Postcolonial movie nights

All welcome!

Two new publications by Eeva Sippola

Two new book chapters by Eeva Sippola (Postcolonial Language Studies) have just come out!

Carsten Levisen, Eeva Sippola, Karime Aragon. 2016. Color and visuality in Iberoromance Creoles: towards a postcolonial semantic analysis. In Geda Paulsen, Mari Uusküla, Jonathan Brindle (eds.), Color Language and Color Categorization. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 270-301.
http://www.cambridgescholars.com/color-language-and-color-categorization

Abstract: This chapter is an innovative contribution on visual-semantic systems in Iberoromance creoles lexified by Spanish and Portuguese. Inspired by recent developments in visual semantics, postcolonial linguistics, and cognitive creolistics, we aim to provide new evidence about ‘color’ and visuality from creoles, and to relate these findings to the ongoing, multidisciplinary study of visual meanings across languages, cultures, and epochs. The research promotes the under-explored study of visual-semantic systems in contact languages, by means of a discussion of Iberoromance creole data. We argue for the need to separate the more recent effects on semantic systems caused by globalization and colonization from older, traditional visual systems. We also emphasize the need for a neutral metalanguage for comparing visual-semantic systems.

Eeva Sippola. 2016. Rap and Resistance in Chabacano. In Pütz, Martin & Mundt, Neele (eds.), Vanishing Languages in Context: Ideological, attitudinal and social identity perspectives. Frankfurt: Peter Lang. 157-176. [Duisburger Arbeiten zur Sprach- und Kulturwissenschaft – Volume 114.]
https://www.peterlang.com/view/product/24780

Abstract: This paper examines responses to language endangerment in the Chabacano-speaking community of Ternate, Philippines. Focusing on the use of Chabacano in rap music, I analyse how young speakers are actively reshaping this creole language through their linguistic practices as a reaction to changes in the national and global context. Based on a corpus of rap lyrics, sociolinguistic interviews, and participant observation, the analysis reveals how Chabacano can be used in rap music as a means of empowerment in a language endangerment situation. Rap empowers young Chabacano speakers as competent users of the language and is also widely accepted as a new domain for the language in the community in general. This study sheds light on these complex processes of negotiation of linguistic practices and the realignment of endangered linguistic and cultural identities in a multilingual environment.

Two new publications by Joanna Chojnicka

Two journal publications by Joanna Chojnicka (Postcolonial Language Studies) have recently come out:

Chojnicka, J. 2016. Activist Online Journalism and the Gender Controversy. Investigating Polish LGBTQ blogs. Zeitschrift für Diskursforschung (Journal for Discourse Studies) 4.Jg. H.2, 154-177. (image)

Abstract: This article investigates a corpus of blog entries dealing with gender issues published on selected Polish LGBTQ blogs. It focuses in particular on texts which could be considered examples of activist online journalism – a hybrid genre combining social activism and alternative journalism – interacting with, building upon, and re-appropriating mainstream frames and news reporting genre conventions. The article employs the framework of positive discourse analysis (PDA) and specifically a revised typology of counter-strategies developed by Felicitas Macgilchrist (2007), showing the use of strategies of non-ironic and ironic inversion, complexification, partial reframing and radical reframing to contest the ways the topic of gender is dealt with in mainstream media.


Chojnicka, J. 2015. Stance and politeness in spoken Latvian. Lingua Posnaniensis 57 (1), 25-40. Link: http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/linpo.2015.57.issue-1/linpo-2015-0002/linpo-2015-0002.xml?format=INT

Abstract: The present article is concerned with the concept of stance and its relationship to face, face work and politeness applied to Latvian spoken discourse. It offers an extensive review of relevant literature on stance and politeness theories, followed by an illustrative analysis of politeness strategies and stance markers found in a radio interview. On this basis, the article argues that stance markers - epistemic, evidential, mirative and hedging devices - may be considered a negative politeness strategy, responding to the speaker’s and hearer’s desire for autonomy. In conclusion, it suggests a hypothesis that could explain differing use of stance markers and politeness strategies by speakers fulfilling varying conversational roles and of various social standing.

New publication by Birte Heidemann

Birte Heidemann's monograph Post-Agreement Northern Irish Literature: Lost in a Liminal Space? has just been published with Palgrave Macmillan!

