Visual metaphors in a number of Mahayana sutras construct a discourse in which visual perception serves as a model for knowledge and enlightenment. In the Perfection of Wisdom (Prajnaparamita) and other Mahayana literature, immediate access to reality is symbolized by vision and set in opposition to language and conceptual thinking, which are construed as obscuring reality. In addition to its philosophical manifestations, the tension between vision and language also functioned as a strategy of legitimation in the struggle of the early heterodox Mahayana movement for authority and legitimacy. This emphasis on vision also served as a resource for the abundant mythical imagery in Mahayana sutras, imagery that is ritualized in Vajrayana visualization practices. McMahan brings a wide range of literature to bear on this issue, Including a rare analysis of the lavish imagery of the Gandavyuha Sutra in its Indian context. He concludes with a discussion of Indian approaches to visuality in the light of some recent discussions of "ocularcentrism" in the west, inviting scholars to expand the current discussion of vision and its roles in constructing epistemic systems and cultural practices beyond its exclusively European and American focus.

"Formal Pragmatics" addresses issues that are on the borderline of the semantics and pragmatics of natural language, from the point of view of a model-theoretic semanticist. This up-to-date resource covers a substantial body of formal work on linguistic phenomena, and presents the way the semantics-pragmatics interface has come to be viewed today.
Introduces Discourse Representation Theory and File Change Semantics, with their formal representation of context and context change.
Covers presupposition, including the nature and status of presuppositions as well as presupposition projection.
Deals with focus, its prosodic manifestation, and the model-theoretic analysis of its meaning and function. This volume, which serves as a textbook, as well as a reference or research book, offers a detailed discussion of key issues and clearly explains important, cutting-edge research.

Representing current theory and research in rhetoric, this volume brings together scholarship from a variety of orientations--theoretical, critical, historical, and pedagogical. Some contributions cover work that has previously been silenced or unrecognized, including Native American, African American, Latino, and women's rhetorics. Others explore rhetoric's relationship to performance and to the body, or to revising canons, stases, topoi, and pisteis. Still others are reworking the rhetorical lexicon to comprise contemporary theory. Among these diverse interests, rhetoricians find common themes and share intellectual and pedagogical enterprises that hold them together even as their institutional situations keep them apart.
Topics discussed in this collection include:
*Rhetoric as figurality; comparative and contrastive rhetorics; rhetoric and gender; and rhetorics of science and technology;
*Rhetoric and reconceptions of the public sphere; rhetoric and public memory; and rhetorics of globalization and social change, including issues of race, ethnicity, and nationalism;
*Rhetoric's institutionalized place in the academy, in relation to other humanities and to the interpretive social sciences; and
*The place of rhetoric in the formation of departments and the development of pedagogy
With its origins in the 2000 Rhetoric Society of America (RSA) conference, this volume represents the range and vitality of current scholarship in rhetoric. The conversations contained herein indicate that professing rhetoric is, at the turn of the millennium, an intellectual activity that engages with and helps formulate the most important public and scholarly questions of today. As such, it will be engaging reading for scholars and students, and is certain to provoke further thought, discussion, and exploration.

This book argues that language systems determine language use to a greater extent than is generally assumed. The author demonstrates how the typological characteristics of a language determine even the most general aspects of our stylistic preferences.
Through extensive analysis of examples in German and English, the author demonstrates how analogous options of sentence structure must be surrendered in order to achieve felicitous translations. Two major aspects that determine the appropriateness of language use are examined: language processing and discourse-dependency.
Essential reading for translation scholars and linguists involved in the comparative study of English and German, this book will also be of interest to scholars of psycholinguistics and cognitive science, as well as translators and linguists more generally.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203216938

Antonymy is the technical name used to describe 'opposites', pairs of words such as rich/poor, love/hate and male/female. Antonyms are a ubiquitous part of everyday language, and this book provides a detailed, comprehensive account of the phenomenon.
This book demonstrates how traditional linguistic theory can be revisited, updated and challenged in the corpus age. It will be essential reading for scholars interested in antonymy and corpus linguistics.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203166256

