Downloads: 0 | Views: 127
Research Paper | Sociology | India | Volume 11 Issue 11, November 2022 | Rating: 4.3 / 10
Revaluing Bourdieu's Theory on Language Politics for Multilingual Contexts
Neema Chaurasiya
Abstract: This article takes a critical look at the politics of language by French Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. It begins with Bourdieu's views on language and its interrelation with social concepts and hierarchies; followed by hiscritique of existing theories in linguistics and the process through which he built upon his own theory of language and power. Then the socio-historical processes contributing to the rise of a dominant official variety of a language and Bourdieu's theory of symbolic power, violence and struggle associated with the same are discussed. To understand the institutional mechanisms which lend validity and efficacy to language by the means of which symbolic domination is exercised, how and why different systems collaborate to form this complex matrix of language legitimization, and how it is related with the social hierarchies and their perpetuation are elaborated upon next. Last part delves into the critique of Bourdieu's work on language politics, from the language of his works, to the application of his theory in multilingual contexts.
Keywords: Politics of Language, Language hierarchies, Symbolic Power
Edition: Volume 11 Issue 11, November 2022,
Pages: 54 - 56