LANGUAGE AND SOCIETY IN SOUTH ASIA

ANS (Asian Studies) 361 (30352) &

ANT (Anthropology) 324L (29937)

Meyerson Conference Room

Will C. Hogg Building

Wednesday 4:00 to 7:00 pm

Spring 2007

Maggie Ronkin

Department of Asian Studies

University of Texas at Austin

Description

South Asia is a richly diverse linguistic area, one foundational to 20^th century American sociolinguistics. Today, the region and its diaspora continue to engage scholars and practitioners, whose work often exemplifies important trends in paradigms for discovery. As part of the investigation of languages, their users, and contexts of use, the negotiation of social identities in verbal interactions is one such defining trend. This course draws from sociolinguistics and sister disciplines to explore how interpretations of South Asian identities are constituted by linguistic systematicity and diversity, on the one hand, and how verbal interactions of speakers constitute South Asian identities across situations and contexts, on the other. It also considers enduring and controversial issues of language use in applied domains, such as literacy and schooling, healing, and language endangerment and preservation. Specific topics are linked with areal, ideological, and interactional approaches to language study, and include:

South Asia as a Linguistic Area

Diglossia and Societal Multilingualsim

Ideology 1: Colonial Codification and Control

Ideology 2: Hindi-Urdu Controversies

Ideology 3: The Alchemy of English and Critique of It

Communication and Miscommunication

Crossing and Styling

Language, Gender, and Sexuality

Language, Literacy, and Schooling

Language and Healing

Language Endangerment and Preservation

Prerequisite

None except genuine interest

Format

Seminar style, with one three-hour meeting each week

Contact

Requirements

Readings

 
There is no single textbook for this course. Language and Society in South Asia by Michael C. Shapiro and Harold F. Schiffman addresses early work in the field. Coursepaks will be available for purchase at Paradigm Books, 407 West 24^th Street. Other readings will be put on reserve in the Perry-Castañeda Library and/or on BlackBoard. Students are not expected to cover everything on the syllabus, but they must complete assigned readings by the dates under which they appear on the course schedule.

Participation

ANS 361/ANT 324L is designed as a small seminar-style course. Accordingly, attendance, presentations, and discussions of the readings are core requirements. If you must miss any class due to a family problem, illness, conflicting activity, or similar circumstance, please try to inform me in advance of your absence. Participation by posting to our BlackBoard discussion forum also is mandatory.

Presentations of Readings

Students are required to give several half-hour presentations of readings individually and/or in teams. Very good presentations summarize each reading and highlight points relevant to your interests in language use, and to those of your classmates. Please include an outline as a  handout or PowerPoint presentation. Students are welcome to engage in constructive criticism and asked to conclude each presentation with a question for discussion. Team and audience members are expected to respect different communication styles and contributions of others.

15-Page Course Papers

Students are required to write a research paper on an interest sparked in the course, or to undertake a research project using written or spoken data. Acceptable in theory are topics related to language use and identity, broadly conceived, in South Asia and its diaspora. However, please remember that we are restricted by access to resources and course format to do-able projects. A more complex project might begin with solid groundwork or a simpler discovery in ANS 361/ANS 324L.  Evaluations of all course papers/projects are based on deliverables:

University's Disability Policies and Resources

Available at: http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/ssd/

Standards of Academic Integrity

Available at: http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/acint_student.php

Course Schedule with Reading List (Subject to Revision)

Week 1

January 17--South Asia as a Linguistic Area

Selections from:

Emeneau, Murray B. 1956. India as a Linguistic Area. Language 32.1 3-16.

Bright, William. 2006. Murray B. Emeneau (obituary). Language 82.2 411-422.

Gumperz, John J. 1971. Convergence and Creolization: A Case from the Indo-Aryan-Dravidian Border. In D. Hymes, ed. Pidginization and Creolization of Languages, Pp. 151-167. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Shapiro, Michael C. and Harold F. Schiffman. 1983 (1981). South Asia as a Linguistic Area. In Language and Society in South Asia, Pp. 116-149. New Delhi: Motilal Barnarsidass.

Khubchandani, Lachman M. 1991. India as a Sociolinguistic Area. Language Sciences 13.2 265-268.

Week 2

January 24--Diglossia and Societal Multilingualism

Selections from:

Fasold, Ralph. 1984. Diglossia. In The Sociolinguistics of Society, Pp. 34-60. London: Basil Blackwell.

Schiffman, Harold F. 1997. Diglossia as a Sociolinguistic Situation. In Florian Coulmas, ed. The Handbook of Sociolinguistics. London: Basil Blackwell, Ltd. (online edition).

Addleton, J.S. 1986. The Importance of Regional Languages in Pakistan Al-Mushir 28.2 55-80.

Wilce, James. 2005. Arabic Loanwords in Bengali. In K. Versteegh, ed. Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics, Pp. 146-149. Leiden: E.J. Brill.

Schiffman, Harold F. 2004. Bilingualism in South Asia: Friend or Foe? Proceedings of the 4^th International Symposium on Bilingualism (online edition).

Week 3

January 31--Colonial Codification and Control

Selections from:

Cohn, Bernard S. 1996 (1985). Introduction to Colonialism and Its Forms of Knowledge: The British in India, Pp. 3-15. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Cohn, Bernard S. 1996 (1985). The Command of Language and the Language of Command. In Colonialism and Its Forms of Knowledge: The British in India, Pp.16-56. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Raheja, Gloria G. 1996. Caste, Colonialism, and the Speech of the Colonized: Entexualization and Disciplinary Control in India. American Ethnologist 23.3 494-514.

