Language and Conflict

Undergraduate / Graduate

An aphorism commonly thrown around, and then hastily disregarded, in linguistics courses is "A language is a dialect with an army and a navy," popularized by sociolinguist Max Weinreich. While this definition may not hold water when it comes to analyzing the structures or validity of the world's languages, language and language ideology have played an important, but under-emphasized, role in colonial and nationalist power and policy. From early the early violence of linguistic imperialism to later attempts at creating ethnolinguistically unified nations during decolonization to post-colonial reconfigurations of global languages, this course will examine the varied roles language, language analysis, and language policy have played in cultural and political conflicts. We will consult academic scholarly work and public and polemic discourse surrounding these topics, culminating in a group research project where you will examine and present a language conflict of your choice.