36.1256, Books: Myths and Sanctioned Ignorance in British Immigration Discourse: Bennett (2025)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-36-1256. Thu Apr 17 2025. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 36.1256, Books: Myths and Sanctioned Ignorance in British Immigration Discourse: Bennett (2025)

Moderator: Steven Moran (linguist at linguistlist.org)
Managing Editor: Justin Fuller
Team: Helen Aristar-Dry, Steven Franks, Joel Jenkins, Daniel Swanson, Erin Steitz
Jobs: jobs at linguistlist.org | Conferences: callconf at linguistlist.org | Pubs: pubs at linguistlist.org

Homepage: http://linguistlist.org

Editor for this issue: Joel Jenkins <joel at linguistlist.org>

================================================================


Date: 15-Apr-2025
From: Rachel Havard [Rachel.HAVARD at oup.com]
Subject: Myths and Sanctioned Ignorance in British Immigration Discourse: Bennett (2025)


Title: Myths and Sanctioned Ignorance in British Immigration Discourse
Subtitle: Towards a Linguistic Sociology of Absences
Series Title: Oxford Studies in Sociolinguistics
Publication Year: 2025

Publisher: Oxford University Press
           http://www.oup.com/us
Book URL:
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/myths-and-sanctioned-ignorance-in-british-immigration-discourse-9780197747216?utm_source=linguistlist&utm_medium=listserv&utm_campaign=linguistics

Author(s): Samuel Bennett

Hardcover (9780197747216)

Abstract:

Nations all have stories about themselves--where they came from, what
it means to be a citizen of that nation, what its values are.
In 'Myths and Sanctioned Ignorance in British Immigration Discourse',
Samuel Bennett looks at British national myths about immigration and
the country's colonial history.
Combining Critical Discourse Studies with decolonial and postcolonial
theories, Bennett offers an in-depth, methodologically rigorous
analysis of a wide range of material to show how current immigration
discourses are inextricably tied to the past. The book identifies four
key myths: euphemization of the Commonwealth (and erasure of Britain's
colonial history); immigration as both enrichment and threat; Britain
offering a safe haven for those in need; and a teleological story of
"British values." Intentionally moving backwards and forwards between
past and the present, and across genres, Bennett shows how the myths
the UK tells itself are at once stable, deployed in different
contexts, and historically rooted.
Ultimately, this book argues that through these myths the migrant
"Other"--and, by extension, British ethnic minorities--have been
silenced and erased from the country's story which legitimises a
racialised immigration policy.

Linguistic Field(s): Sociolinguistics




------------------------------------------------------------------------------

********************** LINGUIST List Support ***********************
Please consider donating to the Linguist List to support the student editors:

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=87C2AXTVC4PP8

LINGUIST List is supported by the following publishers:

Bloomsbury Publishing http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/

Cambridge University Press http://www.cambridge.org/linguistics

Cascadilla Press http://www.cascadilla.com/

De Gruyter Mouton https://cloud.newsletter.degruyter.com/mouton

Edinburgh University Press http://www.edinburghuniversitypress.com

Elsevier Ltd http://www.elsevier.com/linguistics

John Benjamins http://www.benjamins.com/

Language Science Press http://langsci-press.org

Lincom GmbH https://lincom-shop.eu/

Multilingual Matters http://www.multilingual-matters.com/

Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics / Landelijke (LOT) http://www.lotpublications.nl/

Oxford University Press http://www.oup.com/us

Wiley http://www.wiley.com


----------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-36-1256
----------------------------------------------------------