Download or read book The Grammar of Identity written by Stephen Clingman and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2009-01-08 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In our current world, questions of the transnational, location, land, and identity confront us with a particular insistence. The Grammar of Identity is a lively and wide-ranging study of twentieth-century fiction that examines how writers across nearly a hundred years have confronted these issues. Circumventing the divisions of conventional categories, the book examines writers from both the colonial and postcolonial, the modern and postmodern eras, putting together writers who might not normally inhabit the same critical space: Joseph Conrad, Caryl Phillips, Salman Rushdie, Charlotte Brontë, Jean Rhys, Anne Michaels, W. G. Sebald, Nadine Gordimer, and J. M. Coetzee. In this guise, the book itself becomes a journey of discovery, exploring the transnational not so much as a literal crossing of boundaries but as a way of being and seeing. In fictional terms this also means that it concerns a set of related forms: ways of approaching time and space; constructions of the self by way of combination and constellation; versions of navigation that at once have to do with the foundations of language as well as our pathways through the world. From Conrad's waterways of the earth, to Sebald's endless horizons of connection and accountability, to Gordimer's and Coetzee's meditations on the key sites of village, Empire, and desert, the book recovers the centrality of fiction to our understanding of the world. At the heart of it all is the grammar of identity, how we assemble and undertake our versions of self at the core of our forms of being and seeing.

Download or read book The Grammar of Identity written by Volker Gast and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2007-01-24 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This original treatment of an extremely complex and interesting subject matter within Germanic languages and theoretical linguistics, investigates why intensifiers and reflexives are formally indistinguishable in so many languages around the world.

Download or read book Identity Relations in Grammar written by Kuniya Nasukawa and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2014-10-06 with total page 381 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Few concepts are as ubiquitous in the physical world of humans as that of identity. Laws of nature crucially involve relations of identity and non-identity, the act of identifying is central to most cognitive processes, and the structure of human language is determined in many different ways by considerations of identity and its opposite. The purpose of this book is to bring together research from a broad scale of domains of grammar that have a bearing on the role that identity plays in the structure of grammatical representations and principles. Beyond a great many analytical puzzles, the creation and avoidance of identity in grammar raise a lot of fundamental and hard questions. These include: Why is identity sometimes tolerated or even necessary, while in other contexts it must be avoided? What are the properties of complex elements that contribute to configurations of identity (XX)? What structural notions of closeness or distance determine whether an offending XX-relation exists or, inversely, whether two more or less distant elements satisfy some requirement of identity? Is it possible to generalize over the specific principles that govern (non-)identity in the various components of grammar, or are such comparisons merely metaphorical? Indeed, can we define the notion of identity in a formal way that will allow us to decide which of the manifold phenomena that we can think of are genuine instances of some identity (avoidance) effect? If identity avoidance is a manifestation in grammar of some much more encompassing principle, some law of nature, then how is it possible that what does and what does not count as identical in the grammars of different languages seems to be subject to considerable variation?

Download or read book Grammars of Identity alterity written by Gerd Baumann and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2006 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Deals with the issues of the construction of Self and Other in the context of social exclusion of those perceived as different. This collection focuses on one theoretical proposition, namely, that the seemingly universal processes of identity formation and exclusion of the 'other' can be differentiated according to three modalities.

Download or read book The Grammar of Identity written by Stephen Clingman and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2009-01-08 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines some of the most intriguing writers of the 20th century, including Joseph Conrad, Jean Rhys, Salman Rushdie, and J. M. Coetzee. In a world which is insistently 'global' yet at the same time shows people retreating into singular versions of belonging and identity, Clingman explores the idea of the 'transnational' in key works of fiction.

Download or read book Peacocks Chameleons Centaurs written by Wayne Brekhus and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2003-10 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What does it mean to be a gay man living in the suburbs? Do you identify primarily as gay, or suburban, or some combination of the two? For that matter, how does anyone decide what his or her identity is? In this first-ever ethnography of American gay suburbanites, Wayne H. Brekhus demonstrates that who one is depends at least in part on where and when one is. For many urban gay men, being homosexual is key to their identity because they live, work, and socialize in almost exclusively gay circles. Brekhus calls such men "lifestylers" or peacocks. Chameleons or "commuters," on the other hand, live and work in conventional suburban settings, but lead intense gay social and sexual lives outside the suburbs. Centaurs, meanwhile, or "integrators," mix typical suburban jobs and homes with low-key gay social and sexual activities. In other words, lifestylers see homosexuality as something you are, commuters as something you do, and integrators as part of yourself. Ultimately, Brekhus shows that lifestyling, commuting, and integrating embody competing identity strategies that occur not only among gay men but across a broad range of social categories. What results, then, is an innovative work that will interest sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, and students of gay culture.

