The Discourse of Powerlessness and Repression

The Discourse of Powerlessness and Repression
Author: Hans J. Ladegaard
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 262
Release: 2016-10-26
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1317265491

Drawing on a large corpus of narratives recorded at a church shelter for abused domestic helpers in Hong Kong, this monograph explores how the women discursively construct themselves in sharing sessions with other helpers. They see themselves as ‘helpers’ who have come to Hong Kong to help their families, to help the people in the city, and to serve God. A wide variety of competing identities are constructed in the narratives: submissive helper, sacrificial mother, daughter and wife, and powerless traumatised victim, but also resourceful indignant migrant women who, through sharing and peer support, become empowered to fight against abusive employers. This book provides a detailed discourse analysis of the women’s narratives, but it also explores larger issues such as global migration, exploitation, language and power, abuse and the psychology of evil, intergroup communication, and peer support and empowerment.

The Discourse of Powerlessness and Repression

The Discourse of Powerlessness and Repression
Author: Hans J. Ladegaard
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2016-10-26
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1317265505

Drawing on a large corpus of narratives recorded at a church shelter for abused domestic helpers in Hong Kong, this monograph explores how the women discursively construct themselves in sharing sessions with other helpers. They see themselves as ‘helpers’ who have come to Hong Kong to help their families, to help the people in the city, and to serve God. A wide variety of competing identities are constructed in the narratives: submissive helper, sacrificial mother, daughter and wife, and powerless traumatised victim, but also resourceful indignant migrant women who, through sharing and peer support, become empowered to fight against abusive employers. This book provides a detailed discourse analysis of the women’s narratives, but it also explores larger issues such as global migration, exploitation, language and power, abuse and the psychology of evil, intergroup communication, and peer support and empowerment.

The Discourse of Ethics and Equity in Intercultural Communication

The Discourse of Ethics and Equity in Intercultural Communication
Author: Shanta Nair-Venugopal
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 222
Release: 2017-10-02
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1317409442

This book examines the notions of ethics and equity in relation to language and communication in intercultural relations. Although these notions are often discussed, they are not always addressed with regard to specifi c subjects. Much intercultural discourse and dialogue in recent times has been coloured by the clash of civilizations (as described by Samuel Huntington), terrorist attacks such as 9/11, and the indelible effects which these events have had on dealings between different peoples, cultures and religions. This book discusses ethics and equity with regard to marginalized and privileged minorities, victims of abuse and of confl ict, researchers and practitioners, and language learners and speaker/users. It opens up spaces for a critical discourse of ethics and equity in language and intercultural communication as ‘new’ knowledge. This book was originally published as a special issue of Language and Intercultural Communication.

Migrant Workers’ Narratives of Return

Migrant Workers’ Narratives of Return
Author: Hans J. Ladegaard
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 166
Release: 2023-08-23
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1000922863

Drawing on a corpus of 113 narratives told by migrant workers who have returned to their home country, Ladegaard details Indonesian and Filipina (domestic) migrant workers’ experiences of homecoming after years of work abroad, separated from their loved ones. The narratives deal with two major themes: 1) Migrant workers’ experiences in the diaspora, which for many, particularly Indonesian workers, were associated with abuse and exploitation leading to trauma; and 2) migrant workers’ experiences of coming home, which include both the happy reunion with the family but also concerns about not ‘fitting in’ and the need to reinvent themselves because they are not who they were when they left. This is particularly true for workers whose migratory journeys have failed and who have come back to their hometowns without any financial award. Chapters also explore the major difference between Filipina and Indonesian migrant workers’ overseas experiences. The Filipina returnees share mostly positive stories while the Indonesian returnees uncover mostly negative stories, further illuminating what may explain these diverse migratory experiences. Finally, the book discusses how research on disenfranchised groups like (domestic) migrant workers can be used for social and political action. An excellent text that will appeal to academics, teachers and postgraduate students in the humanities and social sciences, particularly in sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, intercultural communication, anthropology, and migration studies.

