Exam 2 (Deetz)

Question 1

How does Deetz view phenomenological communication?

Answer 1

He want to reclaim the subject matter as a guide to mutual understanding

Question 2

What are the problems with the Western Enlightenment tradition of ethics, according to Deetz?

Answer 2

• Fails to consider how individuals, idea, interests, and information are socially produced (constitutive view of communication)
• Assumes a linear-transmission view of communication: Individuals express ideas and interests; information enables rational decisions.

Question 3

What is the alternative Ethic?

Answer 3

Genuine Conversation - a conversation should be “guided by the subject matter” instead of individual opinion & interest, it removes blame from the individual effective to seeing the interaction as more or less productive.

Question 4

What is the genuine Conversation?

Answer 4

a conversation should be “guided by the subject matter” instead of individual opinion & interest, it removes blame from the individual effective to seeing the interaction as more or less productive.

Question 5

What are the ways conversation gets blocked, according to Deetz?

Answer 5

1. Freezing Participants (Walking into the conversation, I have fixed ideas on on who you are, and those ideas can never change throughout the conversation.
2. Blocked Discourse (Disqualification, Naturalization, neutralization, topical avoidance, Subjectification of experience, Meaning denial).

Question 6

Two forms of freezing the participants?

Answer 6

1. Labeling, stereotyping - (People with two different viewpoints can block you from listening to them.
2. Maintaining Images - (Not allowing you to change, certain judgements that are static and not changing)

Question 7

What is the “Disqualification” definition of “Blocked Disclosure”?

Answer 7

“Your opinion doesn’t count” (exclusion, not everyone has an equal say)

Question 8

What is the “Naturalization” definition of “Blocked Disclosure”?

Answer 8

“Thats just the way it is” (The situation is natural, so there is no choice to be made).

Question 9

What is the “Neutralization” definition of “Blocked Disclosure”?

Answer 9

“These are facts” (Biased information treated as objective)

Question 10

What is the “Topical Avoidance” definition of “Blocked Disclosure”?

Answer 10

“We don’t go there” (some topics cant be discussed)

Question 11

What is the “Subjectification of Experience” definition of “Blocked Disclosure”?

Answer 11

“Its the matter of opinion” (so it is pointless to discuss)

Question 12

What is the “Meaning Denial” definition of “Blocked Disclosure”?

Answer 12

“I didn’t say that” (A meaning is both present in the interaction and consistently denied)

Question 13

What are possible ways conversation can be used to to reopened?

Answer 13

1. Meta Communication - The logical ideal is to openly discuss the blockage; but the systems often make this difficult (recall Watzalawick)
2. Rhetoric - Effective advocacy of a position can work against the suppression of opinions.
3. Strategy - Political action, symbolic acts, or system disruption may be necessary to effect change.

Question 14

How does Deetz view of communication relate ti the Phenomenological, cybernetic, and critical tradition?

Answer 14

• Cybernetics, with its interactional view of identities, experience, information, are produced and reproduces in system of interaction.
• Phenomenological, the ethics ideals based on genuine conversation and the i thou dialogue.

Question 15

What are the forms of blocked dicsourse? discursive closure?

Answer 15

1. Disqualification
2. Nautralization
3. Neutralization
4. Topical avoidence
5. Subjectification of experience
6. Meaning Denial