#performative utterances

Performative Language & Ritual Structure

John Austin is famous in language studies for articulating a working theory of performative utterances. Basically, performative utterances represent instances of speech and writing that enact something, that do something. For example, when we promise to do something— I promise to take out the garbage. I promise I won’t tell anyone. I promise to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. –we’re…

How does our speech affect the world around us? How can we measure the changes that our words make? In this week's episode, we take a look at performative language: what you need for your words to work their magic, what different parts make up our speech acts, and how our word choices can change the way we perceive and remember events.