Critical Perspectives on Language and Discourse in the New World Order


Book Description

The papers in this book explore language use in a broad range of discourse fields. They provide theoretical perspectives on global orientations to social, political and economic transformations in the “New World Order” (NWO), and extend these with studies on the impacts of such transformations at the local, national, regional and global levels. The discussions highlight current concerns among academics and political commentators about the potential social impact of representations of the NWO in language and discourse. The present work is important in raising social consciousness towards the central role that language and discourse play in the construction of shifting/multiple identities. In this way, the roles of critical discourse analysis and indeed that of the analysts themselves are emancipative and socially transformative. The value of such consciousness-raising for potential social action in language user empowerment terms cannot be overstressed, particularly given the ascendant position of the English language in the NWO. This collection is a significant contribution to the ongoing critical discussion on global order discourse.




Discourse and Crisis


Book Description

Discourse and Crisis: Critical perspectives brings together an exciting collection of studies into crisis as text and context, as unfolding process and unresolved problem. Crisis is viewed as a complex phenomenon that – in its prevalence, disruptiveness and (appearance of) inevitability – is both socially produced and discursively constituted. The book offers multiple critical perspectives: in-depth linguistically informed analyses of the discourses of power and collaboration implicated in crisis construal and recovery; detailed examination of the critical role that language plays during the crisis life-cycle; and further problematization of the semiotic-material complexity of crisis and its usefulness as an analytical concept. The research focus is on the discursive and interactive mediation of crisis in organizational, political and media texts. The volume contains contributions from across the world, offering a polyphonic overview of ‘discourse and crisis’ research. This impressive volume will be useful to researchers and academics working on the intersection of crisis, language and communication. It is also of interest to practitioners in organizational management, politics and policy, and media.




Language and Literature in a Glocal World


Book Description

This collection of critical essays investigates the intersections of the global and local in literature and language. Exploring the connections that exist between global forms of knowledge and their local, regional applications, this volume explores multiple ways in which literature is influenced, and in turn, influences, movements and events across the world and how these are articulated in various genres of world literature, including the resultant challenges to translation. This book also explores the way in which languages, especially English, transform and continue to be reinvented in its use across the world. Using perspectives from sociolinguistics, discourse analysis and semiotics, this volume focuses on diasporic literature, travel literature, and literature in translation from different parts of the world to study the ways in which languages change and grow as they are sought to be ‘owned’ by the communities which use them in different contexts. Emphasizing on interdisciplinary studies and methodologies, this collection centralizes both research that theorizes the links between the local and the global and that which shows, through practical evidence, how the local and global interact in new and challenging ways.




Mercy and British Culture, 1760-1960


Book Description

Spanning over 2 centuries, James Gregory's Mercy and British Culture, 1760 -1960 provides a wide-reaching yet detailed overview of the concept of mercy in British cultural history. While there are many histories of justice and punishment, mercy has been a neglected element despite recognition as an important feature of the 18th-century criminal code. Mercy and British Culture, 1760-1960 looks first at mercy's religious and philosophical aspects, its cultural representations and its embodiment. It then looks at large-scale mobilisation of mercy discourses in Ireland, during the French Revolution, in the British empire, and in warfare from the American war of independence to the First World War. This study concludes by examining mercy's place in a twentieth century shaped by total war, atomic bomb, and decolonisation.




Critical Perspectives on Literature and Culture in the New World Order


Book Description

The fifteen chapters in this volume explore both new and tested theoretical perspectives on literature and culture at large; this multiplicity of discourses is a reflection of the implicit discontent in conforming to the New World Order, and a contestation against hierarchical relationships between countries, which inform the social, cultural and political climates of weaker nations. With the political and economic hegemony of stronger nations, weaker nations run the risk of being dominated, or at the very least, having their own national identity and sovereignty steeped in ambivalence in the face of a globalised culture. This volume hopes to bring together critical views in relation to the construction of cultural studies in the Western framework, the application of literary theory in the readings of vernacular literature, contestation of the mainstream scientistic methodology of cultural evaluation, the role of English literature in Asian cultures, the application of postcolonial theory in literature, literary ethics in relation to Islamic literature, as well as the Islamic and Western conceptions of democracy. More than half of the articles in this collection centre on Islam as a guiding principle, or as a context through which critical perspectives are made on literature and culture in today’s globalised world order. This inadvertent foregrounding of Islam reflects a continuing dialogue on and with Islam and its significant impact on existing academic discourses founded upon Western-style scholarship.




