Suchergebnisse

AbstractThe Republic of Armenia is for the most part an ethnically homogenous country. According to the 2011 census, the share of ethnic minorities is about 1.9 percent of the population, comprising eleven registered minorities and at least two additional groups, namely the Udi and Tat refugee minorities. This article examines the different values that ethnic minorities of Armenia assign to language in the process of identity construction. Despite their cultural and religious diversity, the ethnic minorities of Armenia have a feature in common: none of the groups originates from the territory of the present-day Republic of Armenia, and in each instance immigration occurred under Tsarist or Soviet rule. Various social and historical factors related to migration condition the relevance of language for individual ethnic minorities. In some cases, these factors also influence collective self-perception in a way that is inconsistent with actual language practices and actual linguistic competence. The present article is descriptive in nature and aims at characterizing the role that language plays in identity construction by minority groups within a predominantly mono-ethnic country.

This essay reflects on Chinese and American hyperrealism and its effect on the self-perceptions and cultural identities of both countries. Hyperreality is a condition whereby it is impossible to distinguish reality from fantasy. Such a condition is common in technologically advanced cultures where virtual reality has made possible the endless reproductions of fundamentally empty appearances. It is however also possible to speak of hyperreality in terms of "culture" or "civilization." As a first example, China produces a hyperrealist version of its culture in ways that are peculiar to the Confucian treatment of history. As a second example, hyperrealism can be seen in American civilization, which has often been described by some as a materialized utopia excelling in simulations such as Disneyland or Las Vegas and that permeates through large parts of American life like an underlying structure.
The mythical and pseudo-historical past upon which many Chinese philosophical discourses are built has arguably led to a quasi-virtual timelessness whose effects remain significant in China's contemporary political life. At the same time, American civilization consists – viewed from a certain angle – in an aseptic, dishistoricized culture that authors such as Jean Baudrillard have described in terms of "hyperreality."

Uncertain Lives is the first book to examine the impact of neoliberal policies on everyday life in Australia. Going beyond the discussions of multiculturalism that dominated the 1980s and 1990s, Uncertain Lives examines the persistence of race and racism in the Australian experience. While the governments of John Howard followed the rhetoric of neoliberalism in suggesting that market forces dominated social relations, in reality the racism that had been founded in the White Australia policy b.

The present experimental research studies whether Thai-English bilinguals' language experience in their non-native language influences the pattern of language processing of the bilingual lexicon. Two groups of 100 native Thai bilingual speakers with high or low English language experience were asked to perform Stroop Interference Tasks, with the processing of word forms being either Thai or English and the processing in colour naming also being either Thai or English. The results showed that when the processing of word forms was in Thai, there was more intra- than interlingual interference, and that the degree of interference was equivalent between the two English experience groups. When the processing of word forms was in English, the high and the low groups showed more intra- than interlingual interference; however, the high group showed more interference than the low group did. The results provide evidence that the maximal interference occurs in the processing of the first language and the interference in the processing of the second language is proportional to L2 language experience. The results suggest that there is a relationship between language experience and language processing of the bilingual lexicon.

Legal cultures, communities, and democratic political cultures -- State legal culture: domination, identities, and the politics of rights -- The Arab-Palestinian community in a Jewish (and democratic) state -- Feminism, community, and law -- Religious fundamentalism and law: the Jewish ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) community and legal culture -- Conclusions: the return to the communal space

Cover -- Half Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Original Title -- Original Copyright -- CONTENTS -- Acknowledgements -- List of Abbreviations -- 1. Introduction: Persistence and Change in Nineteenth-century Popular Culture -- 2. The Decline of the Oral Tradition in Popular Culture -- 3. Methodism, Popular Beliefs and Village Culture in Cornwall, 1800-50 -- 4. 'Please to Remember the Fifth of November': Conflict, Solidarity and Public Order in Southern England, 1815-1900 -- 5. The Lancashire Wakes in the Nineteenth Century -- 6. Interpreting the Festival Calendar: Wakes and Fairs as Carnivals -- 7. Secrecy, Ritual and Folk Violence: The Opacity of the Workplace in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century -- 8. Custom, Capital and Culture in the Victorian Music Hall -- Notes on Contributors -- Index.

The conference 'Is Economic Inequality also a Literary Problem?' held at Uppsala University, Sweden, in 2017 raised the following questions: What does literature have to do with inequality? Does it contribute to its reproduction, or can it be a force of resistance? Is it fair to even ask of literature and literary studies that they address the problem of economic inequality? This essay claims the answers to these questions are conditioned by the historical contexts of the critics grappling with them and the literatures that they study. Employing an analysis of the theme of poverty in contemporary Swedish-language working-class literature, I argue that the consecration of this literature as an important strand in Swedish national literature has allowed it to express radical critique of the economic inequalities lying at the heart of capitalism. Furthermore, I argue that this insight could be used as a starting-point for challenging some of the more pessimistic views expressed by critics of working-class literature regarding its political potentials.