Heroic Commitment in Richardson, Eliot, and James

Heroic Commitment in Richardson, Eliot, and James
Author: Patricia McKee
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 365
Release: 2014-07-14
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1400854156

Patricia McKee demonstrates that Richardson, Eliot, and James see disorderliness and indeterminacy in the human self, human relations, and literature as primary sources of meaningfulness. The relationships these novels portray as most satisfying are unsettled and unsettling, interfering with rather than contributing to social stability. Originally published in 1986. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Corpus-Based Sociolinguistics

Corpus-Based Sociolinguistics
Author: Eric Friginal
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 329
Release: 2013-12-17
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1136292772

In the last decade, the availability of corpora and the technological advancements of corpus tools have increased dramatically. Applied linguists have greater access to data from around the world and in a variety of languages through websites, blogs, and social networking sites, and there is a high level of interest among these scholars in applying corpora and corpus-based methods to other research areas, particularly sociolinguistics. This innovative guidebook presents a systematic, in-depth account of using corpora in sociolinguistics. It introduces and expands the application of corpora and corpus approaches and tools in sociolinguistic research, surveys the growing number of studies in corpus-based sociolinguistics, and provides instructions and options for designing and developing corpus-based studies. Readers will find practical information on such contemporary topics as workplace registers, megacorpora, and using the web as a corpus. Vignettes, case studies, discussion questions, and activities throughout further enhance students’ involvement with the material and provide opportunities for hands-on practice of the methods discussed. Corpus-Based Sociolinguistics is a comprehensive and accessible guide, a must-read for any student or scholar interested in exploring this popular and promising approach to sociolinguistic research.

Language, Global Mobilities, Blue-Collar Workers and Blue-collar Workplaces

Language, Global Mobilities, Blue-Collar Workers and Blue-collar Workplaces
Author: Kellie Gonçalves
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2020-11-26
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1000281000

This collection brings together global perspectives which critically examine the ways in which language as a resource is used and managed in myriad ways in various blue-collar workplace settings in today’s globalized economy. In focusing on blue-collar work environments, the book sheds further light on the informal processes through which top down language policies take place in different multilingual settings and the resultant asymmetrical power relations which emerge among employees and employers in such settings. Taking into account the latest debates on poststructuralist theories of language, the volume also extends its conceptualization of language to demonstrate the ways in which it extends to a wider range of multilingual and multimodal resources and communicative practices, all of which combine in unique and different ways toward constructing meaning in the workplace. The volume’s unique focus on such workplaces also showcases domains of work which have generally until now been less visible within existing research on language in the workplace and the subsequent methodological challenges that arise from studying them. Integrating a range of theoretical and methodological approaches, along with empirical data from a diverse range of blue-collar workplaces, this book will be of particular interest to students and researchers in critical sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, sociology, and linguistic anthropology.

Mixed Race in Asia

Mixed Race in Asia
Author: Zarine L. Rocha
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 408
Release: 2017-07-14
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1351982478

Mixed racial and ethnic identities are topics of increasing interest around the world, yet studies of mixed race in Asia are rare, despite its particular salience for Asian societies. Mixed Race in Asia seeks to reorient the field to focus on Asia, looking specifically at mixed race in China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and India. Through these varied case studies, this collection presents an insightful exploration of race, ethnicity, mixedness and belonging, both in the past and present. The thematic range of the chapters is broad, covering the complexity of lived mixed race experiences, the structural forces of particular colonial and post-colonial environments and political regimes, and historical influences on contemporary identities and cultural expressions of mixedness. Adding significant richness and depth to existing theoretical frameworks, this enlightening volume develops markedly different understandings of, and recognizes nuances around, what it means to be mixed, practically, theoretically, linguistically and historically. It will appeal to undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as postdoctoral and other researchers interested in fields such as Race and Ethnicity, Sociology and Asian Studies.

The Power Paradox

The Power Paradox
Author: Anna Bennett
Publisher: University Press of America
Total Pages: 159
Release: 2012
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0761857966

The Power Paradox reveals how mainstream views of power restrict the conceptual insights needed to resolve conflict. Bennett identifies fascinating contradictions within discourses of power and relational dynamics, acknowledging the enduring quandary of power struggles: we are all implicated within them.

Exploring (Im)mobilities

Exploring (Im)mobilities
Author: Anna De Fina
Publisher: Multilingual Matters
Total Pages: 234
Release: 2021-11-23
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1788925319

The impact of mobility and superdiversity in recent sociolinguistic research is well-established, yet very few studies deal with issues related to immobility. The chapters in this book focus on the sociolinguistic investigation of the dynamics between mobility and immobility as experienced by migrants, asylum seekers and members of minority or exploited groups. Central to the book is an exploration of how mobilities are affected by and in turn affect power relations and of the kinds of resources used by people to deal with (im)mobility processes. The book brings to light a new critical sociolinguistic imagination that is responsive to 21st century processes of (im)mobilities as socially, discursively and emotionally constructed and negotiated.