28.432, Review: Corsican; Irish; Welsh; Sami; Socioling: Coupland, Kelly-Holmes, Jaffe, Pietikäinen (2016)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-28-432. Fri Jan 20 2017. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 28.432, Review: Corsican; Irish; Welsh; Sami; Socioling: Coupland, Kelly-Holmes, Jaffe, Pietikäinen (2016)

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Date: Fri, 20 Jan 2017 11:55:23
From: Sven Leuckert [sven.leuckert at gmx.de]
Subject: Sociolinguistics from the Periphery

 
Discuss this message:
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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/27/27-2502.html

AUTHOR: Sari  Pietikäinen
AUTHOR: Alexandra  Jaffe
AUTHOR: Helen  Kelly-Holmes
AUTHOR: Nikolas  Coupland
TITLE: Sociolinguistics from the Periphery
SUBTITLE: Small Languages in New Circumstances
PUBLISHER: Cambridge University Press
YEAR: 2016

REVIEWER: Sven Leuckert, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz

Reviews Editor: Helen Aristar-Dry

SUMMARY

In the first chapter of their book, entitled “Small languages in new
circumstances?”, Sari Pietikäinen, Helen Kelly-Holmes, Alexandra Jaffe, and
Nikolas Coupland introduce both the languages they will analyse and some of
the major concepts and theoretical issues of relevance to the book. The four
languages under scrutiny – Sámi, Corsican, Irish, and Welsh – are ‘small
languages’ in the sense that they do not have many speakers compared to the
major languages of the countries they are spoken in, and in the sense that
there is a diminished number of speakers of these languages who claim a shared
cultural identity. This concept of ‘smallness’ is the first of three
introduced concepts, the other two being ‘new circumstances’ and ‘periphery’.
‘New circumstances’ refers to the reassessment of how these languages are
perceived, as they are, for instance, used in marketing now. In addition, new
circumstances refers to the ever-changing dynamics of bilingual and
multilingual practices. Periphery, finally, describes the fact that the
languages are spoken in peripheral regions (Sámi as a language spoken in the
northern regions of Europe being a case in point).

The second chapter, called “Reflexivity and small languages. The ‘meta’
imperative in late modernity”, looks at the relation between a ‘heightened
reflexivity’ associated with late modernity and the four languages under
consideration. After the authors provide some background information on
reflexivity and meta-discourses about language, they introduce three
generalisations characterising the issues of reflexivity with regard to small
languages: (1) “The sociolinguistic history of small languages becomes
fractured and discontinuous”, “[s]mall languages are ‘over-exposed’, and
“[s]mall languages exist in cluttered fields of competing ideologies” (p. 41).
In other words, new means of expression, but also rethinking of traditional
meta-discussions about language, reshape the current sociolinguistic reality
of small languages. Four case studies, one for each language, are provided as
illustrations of these matters. In Wales, the practice of so-called
‘linguistic landscaping’ is indicative of a heightened reflexivity. Linguistic
landscaping includes, for instance, parallel texting in Welsh and English, or
playful recontextualisations as in the approximated pronunciation that is
offered for people who do not speak Welsh, but may want to be able to
pronounce the famous place name
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. For Sámi and
Corsican, two relatively similar scenarios are described. In the case of Sámi,
the political and cultural centre Sajos in the village Inari is at once a
manifestation of Sámi language and culture and a place indicating a change in
discourses about the language. Similarly, the Corsican Galea Park, an open-air
museum, gives visitors insight into Corsican culture, but consciously leaves
out explicit meta-discourses about the Corsican language. Finally, a new trend
of ‘Sexy Irish’ in Ireland is a commercially motivated way of promoting Irish,
be it in beer commercials or by having particularly attractive speakers of
Irish on television. All these examples underline reflexivity as an “enabling
condition” (p. 68), as discussions and meta-discussions about language are no
longer subject to normative constraints and are negotiated in new ways.

Chapter 3 – “Conventional and transactional authenticities in small-culture
tourism” – considers the role of authenticity in creating and establishing
images conveyed to tourists visiting the four countries under scrutiny. The
authors introduce conventional authenticities and transactional
authenticities, suggesting that the latter fits the four languages and the
aforementioned period of heightened reflexivity better. Four core aspects of
authenticity, namely historicity, place, products, and personhood, are then
described by looking at actual examples from the four languages. These four
aspects, however, cannot be viewed as independent loci carrying and shaping
authenticity; according to the authors, authenticity needs to be seen not as
“a singular quality but rather an assemblage of signs and components that do
the work of authentication” (p. 102). Reflexivity is mentioned again in this
context, as authenticity needs to fulfil current needs more than it does
universal or traditional expectations.

The fourth chapter, “Expanding possibilities for commodification. Luxury,
mobility, visuality”, focuses on the changing conditions that led to increased
opportunities for commodification both for and because of small languages. As
outlined in the first chapter of the book, small languages may be, and, in
fact, are, commercially exploited. In an increasingly commodified and
saturated market, creating specific niches is necessary and can be achieved by
taking advantage of small languages. Small languages thus represent a gateway
to marketing luxury goods, whose use is primarily rhetorical and social, but
they may themselves become luxury goods to some extent as well. In the case of
Sámi, a local village hotel was turned into a tourist destination going by the
name of ‘Tradition Hotel Kultahovi’, which was upgraded and renovated to meet
modern customer needs. Interestingly, the name of the hotel combines English
and Sámi, and local billboards feature the endangered Inari Sámi language
rather than the more common Northern Sámi. Welsh, in turn, is used in the
marketing of the Cwtch restaurant franchise and the salt brand Halen Môn. The
latter indicates the transition from a mundane, everyday product to a valuable
luxury good by using Welsh language and specific marketing discourse. In
Corsica, regional institutions are concerned with highlighting local producers
and creative renaming, while in Ireland, tattoos in Irish signify a trend
towards an increased visibility of the language and hint at ‘active
consumers’.

