Linguistic Anthropology Theories in The Italian Job

Introduction

There are myriad facets of the cultural ramifications of linguistics and its convergence with anthropology. These cultural consequences pertain to people in various nation-states and the verbal expression that reflects how people communicate within those societies. The early 2000s film The Italian Job offers an accurate portrayal of certain linguistic tendencies evident within American culture. Specifically, it delineates certain facets of power within social constructs as they apply to the way people speak to one another. A close analysis of these tendencies reveals that three linguistic anthropology theories — remaining polite and clear when speaking to demonstrate competence, turn-taking among participants, and deploying bald directives as a means of demonstrating power — are more prominent than others. All three theories are manifest in this film to establish that the leader of the group attempting to recover stolen gold is a suitable and credible leader.

Politeness and Clarity as Communicative Competence

One of the important linguistic anthropology theories used in The Italian Job is the practice of speaking politely and clearly to others. The notion behind this particular theory is that those who are able to do so are considered competent speakers. There are approximately two forms of this politeness: one is deemed positive and the other is deemed negative. Charlie, the leader of the team attempting to steal gold from Steve, practices both forms in the initial sequence in which he introduces Stella to the rest of his team — a sequence that is indicative of his competence as the group's leader.

One of the primary ways of practicing what effectively functions as a communicative virtue is by including others when describing the tasks that are required. Charlie is unequivocally the leader of this group and holds substantially greater hegemony and social authority over the others, who are essentially working for him. Nevertheless, he practices competent speaking by including them in his statements, which underscores a degree of solidarity that evinces both politeness and clarity. When he and his team are initially scouting out Steve's residence, Charlie says, "We need an in to get a video blueprint of the interior" (The Powers, 2001, p. 18). He could have easily modified this statement to convey that, as team leader, he alone needed that "in." Instead, he chooses the pronoun "we" to include the group in his ambitions, reinforcing politeness and clarity in his verbal communication. In doing so, he demonstrates not only that he is a competent speaker but also, perhaps more importantly, that he is a competent leader.

Turn-Taking and Social Power

The amount of turn-taking that occurs among different participants is another important linguistic anthropology theory readily deployed in The Italian Job to demonstrate that Charlie is unambiguously the leader of his team. Turn-taking among groups denotes social constructs of power and is evaluated through both qualitative and quantitative methods. It is therefore significant that in the foregoing scene Charlie speaks five times, while no other character speaks more than twice and one character speaks only once — with just two words (The Powers, 2001, pp. 17–18). The fact that Charlie has more speaking turns than the others implies a preeminence in his conversation that outstrips those around him, because he is their leader.

The amount of speech a person contributes is also a significant consideration when evaluating turn-taking. Most characters simply give affirmative responses to Charlie, who in turn delivers at least one detailed, fairly lengthy statement. Qualitatively, it is vital to consider what is said during each turn. Charlie is issuing directives; the vast majority of the other characters are simply responding to them. Furthermore, during the scene Charlie speaks to the other characters while they wait their turn to reply. The power structure in this conversation thus buttresses the reality that Charlie is the leader. There is only one exchange in which the other characters speak to each other; in all other exchanges, they are merely answering Charlie's questions. The combination of these qualitative and quantitative factors solidifies Charlie's social salience within the group, predominantly because he is its leader.

Conclusion

In summary, Charlie holds a substantial amount of power in The Italian Job. One of the pivotal ways in which he demonstrates his hegemony is through his verbal interactions with the rest of his team members. Specifically, Charlie employs three linguistic anthropology theories that reinforce his social prominence and reflect his role as the group's leader. First, he proves himself a competent leader by maintaining politeness and clarity when speaking to those who are his subordinates. This is further demonstrated through the pattern of turn-taking among participants: Charlie speaks more frequently than the others and issues directives to them, while they, for the most part, merely respond — especially in the scene analyzed here. Finally, he issues directives with which others must comply, solidifying his authority as group leader. Together, these three linguistic strategies affirm that language is a powerful vehicle for expressing and reinforcing social hierarchy.

References

The Powers. (2001). The Italian Job screenplay. Retrieved from http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/italianjob.pdf