Ostracism

 In Will Gluck’s 2010 motion picture //Easy A//, the main character Olive, played by Emma Stone, gets herself entangled in a lie when she tells her best friend that she lost her virginity. After a very public and very fake sexual encounter with her friend (who feels isolated because of his homosexuality) at a party, the girls at Olive’s school, most vocally the leader of the church group, begin to look at Olive differently and criticize her, pressuring her to leave the school. Olive displays a somewhat unique reaction when she embraces her position as a social pariah, one day arriving at school in a corset with an “A” stitched into it (echoing Hester Prynne in Nathaniel Hawthrone’s famous novel //The Scarlet Letter,// where Prynne’s Puritan community forces her to wear an “A” on her clothes because of perceived sexual misgivings). Although she finally comes clean at the end of the movie, revealing that she indeed is a virgin and finding true love in the form of her friend Todd, the ridicule of the girls changes her. The drama in //Easy A// revolves around a community’s response to actions some judge to be undesirable. In this case, the girls of the school decided to ostracize Olive.
 * Ostracism: From Casting Stones to Emma Stone **
 * Ryan McEvoy **

The //Oxford English Dictionary// (OED) defines ostracism as: “In Athens and other ancient Greek cities: the custom or practice whereby a citizen whose power or influence was considered dangerous to the state was sent into exile for ten (later for five) years; (also) a vote to effect such a banishment” (Ostracism, 2013). Often used as a verb (“to ostracize”) in modern times, the OED notes that the definition “more generally” refers to “temporary banishment, exile, or expatriation” (2013). The OED also notes the existence of a figurative definition: “Banishment by general consent; exclusion from society, favour, or common privileges” (2013). The OED’s second definition reflects the more general and modern meaning of the word, while Merriam-Webster’s definition of ostracism provides an increased level of detail regarding the word’s historical background: “A method of temporary banishment by popular vote without trial or special accusation practiced in ancient Greece” (Ostracism, n.d.). The second definition provided by Merriam-Webster is similar to the figurative definition given by the OED. Significantly, both sources define the word as something other than the practice in ancient Greece.  The word ostracism, according to the OED, is directly derived from the ancient Greek word ὀστρακισμός, although experts have been unable to identify the word’s precise path from the Greek to the current English usage. The OED offers two potential tracks. The first theory is that ostracism came into English through the post-classical Latin word ostracismus, written by Erasmus around 1536, while the second proposal states that English word morphed out of the middle French word ostracisme (2013). The word ostracism itself emanates from an earlier English word ostracy, now considered by the OED to be rare and obsolete. The OED defines ostracism within the context of North’s 1579 translation of Plutarch. Plutarch did not actually use the ancient Greek word for ostracism, but instead employed the Greek word for ostracon, defined by the OED as “a potsherd…used in the ancient world as a writing surface, esp. for votive or hieratic purposes or (in Greek cities) for voting in an ostracism” (Ostracon, 2013). Several sources point to the usage of the word in reference to the practice of the ancient Greeks, beginning with North in 1579, using the word ostracismon, and continuing with Greene’s 1588 usage of ostracisme, Tuvil’s 1608 usage of ostracismes, and Cleveland’s writing about “The Ostricism” around 1644 (as cited in Oxford University Press, 2013). During this time, people began using the word ostracism in a second way – to refer to the exclusion of a person from a social group. Source material provides various accounts as to the origins of the modern, colloquial usage of the word. The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology states that the figurative definition of the word (not in the ancient sense) first appeared in Donne’s Works before 1631 (Barnhart, 1988). On the other hand, the OED provides evidence of an earlier usage in a letter from Lady A. Stuart around 1602, in which she employed the French word while writing in English: “If I have deserved the land should spue me out, I will feed my selfe with the idle and windy conceite of an Ostracisme” (as cited in Oxford University Press, 2013). This more general rendering of the world has become very popular and has been employed to describe modern phenomena, especially in the social sciences. For instance, a New York Times article published on July 5, 1990 is entitled “Ostracism, He Taught, May Be the Worst Part of Homelessness” (Pierce, 1990). A similar usage can be seen in a Time article entitled “Stem-Cell Research: The Quest Resumes,” in which the author references “eight years of political ostracism” (Park, 2009).  An important element of the word’s history is that although ostracism is used in a variety of modern contexts, its etymological distance from its original, primary meaning referring to the ancient practice is not so great. The closeness of the relationship between the two meanings is evidenced by the list of synonyms of ostracize provided by Kipfer, which ranges from: “avoid,” “blackball,” and “cold-shoulder” to “expatriate” and “expulse” (1992). Importantly, Kipfer does not distinguish between the two forms of the word, as she does with other words with multiple meanings. Merriam-Webster’s list of synonyms, on the other hand, only includes synonyms relating to the ancient meaning. The lack of a distinction in Kipfer’s work provides insight into the way the word has modernized, given that Kipfer includes the figurative definition in 1992, and Merriam-Webster, published in 1984, does not. It does not seem as though any set of events catalyzed the formulation of a newer meaning of the word, but rather, that a word with a narrow meaning broadened as time passed. In their book, An Introduction to Language, Fromkin and Rodman classify broadening as part of the “semantic change” that occurs within a language’s evolution, and provide an example: “The word holiday originally meant “holy day,” a day of religious significance. Today the word signifies any day on which we don’t have to work” (1978). To borrow another term from ancient Greece, today’s meaning of “Spartan” is much different than the original meaning, demonstrating significant broadening. This broadening occurs naturally, as people relate defined words to new situations and feelings. Given its origin in Europe, it is not surprising that ostracism translates well into other languages. In its explanation of etymology, the OED specifically cites the Spanish word ostracismo, which appeared in 1540, several decades before even the foreign ostracismon first appeared in North’s English translation (Oxford University Press, 2013). The German word for ostracism Scherbengericht breaks down into two separate parts: Scherben, meaning broken pieces,and Gericht, meaning court (Technische Universität Chemnitz, n.d.). Given that German routinely “imports” words from English, the fact that German has a word that translates directly into the English, in conjunction with the early reference to the Spanish word and French usage, provides evidence that the English word used frequently in the United States developed after the word was already being employed in Europe. The question of timeframe is further clarified by the word’s usage in Russian, where the Oxford Dictionary distinguishes between the historical and figurative forms of the word. The dictionary translates the ancient Greek term as “остракизм,” whose transliteration (ostrakizm) marks the word as imported, while the figurative term is “изгнание,” pronounced distinctly from the English as izgnanie, and can be identified as a truly Russian word (Falla, 2000). The usage in Russian provides insight both into the global nature of the word, and the way in which more modern English usage has been broadly incorporated into other languages. The isolation of Olive in Easy A is an experience anyone who has been excluded from a group can relate to. Using the contemporary usage, one could certainly call Olive’s experience an ostracism, a group process that can be seen in groups of all sizes in all societies. The way in which all people relate to the word ostracism explains the word’s current prominence. Ostracism is an important concept within the study of groups. Forsyth notes that before the “norming” phase of group development a “storming” phase occurs in which group members dispute and seek to resolve disputes (n.d.). In its most traditional sense, ostracism is a solution, however unsavory, to a problem, in that a group expels a certain member. From a broader perspective, ostracism lies at the core of “storming,” in that conflict necessarily involves taking sides, and when group members are ostracized, they are marginalized from the rest of the group. The decision on further action then lies with the rest of the group, which may choose to expel the given member, cut the member off from the decision-making process, or work toward a more constructive solution. Regardless of the outcome, though, the original act of ostracizing definitively marks entry into the “storming” phase. Indeed, the degree to which one is ostracized is significant, as “[ostracism] threatens psychological needs (belonging, self-esteem, control, and meaningful existence); and it unleashes a variety of physiological, affective, cognitive, and behavioral responses” (Williams and Nida, 2011). Thus, ostracism can be a destructive force capable of causing the group’s disintegration. However, if ostracism occurs within normally accepted limits of dispute, it can function as the bridge between “storming” and “norming.” In that regard, ostracism is an influential part of group development, and the way the group handles ostracism undoubtedly affects the group’s functionality later on in the process of group development.