Download or read book Language and Identity written by John Edwards and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2009-09-17 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The language we use forms an important part of our sense of who we are - of our identity. This book outlines the relationship between our identity as members of groups - ethnic, national, religious and gender - and the language varieties important to each group. What is a language? What is a dialect? Are there such things as language 'rights'? Must every national group have its own unique language? How have languages, large and small, been used to spread religious ideas? Why have particular religious and linguistic 'markers' been so central, singly or in combination, to the ways in which we think about ourselves and others? Using a rich variety of examples, the book highlights the linkages among languages, dialects and identities, with special attention given to religious, ethnic and national allegiances.

Download or read book Language Youth and Identity in the 21st Century written by Jacomine Nortier and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2015-03-19 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume explores and compares linguistic practices among young people in linguistically and culturally diverse urban spaces.

Download or read book You Are What You Speak written by Robert Lane Greene and published by Delacorte Press. This book was released on 2011-03-08 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "An insightful, accessible examination of the way in which day-to-day speech is tangled in a complicated web of history, politics, race, economics and power." - Kirkus What is it about other people’s language that moves some of us to anxiety or even rage? For centuries, sticklers the world over have donned the cloak of authority to control the way people use words. Now this sensational new book strikes back to defend the fascinating, real-life diversity of this most basic human faculty. With the erudite yet accessible style that marks his work as a journalist, Robert Lane Greene takes readers on a rollicking tour around the world, illustrating with vivid anecdotes the role language beliefs play in shaping our identities, for good and ill. Beginning with literal myths, from the Tower of Babel to the bloody origins of the word “shibboleth,” Greene shows how language “experts” went from myth-making to rule-making and from building cohesive communities to building modern nations. From the notion of one language’s superiority to the common perception that phrases like “It’s me” are “bad English,” linguistic beliefs too often define “us” and distance “them,” supporting class, ethnic, or national prejudices. In short: What we hear about language is often really about the politics of identity. Governments foolishly try to police language development (the French Academy), nationalism leads to the violent suppression of minority languages (Kurdish and Basque), and even Americans fear that the most successful language in world history (English) may be threatened by increased immigration. These false language beliefs are often tied to harmful political ends and can lead to the violation of basic human rights. Conversely, political involvement in language can sometimes prove beneficial, as with the Zionist revival of Hebrew or our present-day efforts to provide education in foreign languages essential to business, diplomacy, and intelligence. And yes, standardized languages play a crucial role in uniting modern societies. As this fascinating book shows, everything we’ve been taught to think about language may not be wrong—but it is often about something more than language alone. You Are What You Speak will certainly get people talking.

Download or read book The Routledge Handbook of Language and Identity written by Siân Preece and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-02-12 with total page 803 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Routledge Handbook of Language and Identity provides a clear and comprehensive survey of the field of language and identity from an applied linguistics perspective. Forty-one chapters are organised into five sections covering: theoretical perspectives informing language and identity studies key issues for researchers doing language and identity studies categories and dimensions of identity identity in language learning contexts and among language learners future directions for language and identity studies in applied linguistics Written by specialists from around the world, each chapter will introduce a topic in language and identity studies, provide a concise and critical survey, in which the importance and relevance to applied linguists is explained and include further reading. The Routledge Handbook of Language and Identity is an essential purchase for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students of Linguistics, Applied Linguistics and TESOL. Advisory board: David Block (Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats/ Universitat de Lleida, Spain); John Joseph (University of Edinburgh); Bonny Norton (University of British Colombia, Canada).

Download or read book Language and Identity written by David Evans and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2014-12-18 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Language not only expresses identities but also constructs them. Starting from that point, Language and Identity examines the interrelationships between language and identities. It finds that they are so closely interwoven, that words themselves are inscribed with ideological meanings. Words and language constitute meanings within discourses and discourses vary in power. The powerful ones reproduce more powerful meanings, colonize other discourses and marginalize or silence the least powerful languages and cultures. Language and culture death occur in extreme cases of marginalization. This book also demonstrates the socio-economic opportunities offered by language choice and the cultural allegiances of language, where groups have been able to create new lives for themselves by embracing new languages in new countries. Language can be a 'double-edged sword' of opportunity and marginalization. Language and Identity argues that bilingualism and in some cases multilingualism can both promote socio-economic opportunity and combat culture death and marginalization. With sound theoretical perspectives drawing upon the work of Bakhtin, Vygotsky, Gumperz, Foucault and others, this book provides readers with a rationale to redress social injustice in the world by supporting minority linguistic and cultural identities and an acknowledgement that access to language can provide opportunity.

