Hauptseminar Language and Culture

The study of cultures and peoples has a long tradition as anthropology and since the beginning of the 20th century it has also obtained a linguistic dimension. This concern with the interface between culture and language had its beginnings in America with the study of the native peoples but was considerably expanded with research into languages beyond Europe later on. The concern of the present seminar will be to consider these broader questions, that is to see to what extent linguistic behaviour is relative to the cultural setting in which speakers find themselves. The focus for discussions and presentations will be on varieties of English which are in contact with different forms of English, especially at overseas locations, e.g. in Africa or Asia. Literature Duranti, Alessandro 1997. Linguistic anthropology. Cambridge: University Press. Goddard, Cliff 1998. Semantic analysis. A practical introduction. Oxford: University Press. Fought, Carmen 2006. Language and Ethnicity. Cambridge: University Press. Harley, Heidi 2003. English words. A linguistic introduction. Oxford: Blackwell. Kachru, Yamuna and Larry E. Smith 2008. Cultures, Contexts, and World Englishes. London: Routledge. Kövecses, Zoltán 2005. Metaphor in Culture. Universality and Variation. Cambridge: University Press. McArthur, Tom 2002. The Oxford guide to world English. Oxford: University Press. Ronowicz, Eddie and Colin Yallop (eds) 1999. English: One language, Different cultures. London, New York: Cassell. Saville-Troike, Muriel 2002. The ethnography of communication. 3rd edition. Oxford: Blackwell. Skandera, Paul (ed.) 2007. Phraseology and Culture in English. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Stubbs, Michael 1996. Text and corpus analysis. Computer assisted studies of language and culture. Oxford: Blackwell. Wierzbicka, Anna 2006. English. Meaning and Culture. Oxford: University Press. Williams, Colin H. 2007. Linguistic Minorities in Democratic Context. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Anglistik Universität Duisburg-Essen SS 2009 Master, Master Professor Hickey Raymond