Language Shift and Cultural Reproduction

Socialization, Self and Syncretism in a Papua New Guinean Village
Erscheinungsjahr 2013
ISBN: 978-0-521-59926-9
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, Band 14, 335 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 488 g

Reihe: Studies in the Social and Cultural Foundations of Language

Language Shift and Cultural Reproduction is a fascinating anthropological study of language and cultural change among the villagers of Gapun, in the Sepik region of Papua New Guinea. Despite their strong attachment to their own language as a source of identity and as a tie to their lands, people are abandoning their vernacular in favour of Tok Pisin, the most widely spoken language in Papua New Guinea. By examining village language socialization practices and drawing on Marshall Sahlins's ideas about structure and event, Don Kulick reveals how daily interactions, attitudes towards language, children, change, and personhood, all contribute to a shift in language and culture that is beyond the villagers' understanding and control. This is the first detailed documention of the process of language shift. It places linguistic change within an interpretive framework, and treats language as a symbolic system that affects, and is affected by, the thoughts and actions of everyday life.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Kulick, Don

Irvine, Judith

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Sprachsoziologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Soziolinguistik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction: Papua New Guinea and the study of language shift; 1. Villagers and their village; 2. Language and talk in the village; 3. Having 'hed'; 4. Showing 'save'; 5. Preparing the change; 6. Becoming monolingual; 7. Cotextualizing the self; Conclusion: the process of language shift; Appendix: On being a ghost.