Clash of Discourse

In class, we talked about Discourse. One develops this during childhood, growing up and becoming familiar with certain types of communication, actions, and language specific to his/her family. This is called the "primary" Discourse. But we also develop "secondary" Discourses throughout life as we enter into society and into different cultures and contexts. We have a unique Discourse as a student, an employee, and a friend, all the while retaining the original manner of socializing we learned as a child. The trick is to know when and how to shift between Discourses as appropriate for the occasion; not to create a new identity or destroy another, but to allow them to coexist.

Our assignment was to find a video clip which showcased an obvious clash of Discourses. This could occur between people because of norms, appearance, status, etc. I've chosen a hilarious Saturday Night Live skit performed in the 90's by Mike Myers and Chris Farley. Here the obvious clash of Discourse involves language and culture, as an American man ends up trying to survive on a Japanese game show without knowing any Japanese. Even though the skit features North American actors, the differences between Japanese and American culture are great; writing, body language, dress, are all examples. "Rory" the American totally stands out amongst his fellow contestants. He is shocked to see them willingly cutting off their own fingers, while they seem unfazed. Really notice how Farley portrays the stereotypical American with his vocabulary and conversation. It's a lighthearted look at a very real and very wide culture gap.