Language and Power

Catalog description

This course considers how language and power relate to each other in social life. We first consider theoretical approaches to the politics of language use, such as Foucault on discursive formations, Bourdieu on language as social capital, and Bakhtin on the oppression inherent in standard languages. We then consider specific issues, including joking as linguistic resistance, language death and revitalization, the cochlear implant debate, and racializing discourses. We end with language use in the U.S. "culture wars," covering such topics as the Ebonics controversy, language and electoral politics, hate speech, and English language legislation.