**References ** Barnhart, R. K. (Ed.). (1988). Ostracism. In The Barnhart dictionary of etymology (Vol. 1, p. 739). New York: The H.W. Wilson Company. Falla, P. (Ed.). (2000). Ostracism. In The Oxford Russian dictionary (3rd ed., p. 992). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Forsyth, D. R. (n.d.). Group dynamics: Overview. 5. Fromkin, V., & Rodman, R. (1978). Semantic change. In An introduction to language (2nd ed., pp. 313-314). New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Gluck, W. (Director). (2010). Easy a [Motion picture]. United States of America: Will Gluck Productions. Kipfer, B. (1992). Ostracize. In Roget's 21st century thesaurus in dictionary form: The essential reference for home, school, or office (p. 596). New York, NY: Dell Publishing. <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,non-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 2em;">Ostracize. (1984). In Webster's new dictionary of synonyms (p. 583). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster. <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,non-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 2em;">Ostracism [Def. 1]. (n.d.). Ostracism [Def. 1]. In Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved September 14, 2013, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ostracism <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,non-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 2em;">Ostracism [Def. 1]. (2013, September). In OED Online. Retrieved September 14, 2013, from http://www.oed.com/ <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,non-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 2em;">Ostracism [Def. 2]. (2013, September). In OED Online. Retrieved September 14, 2013, from http://www.oed.com/ <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,non-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 2em;">Ostracy. (2013, September). In OED Online. Retrieved September 14, 2013, from http://www.oed.com/ <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,non-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 2em;">Park, A. (2009, January 29). Stem-cell research: The quest resumes. Time. Retrieved January 14, 2009, from http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1874840,00.html <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,non-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 2em;">Pierce, T. (1990, June 23). Ostracism, he taught, may be the worst part of homelessness. The New York Times. Retrieved September 14, 2013, from http://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/05/opinion/l-ostracism-he-taught-may-be-the-worst-part-of-homelessness-123890.html <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,non-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 2em;">Technische Universität Chemnitz (Trans.). (n.d.). Gericht. In Beolingus. Retrieved September 13, 2013, from http://dict.tu-chemnitz.de/dings.cgi?lang=en&service=deen&opterrors=0&optpro=0&query=gericht&iservice=&comment=&email= <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,non-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 2em;">Technische Universität Chemnitz (Trans.). (n.d.). Scherbe. In Beolingus. Retrieved September 13, 2013, from http://dict.tu-chemnitz.de/dings.cgi?lang=en&service=deen&opterrors=0&optpro=0&query=scherbe&iservice=&comment=&email= <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,non-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 2em;">Technische Universität Chemnitz (Trans.). (n.d.). Scherbengericht. In Beolingus. Retrieved September 14, 2013, from http://dict.tu-chemnitz.de/dings.cgi?lang=en&service=deen&opterrors=0&optpro=0&query=ostracism&iservice=&comment=&email= <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,non-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 2em;">Williams, K. D., & Nida, S. A. (2011). Ostracism: Consequences and coping [Abstract]. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 20(2), 71-75. Retrieved September 14, 2011, from http://cdp.sagepub.com/content/20/2/71.full.pdf%20html

<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,non-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 2em;">I pledge that I have neither received nor given unauthorized assistance during the completion of this work. Ryan Charles McEvoy.