Language Shift and Cultural Reproduction : Socialization, Self and Syncretism in a Papua New Guinea Village
Language Shift and Cultural Reproduction : Socialization, Self and Syncretism in a Papua New Guinea Village
Click to enlarge
Author(s): Kulick, Don
ISBN No.: 9780521414845
Pages: 335
Year: 199206
Format: Trade Cloth (Hard Cover)
Price: $ 89.14
Status: Out Of Print

Language Shift and Cultural Reproduction, first published in 1992, is a fascinating anthropological study of language and cultural change among the villagers of Gapun, in the Sepik region of Papua New Guinea. Despite their strong attachment to their own language as a source of identity and as a tie to their lands, people are abandoning their vernacular in favour of Tok Pisin, the most widely spoken language in Papua New Guinea. By examining village language socialization practices and drawing on Marshall Sahlins's ideas about structure and event, Don Kulick reveals how daily interactions, attitudes towards language, children, change, and personhood, all contribute to a shift in language and culture that is beyond the villagers' understanding and control. This is the first detailed documention of the process of language shift. It places linguistic change within an interpretive framework, and treats language as a symbolic system that affects, and is affected by, the thoughts and actions of everyday life.


To be able to view the table of contents for this publication then please subscribe by clicking the button below...
To be able to view the full description for this publication then please subscribe by clicking the button below...