The Argument Culture: MOVING FROM DEBATE TO DIALOGUE - Hardcover

Tannen, Deborah

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1860494722 ISBN 13: 9781860494727

Publisher: Virago, 1998

Synopsis

A reporter gives one side of the story and then, to be 'fair', finds an advocate for the opposite side. But what if the truth lies somewhere in the middle? Why do we see everything as either / or? In the media, in politics (particularly in the House of Commons), in our classrooms and courtrooms, issues are taken up in adversarial debate between opposite extremes rather than discussed and explored. This pervasive warlike atmosphere encourages us to believe that opposition is the best way to get anything done: the best way to explore an idea is to set up a debate; the best way to settle disputes is litigation; the best way to show you're really thinking is to criticise and attack. Tannen once again brilliantly identifies a mode of communication - the argument culture - that is getting in the way of understanding and needlessly polarising us.

About this title

Review:

Do Americans argue too much? Deborah Tannen, author of You Just Don't Understand and That's Not What I Meant!, is an expert on miscommunication. In The Argument Culture she posits that misunderstanding is endemic in our culture because we tend to believe that the best way to a common goal is by thrashing out all our differences as loudly as possible along the way. Thus we are treated to a whole array of confrontational public forums, from congressional partisan politics to media circuses à la Jerry Springer and Jenny Jones, all based on a metaphor of war. What gets lost in all the shouting, Tannen says, is thoughtful debate and real understanding. Perhaps it's time to consider other methods of communication, she suggests. In addition to outlining what she considers the worst excesses of our argument culture, Tannen revisits some of the territory covered in You Just Don't Understand as she discusses the different ways in which young boys and girls express disagreement or aggression. Finally, she offers a survey of other, mostly non-Western ways of dealing with conflict, including the use of intermediaries and rituals. After reading The Argument Culture you may never again be able to view the evening news in the same way.

Review:

Deborah Tannen is the world's most famous linguist... akin to Margaret Mead, who popularized the field of anthropology, or Stephen Jay Gould who brought palaeontology to a wider public (THE WASHINGTONIAN)

Wondrous (Sally Vincent, GUARDIAN)

A thoughtful and sometimes frightening analysis of modern communication. (TABLET)

[It] draws together a range of images that sums up modern urban life and sparkles with situations that are all too recognisable. (T.H.E.S)

About this edition

• Publisher: Virago
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 1860494722
• ISBN 13: 9781860494727
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 352