The Matrix Of Language: Contemporary Linguistic Anthropology [Hardcover]

 The Matrix of Language introduces students and other readers to recent debates in the study of language and culture. The articles in this anthology, selected for their readability, present a range of methodological approaches and well-known case studies that illustrate the interconnection of language, culture, and social practice. The editors' introductory essays compare and contrast specific approaches in four broad areas: language and socialization, gender, the ethnography of speaking, and the role of language in social and political life. The book is a valuable introduction in linguistic anthropology and sociolinguistics courses and a resource for anyone exploring the relation of language to psychology, political theory, feminist studies, and literature and folklore.* Introduction Learning Language, Learning Culture * What No Bedtime Story Means: Narrative Skills at Home and School Shirley Brice Heath. * Detective Stories at Dinnertime: Problem-Solving Through Co-Narration Elinor Ochs, Ruth Smith, and Carolyn Taylor. * Hard Words: A Functional Basis for Kaluli Discourse Steven Feld and Bambi B. Schieffelin. Gender, Power, And Discourse * A Cultural Approach to Male-Female Miscommunication Daniel N. Maltz and Ruth A. Borker. * Norm-Makers, Norm-Breakers: Uses of Speech by Men and Women in a Malagasy Community Elinor Keenan (Ochs). * The Whole Woman: Sex and Gender Differences in Variation Penelope Eckert. Genre, Style, Performance * Biography of a Sentence: A Burmese Proverb A. L. Becker. * Any Man Who Keeps Moren One Houndll Lie to You: A Contextual Study of Expressive Lying Richard Bauman. * Carne, Carnales, and the Carnivalesque: Bakhtinian Batos, Disorder, and Narrative Discourses Jos E. Limn. Language As Social Practice * Grog and Gossip in Bhatgaon: Style and Substance in Fiji Indian Conversation Donald Brenneis. * Reflections on a Meeting: Structure, Language, and the Polity in a Small-Scale Society Fred R. Myers. * When Talk Isnt Cheap: Language l“¨