About the book:
This book uncovers a new genre of 'post-Agreement literature', consisting of a body of texts – fiction, poetry and drama – by Northern Irish writers who grew up during the Troubles and published their work in the aftermath of the Good Friday Agreement. In an attempt to demarcate the literary-aesthetic parameters of the genre, the book proposes a selective revision of postcolonial theories on 'liminality' through a subset of concepts such as 'negative liminality', 'liminal suspension' and 'liminal permanence'. These conceptual interventions, as the readings demonstrate, help articulate how the Agreement’s rhetorical negation of the sectarian past and its aggressive neoliberal campaign towards a 'progressive' future breed new forms of violence that produce liminally suspended subject positions.

Endorsements: 
"Post-Agreement Northern Irish Literature offers one of the comprehensive accounts of the field, drawing on a sophisticated version of postcolonial theory and an original use of the notion of liminality. The book’s theoretical investigation discusses, with poise, clarity and intelligence, literature produced in Northern Ireland since the end of the Troubles."
Colin Graham, Senior Lecturer, Department of English, NUI Maynooth

"This is an outstanding work of cultural and literary criticism. It astutely theorises the post-Agreement situation of Northern Ireland; and it reveals the intricate diagnostic powers of recent fiction, poetry and drama to challenge the status quo. A must-read for those interested in Northern Irish literatures and debates."
Lars Eckstein, Professor of Anglophone Literatures and Cultures, University of Potsdam

"Intellectually engaging and thoroughly well-researched, Post-Agreement Northern Irish Literature is an original intervention in a hotly contested field. Birte Heidemann focuses welcome critical attention on an emergent generation of Northern Irish writers who are responding to history and its legacies in provocative and challenging ways."

Liam Harte, Senior Lecturer in Irish and Modern Literature, University of Manchester

Gender, Nation and Diaspora: Post-Conflict Sri Lankan Women’s Writing by Birte Heidemann

On 28 June 2016, Birte Heidemann-Malreddy (Postcolonial Literary and Cultural Studies) gave a talk on "Gender, Nation and Diaspora: Post-Conflict Sri Lankan Women's Writing" at the Sri Lanka Working Group of the South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg. The poster below offers an abstract of the lecture.

Institute of Collaborative Language Research - University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF)

link: http://www.alaska.edu/colang2016

In June 2016 Maria Mazzoli participated in the Institute of Collaborative Language Research (CoLang) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), as part of her postdoctoral research project on Michif, the mixed Plains Cree-French language spoken by few Metis communities in Canada and the US. Michif is severely endangered. Today it is spoken by (at most) an estimated 500 Metis speakers. At present, intergenerational transmission of Michif has ceased and no children or people of childbearing age speak the language. All fluent Michif speakers are in their late 60s or older.

In attendance to the CoLang Institute this year were language activists, learners, linguists, speakers, students, teachers, elders, wiki bloggers, archivists, and publishers interested in collaborative research on endangered languages.

CoLang meets every other summer in even-numbered years. The Institute consists of two weeks of workshops followed by a 3 or 4 week long language documentation practicum.

The goals and principles of the Institute are to provide training in documentation, maintenance, revitalization and advocacy for endangered languages, facilitating ethical collaborations between academic and community linguists. CoLang fosters effective practices for in situ language research and resource creation and the maintenance of language diversity, by promoting the creation of lasting resources on under-described languages and assisting community-based language activists in skills development. 

Social media: #colang2016 #languagewarriors #letourgrandparentslanguagelive #rebelsforlanguage

CoLang participants at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, July 1, 2016.    

June 22, 2016, Eliza Jones and Susan Paskvan explain distance delivery of Koyukon language activities in the Yukon-Koyukuk schools.    

Iñupiat danced at Colang’s opening night, June 20, 2016.

Workshop on Discourse Analysis

The workshop "Fostering Interdisciplinary Communication - Discussing Approaches to Discourse" is going to be held on 30 June 2016 from 9:00-19:30 in GW2 at the University of Bremen. It is organized by Joanna Chojnicka (Postcolonial Language Studies) in cooperation with Worlds of Contradiction.

The workshop brings together doctoral and postdoctoral researchers from the fields of linguistics, history, and cultural and social sciences, who will share their experiences and discuss advantages and disadvantages of applying the method within and across their respective disciplines. Participants will have the unique opportunity to express their concerns, work on possible solutions, learn from each other’s practice, and develop a positive approach to communication across fields in humanities and social sciences, with the overarching goal of establishing new and fostering already existing networks, links and connections. 

The workshop format of the meeting supports intensive collaborative work, while the small size of the group (max. 10 participants) and informal atmosphere guarantee an honest and open discussion. More information on the workshop's website.