Discourses of endangerment : ideology and interest in the defence of languages
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Bibliographic Information
Discourses of endangerment : ideology and interest in the defence of languages
（Advances in sociolinguistics）
Continuum, 2008
- : pbk
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Discourses of endangerment
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Includes bibliographical references and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Current academic discussions and public debates about language frequently focus on the importance of defending languages against various kinds of dangers. Many of these current debates attach great importance to linguistic diversity. The debates focus on defending institutionalized languages against multilingualism, or conversely defending minority languages against the incursion of larger ones, especially the spread of English. In both cases, languages are constructed as autonomous wholes, held to need defending against attack. This book challenges such a view of language, to argue that the discussions in question are not in fact about language itself. The internationally renowned contributors claim that we are witnessing ideological struggles which are taking place on the terrain of language. Discourses of Endangerment addresses such questions as: * What does language represent in discussions of multilingualism? * Why is it constituted as an organic whole?* In whose interest does it lie to construct language in this way?* Who has an interest in taking various positions for or against official languages?* In what way is the linguistic order tied to the social order?
The book addresses these issues through a set of case studies which locate the terms of the discussion in broad discourses of language, identity and power. Covering a wide-range of languages including Catalan, Swedish, Corsican, Ukrainian and French, from different sociolinguistic perspectives, this book is essential reading for students and academics interested in language endangerment and sociolinguistics.
Table of Contents
- Preface, Sally Johnson (University of Leeds, UK)
- 1. Endangered discourses, Alexandre Duchene (Universitat Basel, Switzerland) and Monica Heller (University of Toronto, Canada)
- 2. Defending diversity, Shaylih Muehlmann (University of Toronto, Canada)
- 3. Indigenous language survival in Canada, Donna Patrick (Carleton University, Canada)
- 4. Who wants to save the Patois d'Evolene?, Marinette Matthey (University de Neuchatel, Switzerland) and Raphael Maitre (University de Neuchatel, Switzerland)
- 5. Linguistics, civil society and discourses of endangerment, Alexandra Jaffe (California State University, USA)
- 6. Discourses on language in the Ukraine, Patrick Seriot (Universite de Lausanne, Switzerland)
- 7. Language ideological debates in Sweden, Tommasso Milani (Stockholm University, Denmark)
- 8. Language endangerment, war and peace in Northern Ireland, Tony Crowley (Manchester University, UK)
- 9. The future of Catalan, Joan Pujolar (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain)
- 10. Competing discourses of language preservation along the Baie Sainte-Marie, Annette Boudreau and Lise Dubois (Universite de Moncton, Canada)
- 11. France and the preservation of French, Claudine Moise (Universite d'Avingnon et de Pays Vaucluse, France)
- 12. Defending English in an English-dominant world, Ron Schmidt (California State University, USA)
- 13. Language endangerment and verbal hygiene, Deborah Cameron (Oxford University, UK).
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