"Critical Literacy in a Digital Era" offers an examination of the persuasive approaches used in discussions on and about the Internet. Its aim is to increase awareness of what is assumed, unquestioned, and naturalized in our media experience. Using a critical literacy framework for her analysis, author Barbara Warnick argues that new media technologies become accepted not only through their use, but also through the rhetorical use of discourse on and about them. She analyzes texts that discuss new media and technology, including articles from a major technology-oriented periodical; women's magazines and Web sites; and Internet-based political parody in the 2000 presidential campaign. These case studies bring to light the persuasive strategies used by writers to influence public discourse about technology.
The book includes analyses of narrative structures, speech genres, intertextuality, argument forms, writing formulae, and patterns of emphasis and neglect used in traditional and new media outlets. As a result, this distinctive work identifies the features of online speech that bring people and ideas together and enable communities to form in new media environments.
As a unique study of the ways in which ideology is embedded in rhetorical texts, this volume will play a significant role in the development of critical literacy about writing and speech concerning new communication technology. It will be of interest to readers concerned about how our talk about communication affects how we think about it, in particular those interested in communication and social change, public persuasion, and rhetorical criticism of new media content.

"Critical Literacy in a Digital Era" offers an examination of the persuasive approaches used in discussions on and about the Internet. Its aim is to increase awareness of what is assumed, unquestioned, and naturalized in our media experience. Using a critical literacy framework for her analysis, author Barbara Warnick argues that new media technologies become accepted not only through their use, but also through the rhetorical use of discourse on and about them. She analyzes texts that discuss new media and technology, including articles from a major technology-oriented periodical; women's magazines and Web sites; and Internet-based political parody in the 2000 presidential campaign. These case studies bring to light the persuasive strategies used by writers to influence public discourse about technology.
The book includes analyses of narrative structures, speech genres, intertextuality, argument forms, writing formulae, and patterns of emphasis and neglect used in traditional and new media outlets. As a result, this distinctive work identifies the features of online speech that bring people and ideas together and enable communities to form in new media environments.
As a unique study of the ways in which ideology is embedded in rhetorical texts, this volume will play a significant role in the development of critical literacy about writing and speech concerning new communication technology. It will be of interest to readers concerned about how our talk about communication affects how we think about it, in particular those interested in communication and social change, public persuasion, and rhetorical criticism of new media content.

The concept of social power, who holds it and how they use it is a widely debated subject particularly in the field of discourse analysis, and the wider arena of sociolinguistics. In her new book,Joanna Thornborrow challenges the received notion that power is necessarily held by some speakers and not by others. Through the detailed analysis of communication and interaction within a range of institutional settings, she examines power as an emerging, negotiated phenomenon between participants with different status and goals. Written in a clear style which combines attention to technical detail with accessibility, Power Talk includes: a comprehensive introduction to the theme of power including the analytic approaches to power in language a wide-ranging discussion of theory and practice and, in-depth contemporary case studies. Power Talk is the first book to focus on the topic of power in situated interaction across a range of contexts. As such, it makes a timely, and important contribution to the debate surrounding social power and language use, and will be of value to both students and researchers alike.

"An African Athens" offers an analysis of a new ecology of rhetoric--the reshaping of a nation into a democracy through rhetorical means. Author Philippe-Joseph Salazar provides a general view of issues as they have taken shape in the apartheid and post-apartheid South African experience, presenting the country as a remarkable stage for playing out the great themes of public deliberation and the rise of postmodern rhetorical democracy. Salazar's intimate vantage point focuses on the striking case of a democracy won at the negotiating table and also won every day in public deliberation.
This volume presents a full-scale rhetorical analysis of a democratic transformation in post-Cold War era, and provides a study of the demise of apartheid and post-apartheid from the standpoint of political and public rhetoric and communication. In doing so, it serves as a template for similar enquiries in the rhetorical study of emerging democracies.
Intended for readers engaged in the study of political and public rhetoric with an interest in how democracy takes shape, "An African Athens" highlights South Africa as a test case for global democracy, for rhetoric, and for the relevance of rhetoric studies in a postmodern democracy.

