Instructor: Madeline Maxwell, Ph.D.

Office: CMA 7.120

Phone: 471-1954

Mondays 3-6

CMA A7.114C

Office hours: Mondays 1:30-3, Wednesdays 2-3, easy appointments Tuesdays 3-4 or Fridays 3-5; or other arrangements

In the United States, it is typical to imagine that "normal" communities are monolingual. On the contrary, most of the world is a language contact zone. In this course, we will study ideologies of language and culture as they affect bilingual and minority language communities. We will focus on the way people and institutions use language to define and mark social identity. In addition to a focus on the social complexities of communicating in the contact zone, we will consider such topics as: the tension individuals experience between conflicting sociolinguistic forces; the way they actively respond to such experience; the politics of linguistic hybridity and appropriation in contemporary society; and the fates of minority languages and their speakers.

We will start with the cases of the American Deaf and the Diné (Navajo.). We will use them as case studies to gain a common language and set of concepts for exploring the issues. While both these linguistic/cultural groups are in the US, they have very different histories and structures. Most Deaf are born to hearing families and acquire sign language outside the family. The Diné predate the establishment of English in North America. Then we will read studies of other contact situations around the world. Students will write a case study of one linguistic minority group/situation somewhere in the world, reviewing the work available on that group, assessing the theoretical issues raised by the practices of the group, and proposing a study with this group to further our understanding of the issues of minority language communities (70% of the grade). Students will also write an essay on the course material for the final examination (30%) of the grade. The paper is due on December 6 at 5 pm. The essay is due on December 13 at 5 pm.

Readings:

Book: Anderson, Benedict Richard O'Gorman. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Spread of Nationalism. 1991. Verso Books.

Articles marked OL are available on-line at http://toolkit.virginia.edu/cgi-local/pm/UVa_CLAS_1999_Spring_ANTH547-1/displaymaterials/92837468923231/_

Other articles will be available for copy purchase later in the semester.

Sept. 13, The Deaf Community in America

1. Parasnis, Ila, ed. Cultural and Language Diversity and the Deaf Experience. Cambridge U. Press, 1996. Chaps. 1, 5, 8, 7, 15, 12
2. Stewart, David. Deaf Sport. Gallaudet U. Press, 1991. Chaps. 1&2.
3. Garretson, Mervin. Cross-Cultural Research: A Personal View. IN Welch, Olga M., ed. Research and Practice in Deafness. Chas. Thomas Publ, Springfield, IL. 1993. Chapter 15, 285-295.


Sept. 20, The Deaf Community in America, part 2.

4. Lane, Harlan. The Medicalization of Cultural Deafness in Historical Perspective. IN Fischer, Renate & Lane, Harlan, eds. Looking Back. Signum Press, Hamburg, Germany. 1993.
5. Maxwell, Madeline; Poeppelmeyer, Diana; & Polich, Laura. Deaf Members and Non-Members. IN Kovarsky, Dana; Duchan, Judith; & Maxwell, Madeline, eds. Constructing (In)competence. Lawrence Erlbaum Publ., Mahwah, NJ. 1999. Chapter 6. 125-149.
6. Maxwell, Madeline, & Kraemer, Pam. Speech and Identity in the Deaf Narrative. Text 10, 339-363. 1990.
7. Maxwell, Madeline. Visual-centered Narratives of the Deaf. Linguistics and Education 2, 213-229.
8. Christiansen, John B., & Barnartt, Sharon N. Deaf President Now. Gallaudet University Press. 1995. xviii-xxvi, 194-219.

1. Anderson
2. Handler, Richard, & Linnekin, Jocelyn. Tradition, Genuine or Spurious. Journal of American Folklore 97. 1984. OL
3. Wilson, William A. Herder, Folklore and Romantic Nationalism. Journal of Popular Culture. OL

1. McCarty, Teresa. Mother Tongue Literacy and Language Renewal: The Case of Navajo. http://www.literacyonline.org/products/ili/webdocs/ilproc/ilprocMc.htm
2. Batchelder, Ann, & Markel, Sherry. An Initial Exploration of the Navajo Nation's Language and Culture Initiative. IN Reyhner, Jon, ed. Teaching Indigenous Languages. Northern Arizona University. Flagstaff, AZ. 1997. Chapter 20. 239-247. http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar/TIL_20.html
3. Peterson, Leighton C. Tuning in to Navajo: The Role of Radio in Native Language Maintenance. IN Reyhner, Jon, ed. Teaching Indigenous Languages. Northern Arizona University. Flagstaff, AZ. 1997. Chapter 17. 214-221 http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar/TIL_17.html
4. Witherspoon, Gary. Language and Art in the Navajo Universe. U. of Michigan. 1962. 1-61.
5. Fiesta, Melissa. Solving Mysteries of Culture and Self. American Indian Quarterly 17. 1993. 370-377.
6. McLaughlin, Daniel. The Sociolinguistics of Navajo Literacy. Anthropology & Education Quarterly 20. 1989. 275-290.
7. Lipka, Jerry, & McCarty, Teresa. Changing the Culture of Schooling: Navajo and Yup’ik Cases. Anthropology & Education Quarterly 25. 1994. 266-284.

1. Fishman, Impact of Nationalism on Language, OL
2. Goffman, Forms of Talk, OL
3. Gumperz, Language and the Communication of Social Identity, OL
4. Hall, Cultural Identity and Diaspora, OL
5. Haugen, Dialect, Language, Nation, OL
6. Hobsbawn, Inventing Traditions, OL
7. Hymes, Linguistic Problems in Defining the Concept of Tribe, OL

During this two week period, students should select a language minority group somewhere in the world and investigate the available research on language and communication involving that group. If you pick a well-studied group, you will have the opportunity to hone your search to a very specific topic. If you pick a group with little research attention, you may be accounting for everything written about them. Produce an annotated bibliography. The annotations should be about 250 words long. Write a couple sentences as well on where you want to go with a paper.

November 1 Language Interaction

1. Phillips, Susan U. Some Sources of Cultural Variability in the Regulation of Talk. Language and Society 5. 1976. 81-95. OL
2. Urban, Greg. The Semiotics of Two Speech Styles in Shokeng. IN Mertz, E., & Parmentier, eds. Semiotic Mediation. Academic Press. Orlando, FL. 1985. OL
3. Blom, Jan-Peter, & Gumperz, John. Social Meaning in Linguistic Structure: Code-switching in Norway. IN Gumperz, John, & Hymes, Dell (eds.), Directions in Sociolinguistics. 1972. 407-434. OL
4. Gal, Susan. Codeswitching and Consciousness in the European Periphery. American Ethnologist 14. 637-53.
5. Myers Scotton, Carol. The Negotiation of Identities in Conversation. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 44. 1983. 115-136. OL

November 8 NCA – no class

November 15 Changes

1. Paulston, Christina Bratt. Catalan and Occitan: comparative test cases for a theory of language maintenance and shift. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 63. 1987.31-62.
2. LePage, Robert. The Place of Ethnicity in Acts of Identity. IN Lepage, Robert, & Tabouret-Keller, A. Acts of Identity. Cambridge U. 1985. 207-249. OL
3. Moerman, Michael. Talking Culture. University of Pennsylvania Press. 1988. OL
4. Briggs, Charles. Genre, Intertextuality, and Social Power. 1995. OL

November 22

November 29