Revisiting borders: named languages and de-colonization

Publication date: Available online 24 May 2018Source: Language SciencesAuthor(s): Mario Saraceni, Camille JacobAbstractRecent developments in sociolinguistics have been characterized by a move away from the notion of languages as discrete and separate entities. This has come within a frame of general criticism of structuralism as a theory of language fundamentally emanating from, or at least being tied to, monolingual ideologies of 19th-century European nationalism. Based on the recognition that linguistic borders are little more than political constructs, many sociolinguists prefer to describe language behavior as social practice where speakers make use of shared linguistic repertories in fluid and dynamic ways rather than adhering to the static rules of pre-packaged and labelled languages. Revealing the ideologically-driven monolingual bias in applied and sociolinguistics, this work focusses instead on translanguaging and/or translingual practices, and has been immensely important in putting forward a more adequate understanding of language.However, this intellectual impetus should not lead us to lose sight of the fact that, invented and artificial as they may have been, named languages and their borders do exist and play very important roles not only as layman's concepts but also as part of the long process of political and cultural de-colonization in many parts of the world. The celebration of translanguaging as a better and more sophisticated analytical lens need not com...
Source: Language Sciences - Category: Speech-Language Pathology Source Type: research