Big Lebowski Analysis

TU Braunschweig
Film Analysis and Interpretaion
Dr. Lucia Krämer
Wise 2011/2012
Komplexe Hausarbeit

The language in The Big Lebowski as a representation of a way of life

Tabea Hrdina
4017747
05.06.12

Table of contents

Chapter Page

1. Introduction...................................................................................1
2. Language and Identity....................................................................2
3. The Dude’s "Way of Life".................................................................3
4. The Dude’s Language......................................................................6
5. Conclusion....................................................................................12
It is a construction in which one can express who they want to be. This construct can additionally be the identity of a group and not just of a single individual. Nowadays there are almost unlimited ways of creating one’s identity, e.g. by wearing certain clothes or by behaving in society in a specific manner. These ways can serve as a self-fulfilment. The language of an individual can be seen as a kind of construction of identity and reality in a conversation (cf. Kresic, p.162). Here, language refers to de Saussure’s term Parole, which is the concrete usage of utterances. Accordingly, I will have a look at the Dude’s practical spoken language. One can only express his or her identity through language because that is what creates the identity itself (cf. Kresic, p.169). An individual also marks his social identity through his or her language, for example a well educated person shows his or her knowledge by using loanwords or technical terms and therefore his or her affiliation to this specific group (cf. Holmes, p.127). The belonging to a social group can therefore be identified through the language that is used. When it comes to the term “language”, one should always be aware of the medium and its occurrence. Language can be written or spoken words or visual, mediated through signs. Written and spoken language differs in many ways. First of all we have to keep in mind that spoken language usually is not
There are some words that he uses very often and in all kinds of situations, like the exclamations “fuck” or “man” and the declarative phrase “take it easy”. In general he uses “fuck” to amplify what he is saying and to mark it as important. It does not depend whether he is emphasizing something good or bad, both is possible but it is definitely important and he wants to show it with this word. Therefore the Dude is almost always referring to his carpet as a “fucking rug” (9:36) (which is obviously important for him) but some seconds before that he is talking about the men who stole his rug as “fucking A 's" to whom he apparently does not have a good relationship to. For the Dude the word fuck word is universal in a way as he uses it as an expressive “Oh, fuck it.” (13:55) to show that he does not want to bother about a situation any longer. Usually the word “fuck” is a strong swear word and it refers to slang language or even to bad manners, low education and a low social status. The Dude again does not even care and uses it in any situation towards anybody with no regard to the power situation given in the conversation. Like already mentioned before, Lebowski calls the Dude always “Sir” or “Mr. Lebowski” whereas the Dude calls Lebowski “man” and only in exceptional cases “Sir”. Regularly, lower status persons or people that have less power address their partner in a conversation in a