Discourse, War and Terrorism


Book Description

Discourse since September 11, 2001 has constrained and shaped public discussion and debate surrounding terrorism worldwide. Social actors in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and elsewhere employ the language of the “war on terror” to explain, react to, justify and understand a broad range of political, economic and social phenomena. Discourse, War and Terrorism explores the discursive production of identities, the shaping of ideologies, and the formation of collective understandings in response to 9/11 in the United States and around the world. At issue are how enemies are defined and identified, how political leaders and citizens react, and how members of societies understand their position in the world in relation to terrorism. Contributors to this volume represent diverse sub-fields involved in the critical study of language, including perspectives from sociocultural linguistics, communication, media, cultural and political studies.




Perspectives in Politics and Discourse


Book Description

The volume explores the vast and heterogeneous territory of Political Linguistics, structuring and developing its concepts, themes and methodologies into combined and coherent Analysis of Political Discourse (APD). Dealing with an extensive and representative variety of topics and domains - political rhetoric, mediatized communication, ideology, politics of language choice, etc. - it offers uniquely systematic, theoretically grounded insights in how language is used to perform power-enforcing/imbuing practices in social interaction, and how it is deployed for communicating decisions concerning language itself. The twenty chapters in the volume, written by specialists in political linguistics, (critical) discourse analysis, pragmatics, sociolinguistics, and social psychology, address the diversity of political discourse to propose novel perspectives from which common analytic procedures can be drawn and followed. The volume is thus an essential resource for anyone looking for a coherent research agenda in explorations of political discourse as a point of reference for their own academic activities, both scholarly and didactic. "Politics in today's world consists of almost continuous interconnected talking and writing in a constantly expanding media universe. This comprehensive collection of papers edited by Urszula Okulska and Piotr Cap helps readers to get a hold on the flow of discourse that constitutes politics today. Indispensible for anyone seeking perspectives for understanding the language of politics and research methods for probing beyond the surface."




The Discourse of the New World Order


Book Description

Much has been written about the events of 9/11 and its aftermath as constituting a rupture in US and world history. This book, however, proposes that while the attacks on US homeland were unprecedented, the ensuing discourse of President G.W. Bush and his ¿war on terror¿ campaign cannot be said to constitute a radical departure. The book aims to show that President Bush¿s statements and actions since 9/11 belong within a broader unfolding discourse of the ¿New World Order', which has been underway since the end of the Cold War. To make their case, Lazar and Lazar adapt and develop Foucault¿s notion of ¿discourse formation¿ for a critical discourse analysis of almost two decades of post-Cold War presidential texts and talk, including speeches, press conferences, radio addresses, policy documents, and interviews. This book is the first to be jointly written by a linguist and a political scientist, allowing for the marriage of theoretical and analytical insights from international relations, international security studies, strategic studies, political discourse analysis and critical discourse studies.




Heritage Language Teaching


Book Description

This innovative, timely text introduces the theory, research, and classroom application of critical approaches to the teaching of minoritized heritage learners, foregrounding sociopolitical concerns in language education. Beaudrie and Loza open with a global analysis, and expert contributors connect a focus on speakers of Spanish as a heritage language in the United States to broad issues in heritage language education in other contexts – offering an overview of key concepts and theoretical issues, practical pedagogical guidance, and field-advancing suggestions for research projects. This is an invaluable resource for advanced students and scholars of applied linguistics and education, as well as language program administrators.