Knowledge and Discourse presents an ecological approach to the study of discourse in social, academic and professional practices. It brings together distinguished scholars from diverse cultures - India, China, Australia, Canada among others - and disciplines - linguistics, anthropology, sociology, philosophy. The chapters collectively illustrate the ecological approach by exploring how language makes connections between subjective experiences as people construct meaning and action. This book offers the reader a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to the study of language as discourse, questioning traditional views of disciplinary knowledge and the role of discourse in the pursuit, construction and compartmentalisation of such knowledge. Through the variety of disciplines, experiences and approaches, the contributors show how the world and word are contingent on each other. The notions of connectivity, contingency and change are themes that run through the book, and in the interweaving of these themes readers will find persuasive illustrations of an ecological approach to applied linguistics.

This groundbreaking collection explores the beliefs and approaches to the history of English that do not make it into standard textbooks.
Orthodox histories have presented a tunnel version of the history of the English language which is sociologically inadequate. In this book a range of leading international scholars show how this focus on standard English dialect is to the detriment of those which are non-standard or from other areas of the world. Alternative Histories of English:
· reveals the range of possible 'narratives' about how different varieties of 'Englishes' may have emerged
· places emphasis on pragmatic, sociolinguistic and discourse-oriented aspects of English rather than the traditional grammar, vocabulary and phonology
· considers diverse topics including South African English, Indian English, Southern Hemisphere Englishes, Early Modern English, women's writing, and politeness.
Presenting a fuller and richer picture of the complexity of the history of English, the contributors to Alternative Histories of English explain why English is the diverse world language it is today.

This groundbreaking collection explores the beliefs and approaches to the history of English that do not make it into standard textbooks.
Orthodox histories have presented a tunnel version of the history of the English language which is sociologically inadequate. In this book a range of leading international scholars show how this focus on standard English dialect is to the detriment of those which are non-standard or from other areas of the world. Alternative Histories of English:
* reveals the range of possible 'narratives' about how different varieties of 'Englishes' may have emerged
* places emphasis on pragmatic, sociolinguistic and discourse-oriented aspects of English rather than the traditional grammar, vocabulary and phonology
* considers diverse topics including South African English, Indian English, Southern Hemisphere Englishes, Early Modern English, women's writing, and politeness.
Presenting a fuller and richer picture of the complexity of the history of English, the contributors to Alternative Histories of English explain why English is the diverse world language it is today.

The topic of the book is the relationship between mind and language on all levels of linguistic research. Over the past decade, the cognitive approach to language and its methodology have started to permeate other areas of linguistic study, which, in turn, is opening up room for new types of research and resulting in new knowledge that contributes to explaining not only the linguistic phenomena, but also how they function in a linguistic community and contemporary society. The book tries to reflect these new developments. It consists of 11 chapters organized into three thematic sections: language and mind from linguistic perspective, the language and mind of the translator, and language and mind from the teacher's perspective.

This book is a history composed of histories. Its particular focus is the way in which computers entered and changed the field of composition studies, a field that defines itself both as a research community and as a community of teachers. This may have a somewhat sinister suggestion that technology alone has agency, but this history (made of histories) is not principally about computers. It is about people-the teachers and scholars who have adapted the computer to their personal and professional purposes. From the authors' perspectives, change in technology drives changes in the ways we live and work, and we, agents to a degree in control of our own lives, use technology to achieve our human purposes. REVIEW: . . . This book reminds those of us now using computers to teach writing where we have been, and it brings those who are just entering the field up to date. More important, it will inform administrators, curriculum specialists, and others responsible for implementing the future uses of technology in writing instruction. - Computers and Composition

New Playwriting Strategies offers a fresh and dynamic approach to playwriting that will be welcomed by teachers and aspiring playwrights alike.

