This book serves as an in-depth analysis of the relationship between standard languages and the construction and development of national identity as exemplified in the multivalent linguistic role of Catalan in Spain. Employing an ethnographic approach, with observations drawn from the work of language professionals - lexicographers, teachers, and copy editors - and conversations with ordinary speakers of Catalan, Susan Frekko looks both at the conceptualization of a national language as seen through the eyes of these professionals and in turn, how the standard language is received and shaped by the larger public. The first half of the book explores the notion of language professionals as producers of language and culture who go beyond the task of creating a uniform "official" variety of the language to impacting and disseminating standard Catalan. The second half of the book examines the other side of these perceptions, observing different linguistic communities in Spain, including informal familial, neighborhood, and institutional settings, as well as representations of the language in the media, to unpack everyday understandings of standard Catalan. This dynamic and comprehensive portrait of standard Catalan, from its professional to public contexts, highlights the ideological nature of standard languages and their role in the construction of nationhood in the national imagination, and is essential reading for researchers and scholars in linguistic anthropology, sociolinguistics, media studies, political science, and language education.
| ISBN: | 9781138654822 |
| Publication date: | 15th April 2018 |
| Author: | Susan Frekko |
| Publisher: | Routledge an imprint of Taylor & Francis |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 216 pages |
| Series: | Routledge Critical Studies in Multilingualism |
| Genres: |
Literature: history and criticism Bilingualism and multilingualism Social and cultural anthropology Sociolinguistics Language teaching theory and methods Language teaching and learning Society and culture: general |
This book serves as an in-depth analysis of the relationship between standard languages and the construction and development of national identity as exemplified in the multivalent linguistic role of Catalan in Spain. Employing an ethnographic approach, with observations drawn from the work of language professionals - lexicographers, teachers, and copy editors - and conversations with ordinary speakers of Catalan, Susan Frekko looks both at the conceptualization of a national language as seen through the eyes of these professionals and in turn, how the standard language is received and shaped by the larger public. The first half of the book explores the notion of language professionals as producers of language and culture who go beyond the task of creating a uniform "official" variety of the language to impacting and disseminating standard Catalan. The second half of the book examines the other side of these perceptions, observing different linguistic communities in Spain, including informal familial, neighborhood, and institutional settings, as well as representations of the language in the media, to unpack everyday understandings of standard Catalan. This dynamic and comprehensive portrait of standard Catalan, from its professional to public contexts, highlights the ideological nature of standard languages and their role in the construction of nationhood in the national imagination, and is essential reading for researchers and scholars in linguistic anthropology, sociolinguistics, media studies, political science, and language education.
Representing Catalan features in the following genres: Literature: history and criticism, Bilingualism and multilingualism, Social and cultural anthropology, Sociolinguistics, Language teaching theory and methods, Language teaching and learning, Society and culture: general
Representing Catalan is available in Hardback
Representing Catalan was written by Susan Frekko and published by Routledge an imprint of Taylor & Francis
Representing Catalan has 216 pages
Yes it is part of Routledge Critical Studies in Multilingualism series