Linguistic Anthropology

A Reader

Duranti, Alessandro (Editor)

Blackwell Anthologies in Social and Cultural Anthropology

2. Edition April 2009
536 Pages, Hardcover
Textbook

ISBN: 978-1-4051-2633-5

John Wiley & Sons

Sample Chapter

Short Description

Linguistic Anthropology is a comprehensive collection of the best work that has been published in this exciting and growing area of anthropology, and is organized to provide a guide to key issues in the study of language as a cultural resource and speaking as a cultural practice. Editor Alessandro Duranti's extensive introduction provides an original perspective on the development of the field and highlights its most compelling issues. Revised and updated, this second edition contains eight new articles on speech communities, the power and performance of language, and narratives, among others.

Further versions

Linguistic Anthropology: A Reader is a comprehensive collection of the best work that has been published in this exciting and growing area of anthropology, and is organized to provide a guide to key issues in the study of language as a cultural resource and speaking as a cultural practice.
* Revised and updated, this second edition contains eight new articles on key subjects, including speech communities, the power and performance of language, and narratives
* Selections are both historically oriented and thematically coherent, and are accessibly grouped according to four major themes: speech community and communicative competence; the performance of language; language socialization and literacy practices; and the power of language
* An extensive introduction provides an original perspective on the development of the field and highlights its most compelling issues
* Each section includes a brief introductory statement, sets of guiding questions, and list of recommended readings on the main topics

Acknowledgments to the Second Edition

Preface to the Second Edition

Part I: Ideal and Real Speech Communities

Part II: The Performance of Language: Events, Genres, and Narratives

Part III: Language Socialization and Literacy Practices

Part IV: The Power of Language

Index

"Alessandro Duranti has succeeded in compiling an excellent reader that many instructors and students will find useful as an introduction to key works in linguistic anthropology. Leaders in the theory and practice of contemporary linguistic anthropology are well represented, and all of the articles are excellent; indeed, most are recognized as contemporary "classics" in the field. This reader is an excellent addition to the growing library of readers in linguistic anthropology and a valuable new resource for both students and teachers." (Current Anthropology [from 1st edition])

"Many of the articles included...are examples of highly innovative scholarly work on issues of language related to culture. It provides an excellent (and long overdue) discussion of terminology, American lingustic anthropology's development within Cultural Anthropology, its subsequent drift away from anthropology towards an independent discipline increasingly focused on theoretical anthropologists in the late 1960s, and its reestablishment as a subfield of anthropology in the 1980s-90s. As a textbook this reader makes a very useful teaching aid, as a source book it provides valuable insights into the discipline of linguistic anthropology." (Linguist List)

Alessandro Duranti is Professor and Chair of the Anthropology Department at UCLA and Director of the Center of Language, Interaction and Culture (CLIC). His publications with Wiley-Blackwell include Key Terms in Language and Culture (2001) and A Companion to Linguistic Anthropology (2004). He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the recipient of various awards, including the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, the UCLA Alumni Distinguished Teaching Award, and the American Anthropological Association/Mayfield Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.

A. Duranti, University of California, Los Angeles, USA