Suchergebnisse

Over the past two decades, comparative linguistic anthropological research has disclosed the significance of metadiscourse and metasignaling forthe establishment, maintenance, and transformation of social relations. One type of metasignal‐signal relationship has, because of its role in producing sociability, come to seem especially interesting with regard to the evolutionary origins of human language—the type wherein a strategically (and presumably neocortically) induced metasignal is modeled after, but distinct from, an instinctively triggered signal, as in ritualized lamentation. Strategic vocal deceptions in nonhuman primates are possible precursors of true socially constructed, socially shared metasignals, which in turn may be ancestors of modern human language. This article charts an evolutionary path from strategic vocal manipulation, to cultural metasignals, to language, using data from primate studies, discourse‐centered research, and early child language acquisition. [Key words: language origins, semiotics, metacommunication, chimpanzees, early language acquisition]

Language and Communicative Practices. William F. Hanks. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1996. 335 pp.

IN RUSSIA THERE IS A FEVERED STRUGGLE UNDER WAY AMONG THE THREE PRINCIPAL FORCES IN POLITICAL SOCIETY -- THE DEMOCRATS, THE PATRIOTS, AND THE COMMUNISTS -- OSTENSIBLY TO PROVIDE A DEFINING SET OF CONCEPTS FOR THE NATION ITSELF. INVARIABLY, THESE DEFINITIONS ARE BEING INVIDIOUSLY CONSTRUCTED IN SUCH A WAY AS TO DISCREDIT OPPONENTS WHILE VALIDATING AS AUTHENTICALLY NATIONAL THE POLITICAL AGENDAS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE PURVEYORS. EACH OF THE COMPETING DISCOURSES AUTHORIZES ITSELF BY ASSERTING THAT: (1) RUSSIA HAS LOST ITS WAY BECAUSE VITAL CONNECTIONS WITH ITS PAST HAVE BEEN SEVERED; (2) THE BLAME FOR THIS DEBILITATING CONDITION BELONGS TO NEFARIOUS OPPONENTS. GIVEN THE CONSTELLATION OF FORCES IN RUSSIAN DOMESTIC POLITICS, THERE IS NO END IN SIGHT TO THIS STRUGGLE OVER NATIONAL IDENTITY. WHILE THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF NATIONAL IDENTITY REMAIN BONES OF FIERCE CONTENTION IN RUSSIAN POLITICS, STATE AUTHORIZATION FOR DRAFTING AN OFFICIAL NATIONAL IDEOLOGY IS FRAUGHT WITH THE DISTURBING PROSPECT THAT THE SINGLE FACTOR CONDUCIVE TO A UNITY OF NATIONAL PURPOSE IS A PERCEIVED THREAT FROM, AND REJECTION BY, THE WEST.

Examines the struggle for a national idea being waged by politicians and intellectuals; roles of the state, democrats, communists, and patriots.