Module 3: COMMUNICATION AND IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION

Let’s begin​

“Identity is the everyday word for people's sense of who they are It is about sameness with others and uniqueness of the self.”

                                                                           Paulin Djite

As social beings, this sense of oneself is formed through our interactions with others; it is not stable and unitary but shifting and multiple. The first text for this module provides a communicative approach to identity. The Communication Theory of Identity (CTI) developed by Michael Hecht and his colleagues is predicated on the notion that identity is a social process. 

Learning Outcome:  After the activity, you should be able to explain the process of identity construction in and through communication.

Read​

Hecht, ML. (2009). Communication Theory of Identity. In SW Littlejohn & KA Foss (eds), Encyclopedia of Communication Theory, pp. 139-141. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. 

Think

Answer the following study questions (Questions 2-5 are lifted from “Module 3: Communication and Identity Construction,” n.d., p. 3)

1. What are the core assumptions of CTI?
2. How is identity a social process? 
3. How is identity constructed through communication? What are the processes in identity construction in and through communication?
4. What is the layered or framed perspective on identity? What does each frame encompass? 
5. How do the frames interpenetrate? Can you think of a situation that shows interpenetration between and among identity frames? 

 Dig Deeper

Jung, E & Hecht, ML. (2004). Elaborating the communication theory of identity: Identity gaps and  

              communication outcomes. Communication Quarterly, 52, 265-283.

Andreouli, E. (2010). Identity, positioning and self-other relations. Papers on Social Representations,

               19, 14.1-14.13.

Let’s begin​

The previous text asserts that the countless interactions we have with people other than ourselves have a lot to do with how our identity is constructed. At the same time, CTI also implies that identity is fluid rather than fixed. It is embedded in our conceptions of ourselves, our actions, our relationships, and our social affiliations, and it is produced, refashioned, and continually negotiated through interaction and social performances.

Learning Outcome: After having gone through this activity, you should be able to  analyze issues in the construction of personal identities.

Watch (Link 1) and Read​ (Link 2)

 Erving Goffman and the Performed Self

From BBC Radio 4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z0XS-QLDWM

Adam Barnhart’s short commentary on Goffman’s theory 

http://www.dinicola.it/sit/Erving%20Goffman%20The%20Presentation%20of%20Self%20in%20Everyday%20Life.htm

Think​

Answer the following study questions:

1. How did Goffman employ a dramaturgical approach in studying identity?
2. In Barnhart’s commentary, why is impression management seemingly more crucial for marginalized individuals?
3. How does one make sense of the concept of “spontaneity” if the “front” is assumed to function in a general and fixed fashion? 

Dig Deeper

 Impression Management. In SW Littlejohn & KA Foss (eds), Encyclopaedia of Communication

            Theory, pp. 506-509. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage  Publications, Inc. 

 Goffman, E. (1956). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. University of Edinburgh Social

            Sciences Research Centre, George Square, Edinburgh 8 Monograph No. 2

Let’s begin​

From the perspectives of Hecht and Goffman, we now view the construction of our identities as highly influenced by our social groups. As such, individuals internalize societal norms and practices that result in collective identities such as  racial and ethnic identity, national identity, religious identity, and organizational identity. These identities are then believed to be shaped by power dynamics in society. The notion of positioning may be relevant in understanding this process of social identity construction evident in identity politics.  

Learning Outcome:  After this activity, you should be able to analyze issues in the construction of collective identities.

 Read​

 Andreouli, E. (2010). Identity, positioning and self-other relations. Papers on Social  

             Representations, 19, 14.1-14.13.

 Think​

Answer the following study questions (lifted from “Module 3: Communication and Identity Construction,” n.d., p. 9)

1. What is positioning? How does it clarify the relational character of identity? 
2. How does positioning explain how marginalized groups negotiate and assert their collective identities in asymmetric social relations where they experience discrimination and prejudice? 

 Dig Deeper 

Martin, JN. & Nakayama, TK. (2010). Identity and intercultural communication. In Intercultural

           Communication in Contexts (5th ed.) (pp. 161-217). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. 

Wodak, R; De Cillia, R; Reisigl, M & Liebhart, K. (1999). The Discursive Construction of National

            Identity. Edinburgh, United Kingdom: Edinburgh University Press.