Language Practices in a Family of Prussian Language Revivalists: Conclusions Based on Short-Term Participant ObservationThe Prussian language (ISO code: prg) is a Baltic language considered to be dead since at least the beginning of the eighteenth century. The Baltic Prussians, closely related to Lithuanians and Latvians, had been conquered and Christianized by the Teutonic Order by the end of the thirteenth century. Since then, the ongoing process of assimilation led to the extinction of the ancient language, attested only by a few glossaries and three translations of the Lutheran catechisms from the sixteenth century. The language remained unused until the 1970s, when a group of scholars began its reconstruction. Some years later, the revival movement emerged, consisting of activists living in Poland, Russia (Kaliningrad Region), Lithuania, Latvia and Germany, claiming their Old Prussian roots or spiritual connection to the land and/or the people. Their efforts resulted in changing the language status from extinct to living in 2009 (SIL International) and to dormant (Ethnologue). There are at least three children using Prussian as their L1 language; there are also modern translations, poems, Facebook groups and a YouTube channel. This study is based on short-term participant observation of language practices in one of the Prussian-speaking families and considers examples of Polish lexical and grammatical influences, code switching and code mixing. Praktyki językowe w rodzinie rekonstruktorów języka pruskiego – wnioski z krótkotrwałej obserwacji uczestniczącejJęzyk pruski (kod ISO: prg) należy do rodziny języków bałtyjskich. Uznaje się go za język wymarły najpóźniej od początku XVIII wieku. Bałtyjscy Prusowie, spokrewnieni z Litwinami i Łotyszami, zostali pod koniec XIII wieku podbici, a następnie stopniowo schrystianizowani przez zakon krzyżacki. Rozłożony w czasie proces asymilacji kulturowej i językowej spowodował wymarcie starego języka pruskiego, poświadczonego zaledwie kilkoma słowniczkami, frazami i trzema szesnastowiecznymi tłumaczeniami katechizmu luterańskiego. Język pruski nie był w użyciu aż do lat 70. XX wieku, kiedy grupa badaczy rozpoczęła proces jego rekonstrukcji. Kilkanaście lat później uformował się oddolny ruch mający na celu wskrzeszenie języka, w którego skład wchodzą aktywiści z obszarów dzisiejszej Polski, Rosji (obwodu kaliningradzkiego), Litwy, Łotwy i Niemiec. Osoby te często deklarowały posiadanie staropruskich korzeni bądź poczucie duchowego dziedzictwa ziemi i ludu Prusów. Ich wysiłki doprowadziły do zmiany statusu języka pruskiego z wymarłego na żywy (SIL International) i "uśpiony" (ang. dormant) (Ethnologue) w 2009 roku. Dziś żyją co najmniej trzy nieletnie osoby, dla których język pruski jest prymarnym językiem kontaktów domowych. Społeczność posiada strony i grupy na Facebooku, kanał w serwisie YouTube, tworzone są wiersze, tłumaczenia i muzyka w tym języku. Artykuł powstał po dwukrotnych odwiedzinach u dwujęzycznej prusko-polskiej rodziny używającej zrekonstruowanego języka pruskiego, by udokumentować niewynikające z proponowanego standardu języka pruskiego polskie wpływy leksykalne i gramatyczne, a także w celu przyjrzenia się rodzinnym praktykom językowym oraz zjawiskom zmiany i mieszania się kodów językowych.

This observational study examined the development and use of communication in a pair of deaf and hearing monozygotic twins from 13 months of age until 36 months of age. One twin contracted meningitis at 7 months, leaving her profoundly deaf but without other measurable sequelae. The other twin is normal in all respects. The prelingual twins were enrolled in a total communication preschool program where, with their parents, they participated in activities designed to enhance the language skills of deaf children. The twins were videotaped monthly, first at their preschool program and later at home. All forms of communication were recorded, including signs, vocalizations, and hand and body gestures. Additionally, eye gaze direction and body positions during communication were noted. Comparisons between the deaf and hearing twins showed that although both children were able to learn language and communicate successfully, the hearing twin preferred a vocal form of language, whereas the deaf twin used mostly sign language. Moreover, the hearing twin's communication was usually responsive, while the deaf twin's communication was comprised mostly of imitative signs and gestures. Methods of teaching a profoundly deaf child to communicate are discussed.