Blog Post 3-Gee

In his article, “Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction and What Is Literacy?” James Paul Gee describes his interpretation of literacy in a concept titled ‘Discourse.’ Gee states that Discourses are, “ways of being in the world; they are forms of life which integrate words, acts, values, beliefs, attitudes, and social identities as well as gestures, glances, body positions, and clothes.”(526) He continues to use Discourses to describe whether someone is literate. Gee explains that one is literate when they are able to master another Discourse, which is termed as the ‘secondary Discourse.’

The secondary Discourse concept, as Gee uses it, seems contradictory to me. He states that the secondary Discourse is independent of the first and presents certain gains if it is mastered. “Furthermore, if one has not mastered a particular secondary Discourse which nonetheless one must try to use, several things can happen, things which rather resemble what can happen when one has failed to fluently master a second language.” (528). Gee also talks about how the secondary Discourse ‘liberates’ a person from the primary Discourse, since the primary one is limited. “Our second theorem is not likely to be very popular. Theorem 2 says that all primary Discourses are limited. ‘Liberation’ (‘power’) in the sense I am using the term here, resides in acquiring at least one more Discourse in terms of which our own primary Discourse can be analyzed and critiqued.”(530) I do not believe this is true because I do not think my primary Discourse has limited me at all, it served as a foundation for the acquisition of later Discourses. I do however, understand the necessity for most people to acquire another Discourse to feel accepted and welcomed within society. This is especially true for entering the job market. For example, a college student cannot maintain that Discourse (by college student I am referring to someone who dresses casually, goes out partying with friends, wears clothes as many times as possible before washing them to save money, etc.) if they want to be accepted in the professional world. They will most likely have to invest in some dress shoes, a suit and a briefcase and ditch using words like ‘dude’ and ‘man’ to fit into the work forces’ Discourse. However, in contrast to Gee, I believe that people inevitably maintain their primary Discourse as is and feel more comfortable and at peace with themselves within the primary Discourse.

Gee also describes discourse with a little ‘d’ as being a part of Discourse with a capital ‘D’. “...‘discourse’ with a little ‘d’, to me, means connected stretches of language that make sense, so ‘discourse’ is a part of ‘Discourse’”(526). As students of language, it is difficult for use to make the disparity between the two sensible. The main thing to remember is that Discourse with a capital ‘D’ is a way of being.

As for my own Discourses, I think thats hard to explain because I have many and I think that other people have their own perceptions of what my Discourses are. I will just describe my primary Discourse as I see it through my eyes. I find myself to be outgoing, sarcastic, playful and blunt. I tell people how I feel and if I do not like someone, they know. This is the Discourse I use around my family and friends since they are the ones I feel most secure around. I was raised to be honest and free wheeling with my opinions because people know if you are being genuine or not. As far as witnessing, you see all different types of Discourses everyday and even multiple ones from the same person. Its fascinating how everyone has their own individual way of being that can be similar or extremely different from your own.