From "30 Americans" to "Angry White Boy," from "Bamboozled" to "The Boondocks," from "Chappelle's Show" to "The Colored Museum," this collection of twenty-one essays takes an interdisciplinary look at the flowering of satire and its influence in defining new roles in black identity. As a mode of expression for a generation of writers, comedians, cartoonists, musicians, filmmakers, and visual/conceptual artists, satire enables collective questioning of many of the fundamental presumptions about black identity in the wake of the civil rights movement. Whether taking place in popular and controversial television shows, in a provocative series of short internet films, in prize-winning novels and plays, in comic strips, or in conceptual hip hop albums, this satirical impulse has found a receptive audience both within and outside the black community.

Such works have been variously called "post-black," "post-soul," and examples of a "New Black Aesthetic." Whatever the label, this collection bears witness to a noteworthy shift regarding the ways in which African American satirists feel constrained by conventional obligations when treating issues of racial identity, historical memory, and material representation of blackness.

Among the artists examined in this collection are Paul Beatty, Dave Chappelle, Trey Ellis, Percival Everett, Donald Glover (a.k.a. Childish Gambino), Spike Lee, Aaron McGruder, Lynn Nottage, ZZ Packer, Suzan Lori-Parks, Mickalene Thomas, Toure, Kara Walker, and George C. Wolfe. The essays intentionally seek out interconnections among various forms of artistic expression. Contributors look at the ways in which contemporary African American satire engages in a broad ranging critique that exposes fraudulent, outdated, absurd, or otherwise damaging mindsets and behaviors both within and outside the African American community."

This edited volume brings together ten compelling ethnographic case studies from a range of global settings to explore how people build metalinguistic communities defined not by use of a language, but primarily by language ideologies and symbolic practices about the language. The authors examine themes of agency, belonging, negotiating hegemony, and combating cultural erasure and genocide in cultivating meaningful metalinguistic communities. Case studies include Spanish and Hebrew in the USA, Kurdish in Japan, Pataxo Hahahae in Brazil, and Gallo in France. The afterword, by Wesley L. Leonard, provides theoretical and on-the-ground context as well as a forward-looking focus on metalinguistic futurities. This book will be of interest to interdisciplinary students and scholars in applied linguistics, linguistic anthropology and migration studies.

This book explores what new light philosophical approaches shed on a deeper understanding of (im)politeness. There have been numerous studies on linguistic (im)politeness, however, little attention has been paid to its philosophical underpinnings. This book opens new avenues for both (im)politeness and philosophy. It contributes to a fruitful dialogue among philosophy, pragmatics, and sociology. This volume appeals to students and researchers in these fields.

For English instructors at every level, the task of producing a worthwhile, workable plan for each class period can prove a perennially nerve-wracking experience. To ease this challenge, this invaluable work offers a vast compilation of writing exercises and in-class activities collected from professors, graduate students and lecturers from colleges and universities across the U.S. Step-by-step instructions guide teachers through class discussions and exercises on topics ranging from invention, argumentation, formatting, thesis development and organization to rhetorical situation, visual rhetoric, peer review and revision. Most entries are designed as stand-alone exercises to fill a standard fifty minute class, but some are expandable to cover multiple class periods and even provide homework assignments. From high school teachers and first-time teaching assistants to experienced writing professors looking to enhance their courses, anyone who teaches English will appreciate the fresh ideas found in this indispensable volume.

Everyone should have easy command of a medium for expressing his or her thoughts. Luif is a new language developed by the author that proposes a rational, harmonious system that will allow the world to finally share a universal language. Easy to learn, with a vocabulary that follows a logical, orderly structure, Luif could finally provide the world with a more effective form of communication for successfully conducting business internationally, overcoming political hurdles and misunderstandings, and achieving peace among warring nations. In this, the companion volume to Luif-A New Language, a more extensive listing of words and their definitions is provided for those who wish to increase their fluency in this revolutionary language. Containing approximately 4,000 basic and composite words, this volume actually comprises three separate dictionaries: Classified, Alphabetical and English-Luif, allowing the reader rapid and easy access to words and their accompanying definitions.

Text analysis tools aid in extracting meaning from digital content. As digital text becomes more and more complex, new techniques are needed to understand conceptual structure. Concept Parsing Algorithms (CPA) for Textual Analysis and Discovery: Emerging Research and Opportunities provides an innovative perspective on the application of algorithmic tools to study unstructured digital content. Highlighting pertinent topics such as semantic tools, semiotic systems, and pattern detection, this book is ideally designed for researchers, academics, students, professionals, and practitioners interested in developing a better understanding of digital text analysis.

Contributes to the history of Middle Eastern narrative lore and its impact on Western tradition.