Saturday, March 12, 2011

FOX LIES! FOX LIES! FOX LIES! FOX LIES! FOX LIES! Wisconsin Protester


"Fox lies! Fox lies"
Protests are what linguists refer to as a speech event, or a situation calling forth particular ways of speaking. The protests that have been going on for over a month in our state's capitol obviously have called forth particular genres of speaking. People are taking advantage of their 1st Amendment rights by protesting in Madison and angrily protesting the billions of dollars in cuts of public sector jobs by Scott Walker.
A protest has a certain norms of speaking; one can be violent/agressive, one can be passive, or one can be openly angry but still peaceful. The protests in Wisconsin have been peaceful, though I have heard many argue that their behavior is not 'patriotic' or that it is childish. However, the protesters have an ends in sight- either getting Walker to change his mind, or now to get him kicked out of office.
This man who's protest performance is to scream "Fox lies," rather than make a rational statement to his interviewer is clearly how he feels he should be protesting. However, other people have found this to be a highly comical response to the interview because it breaks social norms.
I feel this performance begs the question, when protesting should one never drop their performance or is it okay to break face for a separate genre of talk?

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