ANTH 262
Language and Power Fall 2017
Division II
This is not the current course catalog

Class Details

“A language is a dialect with an army and a navy.” This (originally Yiddish) aphorism points to ways in which language, often imagined to be a neutral or apolitical medium of communication, proves in practice to be a social domain fully implicated in the operations of power. How do wecreate community – and social exclusion – by the way that we talk? What role does speech play in the accumulation of cultural capital? How are racism and colonialism sustained by language practices, and how can speech transform the world? This introduction to linguistic anthropology draws together classic works of linguistic and semiotic theory with studies of the politics of actual speech grounded in rich and particular cultural and historical contexts, from witchcraft accusations in rural France to American presidential elections. Students will gain familiarity with key concepts (speech acts, performatives, code-switching, language ideology), themes and debates in the social scientific study of language. Assignments include regular postings of 1-page critical response papers and an ethnographic project analyzing a series of speech events in the Williams or Berkshire County community.
The Class: Format: lecture
Limit: 20
Expected: 18
Class#: 1043
Grading: yes pass/fail option, no fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: regular postings of critical response papers and an ethnographic final project
Extra Info: not available for the fifth course option
Prerequisites: none
Distributions: Division II

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