Raheja, Gloria G. 1999. The Illusion of Consent: Language, Caste, and Colonial Rule in India. In P. Pels and O. Salemink, eds. Colonial Subjects: Essays on the Practical History of Anthropology, Pp. 117-152. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Weeks 4 and 5

February 7 and 17--Hindi-Urdu Controversies

Lelyveld, David. 1993. Colonial Knowledge and the Fate of Hindustani. Comparative Studies in Society and History 35.4 665-679.

Lelyveld, David. 2001. Words as Deeds: Gandhi and Language. Annual of Urdu Studies 16 64-75 (available online).

Rai, Alok. 2005. The Persistence of Hindustani. Annual of Urdu Studies 20 135-144 (available online).

Annual of Urdu Studies 2005. Debate between Alok Rai and Shahid Amin Regarding Hindi. Annual of Urdu Studies 20 181-202 (available online).

Matthews, David. 2002. Urdu in India. Annual of Urdu Studies 17 155-167 (available online).

Rahman, Tariq. 2006. Urdu as an Islamic Language. Annual of Urdu Studies 21 101-119 (available online).

Weeks 6 and 7

February 21 and 28--The Alchemy of English and Critique of It

Selections from:

Kachru, Braj B. 1990. The Alchemy of English: The Spread, Functions, and Models of non-Native Englishes. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press.

Dasgupta, Probal. 1993. The Otherness of English in India: India's Auntie Tongue Syndrome. New Delhi and Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

Week 8

March 7--Communication and Miscommunication

Video and Discussion of Multilingual Britain: Crosstalk, produced by John J. Gumperz and others for British Broadcasting Corporation Films.

Sarangi, S. and Roberts C. 2002. Discoursal (Mis) Alignments in Professional Gatekeeping Encounters. In C. Kramsch ed. Language Acquisition and Language Socialisation: Ecological Perspectives, Pp. 197-227. London: Continuum.

Roberts, C., Wass, V., Jones, R., Moss, B., Sarangi, S. 2005. Misunderstandings: A Qualitative Study of Primary Care Consultations in Multilingual Settings, and Educational Implications. Medical Education 39 465-475.

Weeks 9 and 10

March 21 and 28--Crossing and Styling

Rampton, Ben. 2005. Crossing: Language and Ethnicity among Adolescents, 2^nd edition. Manchester, UK: St. Jerome's Press (selections along with other materials from Professor Rampton).

Bucholtz, Mary and Kira Hall. 2005. Identity and Interaction: A Sociocultural Linguistic Approach. Discourse Studies 7.45 585-613 (optional theoretical reading).

Weeks 11 and 12

April 4 and 11--Language, Gender, and Sexuality

Trawick, Margaret. 1988. Spirits and Voices in Tamil Songs. American Ethnologist 15.2 193-215.

Kunreuther, Laura. 1998. Married to Dukha: Irony in the Telling of a Traditional Newari Tale. Linguistic Form and Social Action: Michigan Discussions in Anthropology 13 12-38.

Hall, Kira. 1997.  "Go Suck Your Husband's Sugarcane": Hijras and the Use of Sexual Insult. In A. Livia and K. Hall, eds. Queerly Phrased: Language, Gender and Sexuality, Pp. 430-460. New York: Oxford University Press.

Hall, Kira. 2005. Intertextual Sexuality: Parodies of Class, Identity, and Desire in Liminal Delhi. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 15.1 125-144.

Week 13

April 11--Language, Literacy, and Schooling

Ahearn, Laura. 2004. Literacy, Power, and Agency: Love Letters and Development in Nepal. Language and Education 18.4 305-316.

Rahman, Tariq. 2006 (2004). Denizens of Alien Worlds: A Study of Education, Inequality, and Polarization in Pakistan. Karachi, PK: Oxford University Press (selections).

LaDousa, Chaise. 2006. The Discursive Malleability of Identity: A Dialogic Approach to Language "Medium" Schooling in North India. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 16.1 36-57.

Week 14

April 18--Language and Healing

Selections from:

Narayan, Kirin. 2001. According to Their Feelings. Teaching and Healing with Stories. In C. Witherell and N. Noddings, eds. Stories Lives Tell: Narrative andDialogue in Education,Pp. 113-135. New York: Columbia University Teachers College Press.

Flueckiger, Joyce. 2003. Narrative Voices and Repertoire at a Healing Crossroads in South Asia. Journal of American Folklore 116 249-272.

Halliburton, Murphy. 2003. The Importance of a Pleasant Process of Treatment: Lessons on Healing from South India. Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry 27 161-186.

Wilce, James. 2004. To Speak Beautifully in Bangladesh: Subjectivity as Paglami. In J. Jenkins and R. Barrett, eds. Schizophrenia, Culture, and Subjectivity: The Edge of Experience, Pp. 196-218. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Week 15

April 25--Language Endangerment and Preservation

Abbi, Anvita. 1997. The Languages of the Tribal and Indigenous Peoples of India. (selections). New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. 

Gnanasundaram, V. and R. Elangaiyan. 2000. Endangered Languages in the Indian Context. In Koul, Omkar N. and L. Devaki, eds. Linguistic Heritage of India and Asia. Mysore: Central Institute of Indian Languages.

Abbi, Anvita. 2006. Endangered Languages of the Andaman Islands. Studies in Asian Linguistics Series. Munchen: LINCOM.Focus Article with Multiple Authors. 2002. Examining the Language of Language Endangerment: An Exchange. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 12.1 119-156
(optional theoretical reading).

Week 16

May 2--Wrap-Up Discussion