Bücher der Reihe Encounters

Ethnography must be seen as a full theoretical system, not just as a method. In this book, a range of authors are examined, whose work was either instrumental in creating this theoretical system, or might productively be used in developing it further. Authors discussed include Hymes, Scollon, Kress, Bourdieu, Bakhtin and Lefebvre.

Certain forms of mobility and multilingualism tend to be portrayed as problematic in the public sphere, while others are considered to be unremarkable. Divided into three thematic sections, this book explores the contestation of spaces and the notion of borders, examines the ways in which heritage and authenticity are linked or challenged, and interrogates the intersections between mobility and hierarchies and the ways that language can be linked to notions of belonging and aspirations for mobility. Based on fieldwork in Africa, Asia, Australasia and Europe, it explores how language functions as both site of struggle and as a means of overcoming struggle. This volume will be of particular interest to scholars taking ethnographic and critical sociolinguistic approaches to the study of language and belonging in the context of globalisation.

The chapters in this volume use ethnographically-based methodologies to address the interconnectedness between forms of mobility and immobility in international migratory processes or in discriminatory practices within the boundaries of national states, thus bringing to light a sociolinguistics responsive to 21st century concerns.

The chapters in this volume use ethnographically-based methodologies to address the interconnectedness between forms of mobility and immobility in international migratory processes or in discriminatory practices within the boundaries of national states, thus bringing to light a sociolinguistics responsive to 21st century concerns.

This book examines the complexity of Chineseness in China and the Chinese diaspora. Using critical sociolinguistic and discourse analytical approaches, the chapters uncover the power dynamics and ideologies underlying varied constructs of Chineseness.

This book explores verbal and non-verbal communication from a social anthropological viewpoint, drawing on ethnographic data from fieldwork in eastern Africa. It gives an overview of developments since the 1960s in the anthropology of language use and how these have influenced the author's thinking.

This book presents the narratives of four Taiwanese young women, all proficient in English, set against the background of the dynamics of multilingualism in Taiwan. It chronicles their strategies and struggles when utilizing cultural goods - in this case their linguistic resources - to differentiate themselves within Taiwanese society.

This book seeks to examine the notions of 'linguistic diversity' and 'hybridity' using new critical theoretical frameworks embedded within the broader discussion of the sociolinguistics of globalization. The research took place in contexts that include linguistic landscapes, schools, classrooms, neighborhoods and virtual spaces around the world.

In this ground-breaking collection of essays, the authors develop a notion of Linguistic Citizenship, highlighting practices whereby vulnerable speakers themselves exercise control over language, and detailing ways in which alternative voices can be inserted into processes and structures that often alienate those they were designed to support.

The concept of chronotopicity is increasingly used in sociolinguistic theorizing as a new way of looking at context and scale in studies of language, culture and identity. This volume brings together empirical work that puts flesh on the bones of this rather abstract theorizing, focusing on the discursive construction of chronotopic identities.

Questions persist about post-migrant generations and their sense of belonging in one homeland or another. In the setting of Morocco, where trajectories to and from Europe have colored several centuries of history, this book provides a framework to explore how migration and return become incorporated into contemporary 'Moroccanness'.

This book seeks to examine the notions of 'linguistic diversity' and 'hybridity' using new critical theoretical frameworks embedded within the broader discussion of the sociolinguistics of globalization. The research took place in contexts that include linguistic landscapes, schools, classrooms, neighborhoods and virtual spaces around the world.

Through case studies of language practices in spaces understood as inherently translocal and multi-layered (classrooms and schools, youth spaces, mercantile spaces and nation-states), this book explores the relevance of superdiversity for the social and human sciences and positions it as a research perspective in sociolinguistics and beyond.

Migrant workers are crucial to China's fast growing economy, yet little is known about their identities. This ethnographic study of the language use and identity construction of the children of internal migrants is innovative both in the context it studies and the scalar structure of discursive identity construction used to present its data.

Against the background of language and nation formation in Indonesia, this book demonstrates how language planning is inseparable from the broader actions of the state, and how postcolonial nationalism and globalization have had profound implications for language use and state actions to control it.

The chapters in this volume investigate how diverse forms of (im)mobility and multilingualism are (re-)negotiated in relationship to space, identity and power. The volume will be of particular interest to scholars taking ethnographic and critical sociolinguistic approaches to the study of language and belonging in the context of globalisation.

This book presents a sociolinguistic ethnography of the linguistic landscape of Chinatown in Washington, DC. The book sheds new light on the impact of urban development on traditionally ethnic neighbourhoods and discusses the various historical, social and cultural factors that contribute to this area's shifting linguistic landscape.

The concept of chronotopicity is increasingly used in sociolinguistic theorizing as a new way of looking at context and scale in studies of language, culture and identity. This volume brings together empirical work that puts flesh on the bones of this rather abstract theorizing, focusing on the discursive construction of chronotopic identities.

This book is the start of a conversation across Social Semiotics, Translanguaging, Complexity Theory and Sociolinguistics. In its explorations of meaning, multimodality, communication and emerging language practices, the book includes theoretical and empirical chapters that move toward an understanding of communication in its dynamic complexity.

In this ground-breaking collection of essays, the authors develop a notion of Linguistic Citizenship, highlighting practices whereby vulnerable speakers themselves exercise control over language, and detailing ways in which alternative voices can be inserted into processes and structures that often alienate those they were designed to support.