Chapter 6
Language & Cultural Identity
Cultural Identity
• The association of language with a person’s sense of self.
• A natural connection between language spoken by members of a social group & that group’s identity (by accent- voc- discourse patterns) / speakers identified as members
• Membership to a social/discourse comm. Draws:– Strength & pride– Social importance– Historical continuity
How do we define which group one belongs to?
– In isolated homogeneous communities, Members are: who share common cultural practices and daily face-to-face interactions.
– Difficult to define boundaries in modern open mixed societies / Clip # 28
– E.g. Old (Trobrianders) tribes vs. modern open societies
• 1/ Group Identity:• Group identities based on race Not easy to define:
– Many genetic differences• E.g. between members of the same White/Black race
• 2/ Regional identity• equally difficult to define• E.g. population of France/ “a multinational state.. It is
one nation, the product of a long history”
• 3/ National Identity:– Never clear-cut/ citizenship– E.g. Turkish passport vs. Turkish national identity
One language = one culture
– (not always true)
– Individuals assume several collective identities/ are likely to change over time.
- e.g. Immigrants (Turkish)/ ‘long distance nationalism’/ sense of self linked to country of origin- political views…/ nostalgia ‘old country’/’long distance nationalism’/ language differs/ ‘imagined community’
Cultural Stereotypes
• Our perception of someone’s social identity is culturally determined.
• Diffusion:– Stereotypes are formed by extending the
characteristics of one person (or group ..) To all.– E.g.
‘All Americans are individualists’ ‘All Chinese look alike.’ Clip # 29
Examples
• 1. When one’s impression is focused by the classificatory concepts prevalent in his society
– E.g. The official Singaporean ethnic categories: Chinese, Malay, Indian
• 2. Societies impose racial & ethnic categories only on certain groups.
– E.g. Danish women vs. African-American boy/ he used ‘race’ to identify his cultural identity but they depended on language.
• 3. The complex language- cultural identity relationship– E.g. Chinese speak languages/ dialects that are
mutually not understood but still identify themselves all as ethnically Chinese.
Language Crossing as Act of Identity
• One way of surviving culturally in immigration settings– E.g. Arabs in Paris- Pakistanis in London– Code-switching/ to change footing/ to show solidarity or
distance with other discourse communities
• By crossing languages, speakers perform cultural acts of identity
– E.g. two 12-year olds mexicans in the American school/ ‘piano’
– Clip # 31– Intonation/ mock or distance
Linguistic nationism• The association of one language variety with the membership in one
national community.– E.g. The French Academy (francophone)– Clip # 33– The intellectual language of scientific research monitors proper English use in
scientific circles by Anglo-American journals.
• Nation states try to overcome the tendency to separate the identities of subcultures by refocusing national identity either around a national language or around the concept of multiculturalism. / mutual linguistic understanding/ cultural homogeneity
• Also the use of ‘one and only one language’ can be to exclude outsiders & as a sign of political allegiance./ a sign of monolingual pride ‘I had ten years of French and still cant speak…’/ suspicion around bi-multilinguals
Standard language, cultural totem
• Standard language:– The way national identity is expressed– Created from a multiplicity of dialects– One variety of language is selected/ taught in national
educational systems/ protected by official grammars & dictionaries/ indicator of insiders & outsiders
• Barbarism:– Denotes any use of language that offends contemporary
standards of correctness.– E.g. Ancient Greeks / ‘barbarian: an alien from an inferior
culture’/ when language is not Greek– National Academies/ misuse of standard language considered a
moral offence/ e.g. ‘butchering’ or ‘slaughtering’ a language.
• Language acquires a symbolic value beyond its pragmatic use and becomes a totem of a cultural group.
• Exercise of national or colonial power/ when one language is imposed over others.
– E.g. English over Spanish in New Mexico/ spread of English as an international language
Linguistic & cultural imperialism
• Linguicism:– ideologies and practices which are used to impose power
between groups which are defined on the basis of language.– E.g. English linguistic imperialism (a type of linguicism)/
regarding language as a source of power/ using it on a world-wide scale ‘globally’.
– Clip # 34
• Linguistic rights have to be upheld– Threat of the monopoly of one language over the others– One to one relationship bet culture & language– Each language is unique/ the ppls unique means for
comprehending the world