metaphors, narratives, and discourse lecture

metaphor definition

not just verbal devices (literary), but like theories, templates, lenses, or filters we use to help us understand one domain of experience in terms of another

racial metaphors

associating certain races with certain foods

associating animals w/certain races

lone wolf attacks

subset of mass shootings by white men, dehumanizing them

comparing these men to pure evil and monsters

Emily Martin ethnography

flexible bodies, about how immune system discourse is described through flexibility

how is MLK’s narrative described?

he has a malleable narrative

discourse definition

structures our sense of reality and notions of our own identity; they constitute subjects and objects and positions of identification and dis-identification, often aligned with forms of dominance and subordination

ex the way people have normalized talking about ocd and addiction in less serious ways

merit discourse

renders white advantage invisible while highlighting test scores

culture = selective vision

wealth factor = advantage bestowed on those who attend private schools or those whose parents pay thousands of dollars to send them to expensive test prep programs