1. Introduction Part I 2. Bourdieu: A Theory of Practice,
Michael Grenfell (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland) 3. Bourdieu,
Language and Linguistics, Michael Grenfell (Trinity College Dublin,
Ireland) Part II 4. Language Variation (Phonetics and
Phonology), Michael Grenfell (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland) 5.
Language and Ideology, Robert Vann (Western Michigan University,
USA) 6. Linguistic Ethnography, Adrian Blackledge (University of
Birmingham, UK) 7. Language Policy, Stephen May (University of
Waikato, New Zealand) 8. Language and Education, Cheryl Hardy
(John Moores University, Liverpool, UK) Part III 9. Towards a
Bourdieusian Linguistics, Michael Grenfell (Trinity College Dublin,
Ireland) 10. Conclusion
Bibliography Index
Sets out what Bourdieu wrote about language and why, exemplifying this approach through a series of empirical language studies.
Michael Grenfell is Professor in the Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences, University of Southampton.
Pierre Bourdieu was perhaps the most influential sociologist of the
second half of the 20th century. Given that language was so central
to his theoretical and empirical works, it is surprising that so
few scholars have addressed Bourdieu's theory of language or the
ways in which he studied it, its use, and linguistic capital in his
empirical work. Michael Grenfell and his contributors have
rectified this in comprehensive and insightful ways. Grenfell's
wonderful introduction to Bourdieu's work and his theory of
language is theoretically rich as well as accessible to those --
including many scholars who use Bourdieu in their own work -- who
are unfamiliar with linguistic theory. This sets the stage for the
practical and empirical contributions that demonstrate how
researchers can use Bourdieu in their own language-oriented studies
and how teachers can better understand the ways in which language
works in their own classrooms. This book shows how an understanding
of Bourdieu's theory of language is key to an understanding of his
entire body of work and should inform all Bourdieusian research. In
conjunction with his other books on Bourdieu's life and his
theories of education and art, Bourdieu, Language and Linguistics
establishes Grenfell as perhaps the most important scholar working
on Bourdieu today.
*Dan Schubert, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of
Dickinson, USA*
Bourdieu, Language and Linguistics is accessible, readable and
scholarly - a welcome addition to the field. It provides a clear
situating of Bourdieu's ideas, which will be particularly valuable
to all those wanting to engage with and understand his theories and
provides a sustained engagement with a particular field, that of
language and linguistics. The book will be particularly useful to
those working in educational settings, and those who want to engage
with Bourdieu's theories to counter inequalities in education. This
book celebrates Bourdieu's activism, his passion and his commitment
to social justice in education, with language as the arena for this
engagement. The power of words, the way their reality seeps in, is
the subject of this book. We are asked as scholars to reflexively
turn our gaze upon ourselves, and see language as embedded within
social processes. The book offers a series of case studies which
apply these theories to practical contexts. The case studies
address language variation, and the way linguistic capital
expresses itself in language, field research in Catalonia, Spain,
an account of linguistic ethnography and the experience of language
change in multilingual communities in the UK, debates over
citizenship in relation to language policy and national identities,
language and education policy and practice in the UK, with a final
section on language as the object of study. These case studies are
beautifully embodied illuminations of Bourdieu's theoretical
contributions and offer a call to a more pluralistic and inclusive
vision of language policy in action. In the final section of the
book of the importance of reflexivity when thinking about language
in education is stressed. If language is the medium of education,
as Grenfell, and the authors of this book (and Bourdieu) would say,
then this book is a must for all scholars of language in education,
and those who would wish to understand and reflect on educational
processes and practices. This book brings a passion, energy and
commitment to that task that, as Bourdieu himself would do,
challenges and contends with contemporary structures and debates in
a lively and provocative manner.
*Kate Pahl, Senior Lecturer in Education, School of Education,
University of Sheffield, UK*
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