect, Gee is distancing himself from certain terms because he does not belong to the social situation--is an outsider--and is not comfortable using certain terms. However, Gee also tends to use quotation marks when referring to terms in discourses in which he may belong or may understand; he continually sets apart words like "appropriate" (26), "recognition" (27), and even "discourse" (33). Perhaps Gee does not want to claim ownership to certain words in context; perhaps he is marking the difference between his words and those of a separate discourse.

Lastly, number two: Storytelling is huge. My mom always said that she read to us each night so that we--my siblings and I--would learn to read and learn to appreciate reading. I'm so interested in discussing this in class--my mom would be so excited that research supports her theory!


Works Cited

Gee, James. "Language and Identity at Home." Ch. 3. Situated Language and Learning: A Critique of Traditional Schooling. New York: Routledge, 2004. Pp. 21-38.

Monroe, Barbara. "Storytime on the Reservation." Ch. 4 in Crossing the Digital Divide, pp. 85-114.