Acquiring a Discourse
The many ways of entering a new area of life
There are many ways that someone can acquire a new skill or become part of a new group of people. Whether it be through a job, school, or community, everyone is part of different groups and organizations.
James Paul Gee calls these different parts of life Discourses. In his paper Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics, he defines a Discourse as an “identity kit” (Gee, 7). It is a “saying (writing)-doing-being-valuing-believing combination” (Gee, 6). A Discourse is more than what you say; it is how you act, how you dress, how you say it, and if you believe it.
Faking It
Amy Cuddy is a social psychologist who has studied the relationship between “power poses” and increased confidence. In her TED Talk, Cuddy relates confidence and entering a new area of life, such as in a job interview. She suggests that power posing before an interview will increase your confidence in yourself which in turn will increase your likelihood of getting hired. Gee and Cuddy, while discussing different ideas, both suggest methods for entering a new Discourse, or area of life, and how to use what you have and what you know to do so.
One of the mechanisms for entering a new Discourse is by doing as much as you can to pretend that you are in it until you actually are in it. This technique is used in all kinds of contexts and has a lot to do with your speaking and body language.
“Fake it till you become it. Do it enough until you actually become it and internalize” (Cuddy, 19:14).
If you pretend to do or be something enough, and believe in it, you have the potential to actually become it. James Paul Gee discusses “mushfake” Discourse in his article Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics. Mushfake is defined as “making do with something less when the real thing is not available” (Gee, 13). He offers this as a technique to try to enter a new Discourse. While Cuddy and Gee seem to believe in this philosophy, it may not work for everyone.
How do you know when you are no longer faking it and you have become it? Is this method sincere enough to let you fully enter a Discourse? Gee says
“true acquisition (which is always full fluency) will rarely if ever happen” (13).
So faking it may not be the best way to truly, fully, enter a Discourse, but it is probably one’s best bet to get themselves into one.
One can also enter a secondary Discourse by being forced into it and learning the norms and behaviors of it by being around others who are in it. According to Gee, a secondary Discourse comes from “institutions in the public sphere, beyond the family and immediate kin and peer group” (Gee, 8). When one enters school, they are forced into a secondary Discourse. There is barely a choice to join the Discourse or not. Gee says that any of these institutions “commands and demands one or more Discourses and we acquire these fluently to the extent that we are given access to these institutions” (Gee, 8). From observing and practicing that which others do, one can learn and then themselves use the correct behaviors, language, and norms associated with the Discourse.
For example, Cuddy talks about a girl in her class who did not participate because she did not feel that she was supposed to be there. Cuddy told her to “give the best comment ever” (Cuddy, 18:59) in class the next day. So she did. The student allowed herself to give in to the Discourse of the class, of the school, and began her acquisition of said Discourse.
Being forced into a secondary Discourse helps one fully enter the Discourse because they are immersed deeply and surrounded by others who already have the Discourse. Therefore they can quickly acquire the new Discourse and sometimes even leave behind parts of their primary Discourse. At one point Gee says that
“someone cannot engage in a Discourse in a less than fully fluent manner. You are either in it or you’re not” (9).
There is no halfway point. This contradicts what he says about having an apprenticeship to enter a Discourse, because an apprenticeship is like being partially in a Discourse. Contrary to Gee, I believe that one can be partially in a Discourse, especially when they are trying to enter it.
There are certainly many ways to immerse yourself in a new area of life. Cuddy suggests faking it until you truly are a part of it. Gee suggests getting into a Discourse through something like an apprenticeship. Whether you believe that you are either in a Discourse or you are not, anyone is capable of acquiring the skills that go with a new Discourse.
Cuddy suggests that confidence is key to success, and that power posing and faking it are good ways to make it in life. If you do not believe in yourself it will be much harder for others to believe in you and for you to reach your full potential.
Being a part of multiple Discourses, even if not fully, will strengthen your character, build your confidence, and make your life more satisfying. Worry less about being fully in a single Discourse, and focus on working with what you have and striving for more.
