Linguistic Anthropology: A Reader is a comprehensive collection of the best work that has been published in this exciting and growing area of anthropology, and is organized to provide a guide to key issues in the study of language as a cultural resource and speaking as a cultural practice. Revised and updated, this second edition contains eight new articles on speech communities, the power and performance of language, and narratives, among others. Editor Alessandro Duranti's extensive introduction provides an original perspective on the development of the field and highlights its most compelling issues. Each section of the volume includes a brief introductory statement, a set of guiding questions, and a recommended further reading list. The readings are both historically oriented and thematically coherent, and are grouped according to four themes: speech community and communicative competence; the performance of language; language socialization and literacy practices; and the power of language. Duranti has taken care throughout to trace theoretical and methodological connections among different authors and research agendas from anthropology and other disciplines. This is a collection that stands to serve both scholars and students.

Alessandro Duranti is Professor and Chair of the Anthropology Department at UCLA and Director of the Center of Language, Interaction and Culture (CLIC). His publications with Wiley-Blackwell include Key Terms in Language and Culture (2001) and A Companion to Linguistic Anthropology (2004). He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the recipient of various awards, including the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, the UCLA Alumni Distinguished Teaching Award, and the American Anthropological Association/Mayfield Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.

Leseprobe

Acknowledgments to the Second Edition Preface to the Second Edition Part I: Ideal and Real Speech Communities Part II: The Performance of Language: Events, Genres, and Narratives Part III: Language Socialization and Literacy Practices Part IV: The Power of Language Index