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| Interpreting the Cultural Deictic Modes: Instantiated by Contemporary American English Utterances |
| He Gang |
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Abstract This paper discusses the issue of how cultural context can be indexed. The mode of deictics is proposed on the basis of our research in the variety of indexical expressions in utterances. Deixis is about acts or patterns of human directing or pointing to things or persons in relation to their particular locations， directions， orbits of motion， external and internal states or changes， most basic to man's ordinary life. Deixis， therefore， has caught the attention of early Greeks， and related discussions and terms are produced. Certain elements of utterances are uncertain in meaning， and to resolve such an uncertainty， the context or situation in which they occur is traced， just to get a definite message. Utterance ″pointing″ to its particular context becomes a reality. The actual deictic performances reveal verbal， non-verbal and non-linguistic forms， explicit indexing and implicit indicating. This obviously has to do with different types of contexts （immediate， social or cultural） and varying degrees of contextual complexity. This paper focuses on deictics in the cultural context of utterances. It wouldn't work if we just take a glance at the general features of cultural context， but we must take a particular cultural context for the instantiation of the cultural deictic modes. Therefore we have taken contemporary utterance deictics in the American context. We find that every cultural context has its unique information structure. This is especially true to the American one. The American cultural context is a system of mental information derived from American people's shared life experience and national development processes. It has a clear frame， a hierarchy of core assumptions: （1） core ideology （ideals， beliefs， values， and attitudes）;（2） personal vs. interpersonal ideology （principles， norms， rules， patterns and models of behavior or interaction）， and （3） rich stocks of cultural facts. These are the very characteristics that mark a mainstream American identity， guiding and regulating personal and social actions and interactions. Americans are particularly proud of their cultures and cultural traits， frequently uttering them， sometimes for self-rationalizing， making rich amounts of culture-sensitive utterances， and making a convenient path for our study of cultural deictics. The American context also reveals an Iceberg Model of cultural information， a small portion explicit while a larger part remains hidden and implicit. This definitely affects the ways of cultural pointing， indicating or indexing， complex expressions even beyond an utterance can easily be detected or inferred. This study also shows that cultural deictic expressions can't occur in a speaker-intention-free fashion. The speaker's cultural predisposition， cultural awareness and culture-related intention can often affect the types of cultural information to activate （pick out） and the way of picking. And it is cultural deictics that provides conditions for cultural projection into interpersonal situations， turning a culture's vitality into its situated vigor， driving participants to culturally feasible actions， and realizing its reconstruction and revitalization in real utterances.
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2014, Vol. 44 
