
Ideologies in Action
Language Politics on Corsica
Alexandra Jaffe(Author)
De Gruyter Mouton (Publisher)
Published on 1. January 1999
Book
Hardback
X, 323 pages
978-3-11-186880-6 (ISBN)
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Description
In Corsica, spelling contests, road signs, bilingual education bills and Corsican language newscasts leave language planners and ordinary speakers deeply divided over how to define what "counts" as Corsican and how it is connected with cultural identity. In Ideologies in Action Alexandra Jaffe explores the complex interrelationship between linguistic ideologies and practices on the French island of Corsica. This detailed exploration of the ideological and political underpinnings of three decades of language planning raises fundamental questions about what it means to "save" a minority language, and the way in which specific cultural, political and ideological contexts shape the "successes" and "failures" of linguistic engineering efforts. Jaffe's ethnography focuses both on the way dominant language ideologies are inscribed in the everyday experience of ordinary people, as well as how they shape the evolving strategies of language planners trying to revitalize the Corsican language. While Jaffe's analysis demonstrates the pervasive influence of dominant language ideologies on minority language speakers and language planners, she also draws on case studies from everyday discourse, educational practice and public and mediatized debates over language issues to develop an ethnographically-grounded perspective on levels of resistance. In the final part of the book she explores the emergence (and the limits) of "radical" genres of resistance found in forms of Corsican language activism and in examples of codeswitching and language mixing in bilingual radio practice. This book contributes to a growing literature on language ideology, and will be of interest to anthropologists, political scientists and linguists interested in the practical and theoretical dimensions of language contact, minority language literacy, bilingual education, and language shift.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Berlin
Germany
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
Includes a print version and an ebook
Weight
750 gr
ISBN-13
978-3-11-186880-6 (9783111868806)
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
07/2013
1st Edition
De Gruyter Mouton
€74.95
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Book
08/1999
1st Edition
De Gruyter Mouton
€74.95
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Book
08/1999
1st Edition
De Gruyter
€24.95
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