In Chapter 5, “Transgression, small languages and changing boundaries”, the
authors are concerned with the notion of transgression and how it applies to
four small languages. They frequently refer to Foucault (1977, 1998) and
describe transgression as being “centrally concerned with how boundaries are
made, challenged and changed” (p. 152). Striving for transformations in this
sense can be more radical (e.g. by sometimes even violent acts of resistance)
or less radical (e.g. by means of parody and humour). The focus of this
chapter is on the latter, with examples given for parodies in the domains of
media, marketing, and tourism. Boundaries of interest here are, amongst
others, between the ‘authentic’ and ‘inauthentic’ and native and new speakers.
Examples include the supraregional broadcast of a Sámi TV comedy, which
crosses not only genre and gender boundaries, but also tackles the discourse
of Sámi language endangerment (Pietikäinen 2015). Thus, while the
producer-presenters of the TV show mock the topic by exaggerating matters,
they also make the problem of language endangerment known to a wider audience.
In Wales, the media figure Rhian Madamrygbi Davies works as a comedy rugby
reporter and simultaneously plays with and lays open “vivid and complex
stylisations of Welsh rugby personas” (p. 175), employing code-switching
between Welsh and English in the process. Irish, in turn, is used for humorous
T-shirts by the website hairybaby.com, which makes use of imperfect
English-to-Irish translations and prints them on shirts, resulting in positive
associations. Finally, the Canistrelli Clandestini campaign in Corsica is a
graffiti campaign targeting the Corsican nationalist discourse and practice.
Here, a previously taboo topic is made explicit. The four cases exemplify the
potential for change, but also the potential for risk posed by transgressive
humour.

The book’s final chapter “A view from the periphery. Sociolinguistics, small
languages and change” sums up the findings from the book and provides an
outlook. An important point made throughout the book is that of dynamic
negotiations in the context of centre and periphery, and the authors note
again that the periphery is not the homogenous entity it is often made out to
be. Instead, centre and periphery are blurred as much as the distinction
between normative and non-normative linguistic and cultural forms. This
constant renegotiation is a highly dynamic process and open-ended. Based on
the dimensions analysed, i.e. authenticity, commodification, and
transgression, the authors call for a reassessment of analytical terminology
and the underlying ideological presuppositions.

EVALUATION

“Sociolinguistics from the periphery” is a highly interesting work in many
ways, and thus of interest to various groups. First, as implied by the title,
it is rooted in sociolinguistics and critically assesses common notions of the
field – as, for instance, centre and periphery, authenticity, reflexivity,
etc. This reflects in the way language is discussed in the book. The title
does not go into much detail as far as the analysis of linguistic levels is
concerned; the book is rather interested in and evaluates meta-discourses
about language. On the one hand, this concerns aforementioned terminological
issues, and on the other hand, this concerns debates about the four languages
in their respective countries. Accordingly, cultural aspects are heavily
foregrounded throughout. The authors do not stop at debates about language,
but take evidence from various cultural domains, political discourse, tourism,
etc. Thus, numerous areas of cultural studies may benefit from the book.
Moreover, and perhaps most importantly, the four groups at the heart of this
work and those people involved in negotiations about one or more of the four
languages should be able to take away a lot from the book, possibly even to
the extent of reconsidering their own perspectives.

Presenting examples from, for instance, the internet or regional companies
helps to render the book mostly accessible. The authors consistently give
highly relatable real-life examples. Doing so, however, is absolutely
necessary, as the examples follow a very dense theoretical background. Reading
the book without a sound knowledge of cultural theory, semiotics, and critical
philosophy would make the text hard to digest were it not for the
well-selected set of examples. Structurally, the book also benefits greatly
from this approach. The main chapters two to five all proceed in similar
fashion by introducing the terminological and theoretical framework in a first
step (e.g. the different kinds of authenticity) and then presenting case
studies for each language. 

Reading the book, the authors’ passion for small languages and the selected
languages in particular is very evident. This results in convincingly written
passages in which the authors’ virtuosity in the field of sociolinguistics
combines with interesting and sometimes even amusing examples from Corsican,
Welsh, Irish and Sámi. As a consequence, even without a particular research
interest in the four languages, the book – unlike many highly specialised
titles – might be fascinating and insightful to many. Another achievement can
be seen in the authors’ successful attempts at embedding ‘linguistic
landscapes’ in their work. Often subjected to criticism as unscientific or as
anecdotal evidence, presentations of place names, signage, shirts etc.
sometimes truly do not meet the requirement of good academic practice. This is
not the case here, as the authors chose their examples carefully and manage to
bring theoretical insights and evidence from the countries together in very
meaningful ways.

REFERENCES

Foucault, Michel. 1977. Language, counter-memory, practice: Selected essays
and interviews by Michel Foucault. Edited by Donald F. Bouchard. New York:
Cornell University Press. 

Foucault, Michel. 1998. Aesthetics, method, and epistemology. Edited by James
Faubion. New York: New Press.

Pietikäinen, Sari. 2015. Multilingual dynamics in Sámiland: Rhizomatic
discourses on changing language. International Journal of Bilingualism 19.
206-225.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Sven Leuckert received his M.A. in European Linguistics from TU Dresden in
Germany and he is currently employed as a research assistant in English
Linguistics at Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz. His PhD project is a study
on topicalization strategies employed in four Asian varieties of English. His
research interests include Asian Englishes, non-canonical syntax, English as a
Lingua Franca, and historical linguistics.





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