Download or read book A Companion to Linguistic Anthropology written by Alessandro Duranti and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2008-04-15 with total page 648 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Companion to Linguistic Anthropology provides a series of in-depth explorations of key concepts and approaches by some of the scholars whose work constitutes the theoretical and methodological foundations of the contemporary study of language as culture. Provides a definitive overview of the field of linguistic anthropology, comprised of original contributions by leading scholars in the field Summarizes past and contemporary research across the field and is intended to spur students and scholars to pursue new paths in the coming decades Includes a comprehensive bibliography of over 2000 entries designed as a resource for anyone seeking a guide to the literature of linguistic anthropology

Download or read book Language Culture and Identity Signs of Life written by Vera da Silva Sinha and published by John Benjamins Publishing Company. This book was released on 2020-04-30 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The dynamics of language, culture and identity are a major focus for many linguists and cognitive and cultural researchers. This book explores the inextricable connection that language has with cultural identity and cultural practices, with a particular emphasis on how they contribute to shaping personal identity. The volume brings together selected peer-reviewed papers from the 7th International Conference on Language, Culture and Mind with other specially commissioned chapters. Like the conference, this book aims to enhance mutual understanding among researchers from diverse disciplinary and theoretical perspectives, offering a wealth of insights to a wide range of readers on recent culturally oriented cognitive studies of language.

Download or read book Grammars of Identity alterity written by Gerd Baumann and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2004 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A short review cannot do justice to the richness of this, or to the problems posed by its analytical framework...This is a thought-provoking, problematic even troubling volume with many excellent chapters." - The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute "This book's strength is two-fold. First, as an edited volume it was delightfully cohesive, with each author considering the same set of basic questions, and utilizing the three grammars as a frame for examining identity in their various contexts...The second core strength for me is the fluid treatment of both structural and agentic aspects of identity...I found this a stimulating volume and think it has much to offer for readers interested in better understanding identity processes." - Anthropology and Education Quarterly Issues of the construction of Self and Other, normally in the context of social exclusion of those perceived as different, have assumed a new urgency. This collection offers a fresh perspective on the ongoing debates on these questions in the social sciences and the humanities by focusing specifically on one theoretical proposition, namely, that the seemingly universal processes of identity formation and exclusion of the 'other' can be differentiated according to three modalities. All contributors directly engage with rigorous empirical testing and theoretical cross-examination of this proposition. Their results have direct implications not only for a more differentiated understanding of collective identities, but also for a better understanding of extreme collective violence and genocide.

Download or read book Acts of Identity written by Robert Brock Le Page and published by CUP Archive. This book was released on 1985-07-18 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examining how the complex role of language affects the Creole-speaking Caribbean and the West Indian communities in London.

Download or read book Identity A Very Short Introduction written by Florian Coulmas and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2019-02-15 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Identity has become one of the most widely used terms today, appearing in many different contexts. Anything and everything has an identity, and identity crises have become almost equally pervasive. Yet 'identity' is extremely versatile, meaning different things to different people and in different scientific disciplines. To many its meaning seems self-evident, since its various uses share common features, so often the term is used without a definition of what, exactly, is meant by it. This provokes the core question: What exactly is identity? In this Very Short Introduction Florian Coulmas provides a survey of the many faces of the concept of identity, and discusses its significance and varied meanings in the fields of philosophy, sociology, and psychology, as well as politics and law. Tracing our concern with identity to its deep roots in Europe's intellectual history, individualism, and the felt need to draw borderlines, Coulmas identifies the most important features used to mark off individual and collective identities, and demonstrates why they are deemed important. He concludes with a glimpse at the many ways in which literature has engaged with problems of identity throughout history. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Download or read book The Grammar of Status Competition written by Paul David Beaumont and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2024 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Grammar of Status Competition, Paul David Beaumont tackles the question of what status is and how to measure it in the field of international relations. Given states, statesmen, and citizens care about and pursue status despite its difficulty to assess, Beaumont argues that we can study international status hierarchies via states and citizens themselves who also grapple with this same status ambiguity. Advancing a new theoretical framework for investigating how theories of international status (TIS) inform policy making, this book will be useful to IR scholars and students looking to make sense of how states construct and compete in hierarchies of their own making.