This volume presents a comprehensive introduction to the connection between language and ethnicity. The Ebonics and bilingual education controversies in the US have both provided new evidence for a connection between language and ethnicity and raised questions about the nature of this connection. Since the "ethnic revival" of the last twenty years, there has been a substantial and interdisciplinary change in our understanding of the connection between these fundamental aspects of our identity. The distinguished sociolinguist Joshua Fishman has commissioned over 25 previously unpublished papers on every facet of the subject. The volume is divided into two sections, the first examining disciplinary perspectives (for example history, psychology, religion, sociolinguistics, etc) on the subject; the second uses the prism of geography, looking at the subject in the context of Africa, Scandinavia, Germany and the rest of Western Europe, North America and elsewhere. The volume is truly interdisciplinary and the contributors are all distinguished figures in their fields. No previous knowledge of the subject is assumed and thus the volume will be suitable as a scholarly reference, as a resource for the lay reader, and can also be used as a text in ethnicity courses.
Reviews
Interesting background chapters. * Years Work in English Studies *
This volume provides an excellent starting point for those interested in attempting to understand the multiple paradoxes implicated in the relationships between ethnicity, language and identity. Fishman has done a superb job in bringing together perspectives deriving from the major social science disciplines and linking these with perspectives reflective of different regions and languages. * Jim Cummins, Journal of Sociolinguistics 5/1 *
A provocative volume for both specialized and nonspecialized readers. * Linguistics *



Book Information
ISBN 9780195124293
Author Joshua A. Fishman
Format Paperback
Page Count 480
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 676g
Dimensions(mm) 156mm * 234mm * 25mm