How One Can Enter A Discourse
Playing field hockey isn’t just something one can play without prior knowledge and practice, one won’t know the rules, the skills, and the language of the game. Field hockey is an example of a Discourse. Some might ask, “what is a Discourse?” Which in 1989, James Paul Gee explains in his book. Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction Gee believes that a Discourses with a capital D is basically social groups and how people act in them. Everybody starts off in their primary Discourse, which is how they are raised and the beliefs there parents have placed on them. But everybody leaves home and adventures into what are called a secondary Discourse like field hockey. Similar to Gee, in 2012 Amy Cuddy a American social psychologist known for her research on emotions, power, nonverbal behavior, and the effects of social stimuli on hormone levels spoke on TED Talk about the importance of these factors and how they can be used to fake your way into a Discourse. Both pieces share the same ideas about the steps and knowledge needed to fully enter a secondary Discourse.
To enter a Discourse one must know more than just the language of the people in the Discourse. The language is only a small part since it is the simplest to learn. To learn a new language one can just find a book or take a class to be able to speak it. But that person is gonna have no idea about the cultural side. Gee suggest that “it is not just what you say, but how you say it.” (Gee Pg.5). One must know the language of the Discourse, but also the nonverbal behavior of the Discourse. Cuddy has similar beliefs that your body language or nonverbals have just as much to say as your mouth. “So a handshake, or the lack of a handshake, can have us talking for weeks and weeks and weeks.” (Cuddy 1:38) How you portray your body can show that you don’t belong in the Discourse. As Gee states “If I enter my neighborhood bar and say to my tattooed drinking buddy, as I sit down, May I have a match please?” (Gee Pg.5) The grammar is correct so what’s the problem? This grammar does not belong in the bar which is considered a Discourse, so technically you are an outsider. To be in the Discourse you must have a combination of values, beliefs, being, and doing. These are called meta-elements.(Gee Pg.10). These elements are basically the definition of a Discourse with a capital D and one can not proceed without them.
Both Gee and Cuddy have said the idea of pretending as a mechanisms to enter a Discourse. Faking it gives the person an idea of what nonverbals the group uses and the language throughout the Discourse. Cuddy talks about this technique to enter a Discourse which is called
“Fake it ’til you make it.” (Cuddy 7:57).
One can fake it using nonverbals and acting confident in what you say. Cuddy says this to one of her students who believes that she does not fit in. Cuddy’s response to the student concern was “And you’re going to go into the classroom, and you are going to give the best comment ever.” Cuddy means in this statement that one must to pretend and act confident to enter the Discourse and continue this until one no longer question yourself being there. “And tomorrow you are going to fake it, you’re going to make yourself powerful.” (Cuddy 18:07). This is Cuddy’s main point of how to enter the Discourse. Gee calls this “mushfaking” which is not exactly like the same as Cuddy’s idea. Like Gee says “An outsider with the pretensions of being an insider.” (Gee Pg.10) Mushfaking is a way to learn the language and nonverbals of the Discourse so they can become fluent, to go from being an outsider to and insider. Fluency is very important to Gee and there are many factors that go into becoming fluent and pretending can help one learn them.
Cuddy and Gee both agree that participation is key to be in a Discourse and that one can not be in and out of the discourse. I also believe this is a key point to enter a Discourse and without it one won’t understand the meta-elements. Even though they are slightly different, this is a very important key to have when trying to enter a Discourse. Cuddy explains to her student that “you’ve got to participate or else you’re going to fail.” (Cuddy 18:07) The student needs to participate to understand the Discourse to which they can become fluent. Which shows that this student could be rejected from the class but also the Discourse. The student has no confidence in herself to even fake being in the Discourse. One tip Cuddy talks about in her TED Talk is Power posing, which is scientifically proven to boost testosterone and make you feel more confident. Power-posing is a good tool to use when going to a interview for a new job or meeting a group of new people for the first time. Gee and Cuddy both mention that the way a person carries themselves is a good indicator of the success rate of fitting in. The more confidence one has, the more they will participate, and the more likely they will be able to enter the Discourse. If their body position isn’t confident it could send the wrong message to who they are trying to portray or who they are trying to impress, it could cause them to not get the outcome they were hoping for. As Gee mentions “you can’t be let into the game after missing the apprenticeship and be expected to have a fair shot at playing it.” (Gee Pg.10). The more practice you have in a Discourse the more confidence you have in the meta-elements of the Discourse; this is a key mechanism to enter a Discourse.
As one can see there are plenty of mechanisms of how to enter a Discourse. Everybody experiences the entering of a Discourse. Their primary Discourse is how you are raised and this beliefs your parents teach you. One must use that Primary Discourse and these other mechanisms to enter a secondary Discourse. Both Gee’s “mushfaking Discourse” and Cuddy’s “fake it ’til you become it” connect and support each others claim about entering a Discourse. Both believing in using the mind and body to become part of a Discourse. Like Cuddy explains, “Our minds change our bodies and our bodies change our minds.”(Cuddy 9:37). Which is similar to Gee term “mushfake” this come from a prisons who use it as “making” do with something less than what they have and in a way embracing it. (Gee Pg.13). Which connects to Cuddy’s “powering posing.” A person can make do with whatever confidence they have from doing the power pose. Gee “meta-knowledge” also relates to Cuddy’s thoughts about nonverbals and how they affect people during human interactions, for example a new job interview. Even though these two differents authors have two very different pieces of literature, the ideas come together and connect to explain the many mechanisms used to enter a Discourse.
