Syllabus
Consciousness. Individual and social body. Terminological and methodological outlook
How language shapes our world-view
“Person” and “self” as categories of human mind
Identity as a semiotic process. Deixis
“Who am I?” Embodied identity. Phenomenology of self. Body and space.
“You and me.” Deictic and phatic function
“Who are we?” Identity as (trans)national imagination
Gender and markedness
Identity in cross-cultural perspective
Individual and social body in the pandemics
Identities in discourse flux
The final theme should be decided by the students to meet their topical needs. Alternative to this is the following topic: Identity in a (de)globalized world
An in-depth version of the syllabus is included in the "Files" ("Soubory") section and is available from there to all students registered for the course.
Annotation
This course is open to students of all kinds of educational background and does not presuppose any previous knowledge of linguistics, anthropology or any other social sciences. The questions “Who Am I?” and “Who Are We?” are central for this course that strives to answer them from various anthropological and linguistic perspectives.
If you know the answers, you are likely to be a better teacher and co-worker. At least a part of our mind is anchored to body and bodily experience, thus informing our notions of both personal and social identity.
The relationship between body and identity is to a large extent mediated by everyday language practices, societal discourses and group allegiances, whereby deixis plays a crucial rule. Together and individually, we will try to develop a sense of how to use the body – language – identity triangle as a means to achieve two intertwined purposes: (a) knowing ourselves better and (b) improving our performance as teachers in class settings.
This enterprise will be both theoretical and practical and some non-traditional methodologies might be used in the process.