discourse community
A discourse community refers to a group of individuals who are involved in discussion and communication on a specific issue, topic, or field. A discourse community shares common goals that they set and aim at achieving. A discourse community also has a distinct mechanism of communication, which can either be through phones, meetings, or other communication avenues. A discourse community also shares a certain level of members who share a common belief. Finally, this community has to be attached to the acquired lexis of the group. Konstantin Batygin is a Russian-American artist and a geologist who researches the solar system—widely known for his role in proving the existence of a ninth planet, Konstantin shares two discourse communities. First, Konstantin is a rock band artist, whereby he specializes in this work while pursuing his Bachelor’s Degree at the University of California. Additionally, Konstantin is a Research Scientist on Planetary Sciences he develops the Schrodinger equation alongside his campus friend Gregory P. Laughlin. Even during his years of research, Konstantin still participates in activities of the other discourse community, band. Bridging between these two discourse communities proves easy for Konstantin. First, the two populations do not overlap and are not related in any manner. Konstantin and Laughlin set time for research. On the other hand, the music band is not always practicing or performing hence he attends to the later during his free time. Secondly, these two discourse communities are in different settings which provides Konstantin with an opportunity to choose what to attend or what not to attend to. Konstantin’s discourse community as a Scientist is a small group of two people who have, over the years, found equations to prove the existence of a new planet or composition of the already known planets.
I belong to several discourse communities, and balancing between them has proven to be a tough task for me. First, I belong to a community soccer team whereby we attend friendly matches over the weekends and pieces of training every evening during the weekdays. Additionally, I belong to the church choir, whereby we specialize in the creation of new songs and entertainment of the church. Finally, as a member of my class, I automatically form part of the discourse community. Classes overlap with the soccer pieces of training, while choir practices overlap with the soccer friendlies and matches. Balancing between these overlapping discourses communities requires making a sacrifice of one over the other. The class as a discourse community limits to a great extent how one can participate in other discourse communities. Class activities are compulsory and require more attention as compared to other discourse communities. Being part of this class does not limit my enrolment and being part of other discourse communities but limits my degree of participation in these discourse communities. I see myself becoming an expert in the field of operation. Even with these other discourse communities, I can be able to balance between them and emerge to be a success in my area of expertise. The reason behind my confidence in achieving my goals is because I have learned the art of balancing between the different discourse communities. Looking at Konstantin’s activities and his achievements, I learn that it is possible to work through the various discourse communities to achieve one’s dreams and ambitions.