Language, Globalization and the Self

Catalog description

This course is intended as an exploration of language as vehicle for processes of globalization and as framework for our understanding of them. What role did language play in the changes wrought by early capitalist transformations and the colonial expansion and what role does language continue to play in them? Conversely, how have these global changes affected localized communities and the languages that identify them? Finally, how do we come to grips with the multiplicity of frames provided by the advent of new technologies, and has such multiplicity altered our trust in the possibility of global communication? To answer these questions we will examine how the colonial experience has given rise to value laden linguistic practices that mirror and sustain the racializing of privilege; and how the experience of language loss encountered by voluntary and involuntary migrants can attack the integrity of the self. "During our discussions we will keep an eye on the shifting line between information and disinformation and ask ourselves how we identify "truth" in all of this. While ultimately concerned with language, our discussions will have a wide scope ranging from issues of political economy to collective consciousness and individual psychology.