[lingtalks] Jan. 25: Don Winford on African American languages and identities

[Eric Bakovic]

In case this talk has not been disseminated to folks on this list:  
Ethnic Studies is interviewing candidates for a tenured position  
described here:
	http://www.ethnicstudies.ucsd.edu/html/faculty_recruit.html

The ad notes that "preference will be given to those studying  
language, discourse analysis, and/or the role of narrative in the  
construction of difference, inequality and power." In that vein,  
there's a talk this Wednesday at 3pm by the sociolinguist Don  
Winford, whose webpage at OSU is here:
	http://www.ling.ohio-state.edu/~dwinford/

Copied below is the announcement/abstract for the talk.

-- Eric

UCSD Ethnic Studies Department Presents

Professor Don Winford ,
College of Humanities, Linguistics, and African-American and African  
Studies
Ohio State University

Wednesday, January 25, 3:00PM
Social Science Building
Dean's Conference Room 107

The Dynamics of Language and Ethnic Identity: A Sociolinguistic  
Perspective

In this talk, I will explore several themes related to the central  
role of
language in the study of ethnic identity. Language is a set of
practices that both mediates and reproduces social life, or, in
Malinowski's words, is "a form of life." As such, language is the chief
instrument of socialization, the transmission of culture, the
(re)creation of identity, and social control.

Thus, the study of issues such as ethnicity and identity, race and  
racism,
language and ethnic life, intercultural communication and
conflict, cannot be separated from the study of ways of speaking.

I will examine some aspects of these issues as they relate to the Black
Englishes of the New World, particularly African American English and
Caribbean creoles. In all of these situations, the colonial past bred a
form of linguistic imperialism in which the privileged status of
Standard English (and other European languages) promoted denigration of
the status, historicity and authenticity of these languages, and,
through them, their speakers. To counteract such ideologies of language
and ethnicity, which are rooted in oppression and racial  
discrimination, I
adopt the ideological orientation of Black Linguistics. Our major  
tenet is
that our scholarship "must reflect the histories, social
circumstances, political economies, aspirations - and voices - of the
people whose language we study." To this end, I examine how speakers of
Black Englishes create and perform their social lives and identities. I
challenge ideological perspectives that view these languages as  
deviant or
deficient by comparison with privileged norms of speaking. I also  
address
the ways in which language ideology plays a central role in various  
forms
of discrimination against people of African (and other ethnic) descent.



For more information, contact the UCSD Ethnic Studies Department:

(858) 534-3276, ethnicstudies at ucsd.edu, or www.ethnicstudies.ucsd.edu
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