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Academic Year 2000/2001

Language and Society in Culture
ANTH 294 SP
Clusters:
Language

This course will develop an understanding of language in its connections to society and culture, drawing on a variety of cross-cultural and historic perspectives. Starting from a model of language as an abstract system, we will see how certain aspects of language use complicate this initial picture and introduce new conceptual tools such as indexicality, performativity, footing, and the division of linguistic labor. These tools will help us analyze how language both represents and constructs social and cultural reality, as we draw on case studies from pragmatics, conversation analysis, politics of language, social constructivism, and ethnography of speaking. As the course progresses, we will deal with increasingly rich ethnographic materials so that we can use our analysis of linguistic practices to grasp complex forms of human experience and agency such as ritual, honor, poetry, memory, and humor.

MAJOR READINGS

Saussure, COURSE IN GENERAL LINGUISTICS Austin, HOW TO DO THINGS WITH WORDS E. Goffman, FORMS OF TALK P. Giglioli, LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL CONTEXT L. Abu-Lughod, VEILED SENTIMENTS: HONOR AND POETRY IN A BEDOUIN SOCIETY K. Basso, WESTERN APACHE LANGUAGE AND CULTURE: ESSAYS IN LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Three papers (or final paper and two drafts), occasional quizzes.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

Class attendance and participation, careful and timely reading. Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's Office.

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: NONE    Grading Mode: Student Option   

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-26-2001

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