LINGUIST List 12.2779

Wed Nov 7 2001

Books: Sociolinguistics

Editor for this issue: Richard John Harvey <richardlinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Sean Hanrahan, Sociolinguistics: The Language of Postcolonial Literatures

Ismail S. Talib, National University of Singapore,

THE LANGUAGE OF POSTCOLONIAL LITERATURES: An Introduction

"This is the most comprehensive introduction to post-colonial language
use to date. A wide-ranging survey of the issues and conflicts
involved in this very contested field makes this book a very useful
resource for students and general readers." -Bill Ashcroft,
University of New South Wales, Australia

Drawing on a range of writers, including Jean Rhys, Derek Walcott,
Chinua Achebe, Salman Rushdie, Ngugi wa Thiong'o and Nuruddin Farah,
The Language of Postcolonial Literatures provides a comprehensive
introduction to some of the central features of language in a wide
variety of postcolonial texts. Ismail S. Talib illustrates how English
has been shaped by and had to contend with other languages in former
British colonies. Exploring literatures from a range of countries
including India, Nigeria, Canada, Australia, Scotland, Wales, Ireland
and the Caribbean, he shows how individuals retain their cultural and
national identity in the face of such changes. Language is the primary
concern in postcolonial literature, and postcolonial literature is
achieving canonical status, so this book is essential for all world
literature scholars and sociolinguists.

March 2002: 176 pp
HB: 0415240182: $75.00 �50.00
PB: 0415240190: $23.95 �15.99

Acknowledgments
1. English in (Post-)Colonial Contexts
2. Anti-Colonialism in Scottish, Welsh and Irish Literatures
3. Anglo-Saxon Transplantations
4. Orality, Writing and What English Brings
5. Using English in Postcolonial Literatures: A Review of
Criticism
6. Decolonisation and the Survival of English
7. Style, Language(s), Politics and Acceptability
8. How's the Mixture?-English, Dialects, and Other Languages
Concluding Summary
Bibliography