Language Wars and Linguistic Politics (Paperback)

Non-linguistic conflicts - economic, religious, territorial - are often projected on to language differences, and may be played out in the language policies of governments and other holders of power. Jean-Louis Calvet deals broadly, in a non-technical and introductory style, with this interaction of language issues and political process. He examines the fundamental problems arising from language contact, multilingualism, and the conflicts caused by inequalities symbolized in various patterns of language use. The author draws extensively on his own research and uses numerous case studies to illustrate the power-political dimensions of language policies from many parts of the world, such as Africa, China, South America, the former Soviet Union, and Europe. He cites the former Soviet Union as a prime example of an attempt to impose, for ideological reasons, a supra-national vehicular language, in order to supersede the languages of regional nationalism. Professor Calvet offers no simple solutions to the `war of languages' but urges all those involved in language intervention - from the professional `language planners' to school teachers - to combine the need to promote majority languages with respect for the diversity of local languages and language varieties.

General

Imprint:	Oxford UniversityPress
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	September 1998
First published:	December 1998
Authors:	Louis-Jean Calvet (Professor of Linguistics)
Translators:	Michel Petheram
Dimensions:	215 x 138 x 215mm (L x W x H)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	228
ISBN-13:	978-0-19-870021-0
Categories:	Books > Language & Literature > Language & linguistics > Sociolinguistics Books > Language & Literature > Language & linguistics > Psycholinguistics > Bilingualism & multilingualism Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political ideologies > General Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Central government > Central government policies
LSN:	0-19-870021-0
Barcode:	9780198700210

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