Sociolinguistics Symposium 19
Freie Universität Berlin | August 21-24, 2012
Programme: accepted abstracts
Abstract ID: 192
Thematic Session (Papers belonging to this Thematic Session)
Margins vs Megapoles; Globalization and sociolinguistic transformation in small places
Authors: Kroon, Sjaak; Van de Velde, Hans; Xu, Daming
Submitted by: Kroon, Sjaak (Tilburg University, Netherlands, The)
Ongoing globalization processes are turning the world into a far more diverse place than it has ever been. Apart from people and goods, also languages and cultures cross borders, thereby shaping new superdiverse sociolinguistic environments in which new discursive genres and patterns, along with new practices and identities, can be developed. In doing so people use features of old and new languages in processes that can be typified as polylingual languaging, i.e. they create meaning by using simultaneously the different language varieties and linguistic features they have at their disposal. These processes do not only happen in situations where real people engage in real conversations in the real world, but also in the virtual social environment of the Internet that has no limits in terms of time and space.
Hitherto linguistic superdiversity – including topics like the spread of (new varieties of) English all over the world, linguistic landscapes, code-switching and code-mixing, the emergence of new varieties, language contact phenomena, language maintenance and loss processes, language in popular culture, hip hop music, computer games – has mainly been studies in urban environments, because that’s where the people are and therefore where the action is. Globalization processes and linguistic superdiversity, however, are not exclusively affecting the big cities. On the contrary, also in small places, literally at the margins, far away from the vibrant global centers, the sociolinguistic consequences of globalization can be found.
The concept of margins is meant to refer to different sociolinguistic realities at the same time. It includes the geographic margins of the world (such as far away islands or territories), the margins of nation states (such as dialect or minority language areas), the margins of megapoles (such as the townships in South Africa), and the margins of the internet (such as ‘underground’ websites). These margins are by no means only isolated, stable, authentic places. They are deeply connected to the rest of the world on a daily basis. They are affected by migration processes through outward migration heading to the city and inward migration related to eco-tourism, NGO-activities, war and other global phenomena that have an in-depth influence on the margins’ linguistic and cultural landscapes.
The sociolinguistics of globalization should therefore not exclusively focus on urban contexts, but should also include the sociolinguistics of small places and the connections between margins and megapoles. Therefore, this symposium – as a counter point of SS19’s main urban focus – invites contributions from researchers in the sociolinguistics of globalization who focus on languages and their users in the margins all over the world.
Questions for discussion
· What are methodological specifics of a sociolinguistics of globalization in small places?
· What are the roles of real and virtual mobility of people and languages in the sociolinguistic transformation of small places?
· Who are brokers, participants, winners, losers in the globalization and sociolinguistic transformation of small places?
· What about the linguistic landscape, the role of English as a supervernacular, minority and majority languages, language, culture and identity, language education, language policy etc. in small places in the context of globalization?
Key references
Harri Englund (2002), Ethnography after globalization: migration and emplacement in Malawi. American Ethnologist 29(2):261-286.
Donald R. Wright (2010), The world and a very small place in Africa. A history of globalization in Niumi, The Gambia. Armonk NY: M.E. Sharpe (3rd edition)
Derek Pardue (2008), Ideologies of marginalities in Brazilian Hip Hop. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Sirpa Leppänen & Sari Pietikäinen (2010), Urban rap goes to arctic Lapland: Breaking trough and saving the endangered Inari Sami language. In H. Kelly-Holmes & G. Mautner (eds. Language and the market. Basingstoke: Plagrave Macmillan, 148-160.
Christina Higgins (2009), English as a local language. Post-colonial Identities and multilingual practices. Bristol: Multilingual matters.