Clare Walsh explores the experience of women currently involved in linguistic domains traditionally monopolized by men and considers the impact women have made on the norms in language that govern public sphere discourse.

New Playwriting Strategies offers a fresh and dynamic approach to playwriting that will be welcomed by teachers and aspiring playwrights alike.

Series Information:
Interface

Series Information:
Interface

Communication problems in children that are best described as pragmatic in nature have been a focus of attention for some years. However, despite this, speech and language therapists, teachers and researchers still have some difficulty describing, defining and explaining such problems. This book gives an up to date synthesis of work in the field of childhood pragmatic problems and provides both an introduction and more detailed consideration of this complex area.

Aspects covered include conversational analysis, speech and communicative acts, reference, narrative, pragmatic comprehension and relevance. Each chapter contains exercises with discussion, notes on normal development and illustrative clinical data from children, as well as recent research in the area.

Series Information:
SOAS Centre of Near and Middle Eastern Studies

Author Biography:
Jon McKenzie is Visiting Professor of Performance Studies at Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, where he teaches courses on globalization, experience design, and organizational performance. He also consults as a strategist in the new media industry. His essays include Laurie Anderson for Dummies and Towards a Sociopoetics of Interface Design: etoy, eToys, TOYWAR.

"On Second Language Writing" brings together internationally recognized scholars in a collection of original articles that, collectively, delineate and explore central issues with regard to theory, research, instruction, assessment, politics, articulation with other disciplines, and standards. In recent years, there has been a dramatic growth of interest in second-language writing and writing instruction in many parts of the world. Although an increasing number of researchers and teachers in both second-language studies and composition studies have come to identify themselves as specialists in second-language writing, research and teaching practices have been dispersed into several different disciplinary and institutional contexts because of the interdisciplinary nature of the field. This volume is the first to bring together prominent second-language writing specialists to systematically address basic issues in the field and to consider the state of the art at the end of the century (and the millennium).

"On Second Language Writing" brings together internationally recognized scholars in a collection of original articles that, collectively, delineate and explore central issues with regard to theory, research, instruction, assessment, politics, articulation with other disciplines, and standards. In recent years, there has been a dramatic growth of interest in second-language writing and writing instruction in many parts of the world. Although an increasing number of researchers and teachers in both second-language studies and composition studies have come to identify themselves as specialists in second-language writing, research and teaching practices have been dispersed into several different disciplinary and institutional contexts because of the interdisciplinary nature of the field. This volume is the first to bring together prominent second-language writing specialists to systematically address basic issues in the field and to consider the state of the art at the end of the century (and the millennium).

Meaning Diminished examines the complex relationship between semantic analysis and metaphysical inquiry. Kenneth A. Taylor argues that we should expect linguistic and conceptual analysis of natural language to yield far less metaphysical insight into what there is - and the nature of what there is - than many philosophers have imagined. Taking a strong stand against the so-called linguistic turn in philosophy, Taylor contends that philosophers as diverse as Kant, with his Transcendental Idealism, Frege, with his aspirational Platonism, Carnap with his distinction between internal and external questions, and Strawson, with his descriptive metaphysics, have placed too much confidence in the ability of linguistic and conceptual analysis to achieve deep insight into matters of ultimate metaphysics. He urges philosophers who seek such insight to turn away from the interrogation of language and concepts and back to the more direct interrogation of reality itself. In doing so, he maps out the way forward toward a metaphysically modest semantics, in which semantics carries less weighty metaphysical burdens, and toward a revisionary and naturalistic metaphysics, untethered to the a priori analysis of ordinary language.