AnalysisofthemovieSleeplessinSeattlefromthegenderlectstyleofDeborahTannen-文档资料

1、Analysis of the movie Sleepless in Seattle from the genderlect style of Deborah Tannen 【】In modern society, it s unavoidable for people of different genders to communicate with each other. By analyzing the movie Sleepless in Seattle, This article uses Deborah Tannens genderlect theory to help bridge

2、 the misunderstanding between men and women in communication process. Through this way, the differences between men and women can be better understood. I Introduction In the recent history of linguistics, there have been various approaches to analyze womens and mens speech. Various studies were done

3、 in order to find out if men and women speak differently. Traditionally, many theories claim that conversations between men and women reflect mens efforts to dominate women. However, Deborah Tannen, a linguistics professor at Georgetown University, assumes that male and female conversational styles

4、are equally valid and she states that male-female conversation is cross-cultural communication. In this paper, the author adopts Deborah Tannen s theory1,2,3 to analyze the world-famous, touching romance, Sleepless in Seattle. II Deborah Tannen s theory Men and women may grow up in the same country,

5、 in the same society, but they are members of different genders and culture. Tannen is convinced that misunderstanding occurs all the time between women and men3. There are gender differences in the way they speak. Even when they use the same terms, they may be interpreted differently by men and wom

6、en. Male and female conversation styles are equally valid, but at times it seems that they are speaking different genderlects. As men and womenb elong to different cultures, during the communication process, Tannen2,3 says men are concerned mainly with status while womenf eel it crucial that they be

7、 liked by their peers, and what they desire is connection. In the male world, they are concerned with power and status. Men strive for independence and high social status. In communication, they seek to establish one-up position. They use talk as a weapon. While for women, what they desire is intima

8、cy. Whent hey talk, they tend to hold eye contact, offer head nods or other responses to show they are listening and they tend to be cooperative instead of being competitive. Womena lso ask questions to establish a connection with others by using tag questions. When communicate with the members of t

9、he same gender, there isn t so many obstacles and misunderstandings. By contrast, when men and women are involved in the conversation, misunderstanding, unhappy feelings, disappointment may come along. III Theory application The following are extracts from the original movie: Sam: (picking up the re

10、ceiver) Hello? Dr: Hello, Sam. This is Dr. Marsha Fieldstone on Network America. Sa: Ok, what are you selling tonight? The micro hibachis or the ginsu knives? Dr: No, I m not selling anything. I just want to help. I want you to know that your son called and he asked me for some advice on how you mig

11、ht find a new wife. Sa: Who is this? Dr: Dr. Marsha Fieldstone of Network America and you are on the air. Sa: (to Jonah) you called the radio station? Dr: Sam, Sam, are you with me? Sa: Yeah, yes. s death Dr: Your son feels that since your wife youve been very unhappy and hes genuinely worried about

12、 you. Sa: (to Jonah) Hey, get out here. Get out here! Come on! Now I m not going to go through this alone. Dr: I think it s very hard for him to talk to you about all this and I thought maybe you and I could talk. Maybe it would make Jonah feel a little better, Sam? Jo: (to Sam) Talk to her, dad, sh

13、es a doctor. S: Of what? Her first name could be“Doctor ” Jo: Please. Dr: Sam. Sam. I ts his Christmas wish. Sa: Ok. Dr: Ok. Good. NowI know this is difficult, but how long ago did our wife die? Sa: About a year and a half ago. Dr: Have you had any relationships since? Sa: No. Dr: No? Why not? Sa: A

14、h, Marsha, or should I call you Dr. Fieldstone. Dr: Dr. Marsha. Sa: & An: Dr. Marsha. Sa: I don t mean to be rude Dr: . and I don t want to invade your privacy. Sa: & An: Sure you do. From the above conversation, we can see that Sams conversation is a typical way of the men seek to establish a one-u

15、p position. Sam mainly concerns with status and he wants to show his independence and conceal his sorrows at the very beginning of the conversation. When the doctor first asks him questions he tries to avoid answering her questions directly and only gives brief answers because he wants to protect hi

16、s masculine mighty image. When the doctor says that she doesnt want to be rude, Sams ays sure she does .From this we can see he doesnt want to cooperate with the doctor at the very beginning. For a man, status is above all. He uses talk as a weapon to protect himself and his image. Eventually Sam is

17、 unusual in that hes willing to share his stories with the doctor and the audience. During his later talk we can also find he often use long sentences because he wants to convey his information and command the attention of the listeners. V Conclusion In our lives, it s unavoidable for people of diff

18、erent genders to communicate with each other especially in such a knowledge explosion society. Wea re living in the global village, so every day we should communicate with people. By analyzing the movie Sleepless in Seattle, we can better understand the differences between men and women. In our communication process we can use Deborah Tannens theory to guide us to bridge the misunderstanding between men and women. Referen