A performative view of language : Methodological considerations and consequences for the study of culture
(2009) In Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung 10(1).- Abstract
- Although researchers across the social sciences speak of a linguistic turn, most research exploring culture still assumes a traditional perspective on language, which conceives meaning as representation. Yet, Wittgenstein convincingly criticized the epistemological basis of such a perspective, offering an alternative view on language. The paper begins by explaining the central points of a performative perspective of language: first, words do things; second, the meaning of an utterance is not directly given by the utterance; and third, meaning is in use. The change in perspective has direct consequences for the way we conceptualize and study our research phenomena. The second part of the paper deals with how social phenomena can be... (More)
- Although researchers across the social sciences speak of a linguistic turn, most research exploring culture still assumes a traditional perspective on language, which conceives meaning as representation. Yet, Wittgenstein convincingly criticized the epistemological basis of such a perspective, offering an alternative view on language. The paper begins by explaining the central points of a performative perspective of language: first, words do things; second, the meaning of an utterance is not directly given by the utterance; and third, meaning is in use. The change in perspective has direct consequences for the way we conceptualize and study our research phenomena. The second part of the paper deals with how social phenomena can be re-conceptualized and studied, putting a special emphasis on the phenomenon of culture. Finally, drawing from my own empirical material, the paper describes the consequences for the study culture applying a performative view of language. Methodological considerations of the change in perspective are also discussed. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/0151484a-0b48-410c-9f64-daa9d75806af
- author
- Barinaga, Ester LU
- publishing date
- 2009
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- performative language, culture, methodology
- in
- Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung
- volume
- 10
- issue
- 1
- pages
- 12 pages
- publisher
- The Institute for Qualitative Research and the Center for Digital Systems, Freie Universität Berlin
- ISSN
- 1438-5627
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- id
- 0151484a-0b48-410c-9f64-daa9d75806af
- alternative location
- http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1226
- date added to LUP
- 2019-05-29 15:45:07
- date last changed
- 2019-06-03 12:36:36
@article{0151484a-0b48-410c-9f64-daa9d75806af,
abstract = {{Although researchers across the social sciences speak of a linguistic turn, most research exploring culture still assumes a traditional perspective on language, which conceives meaning as representation. Yet, Wittgenstein convincingly criticized the epistemological basis of such a perspective, offering an alternative view on language. The paper begins by explaining the central points of a performative perspective of language: first, words do things; second, the meaning of an utterance is not directly given by the utterance; and third, meaning is in use. The change in perspective has direct consequences for the way we conceptualize and study our research phenomena. The second part of the paper deals with how social phenomena can be re-conceptualized and studied, putting a special emphasis on the phenomenon of culture. Finally, drawing from my own empirical material, the paper describes the consequences for the study culture applying a performative view of language. Methodological considerations of the change in perspective are also discussed.}},
author = {{Barinaga, Ester}},
issn = {{1438-5627}},
keywords = {{performative language; culture; methodology}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
publisher = {{The Institute for Qualitative Research and the Center for Digital Systems, Freie Universität Berlin}},
series = {{Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung}},
title = {{A performative view of language : Methodological considerations and consequences for the study of culture}},
url = {{http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1226}},
volume = {{10}},
year = {{2009}},
}