Language, Culture and Identity

How language shapes and is shaped by identity is a key topic within sociolinguistics. An individual's identity is constituted through a variety of different factors, including the social, linguistic, cultural and ethnic contexts. In this book, Philip Riley looks at these issues against the theoretical background of the sociology of knowledge, and ethnolinguistics, asking how we learn who we are and how social identities are negotiated. The idea of 'the foreigner' is central to this account, yet traditional views of the role of being socially 'other' largely neglect the role of language. Riley bridges this gap by examining problematic aspects of multilingual identities, with particular reference to the notions of 'ethos' and the 'communicative virtues'. This engaging analysis of language and social identity will be essential reading for students of sociolinguistics at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

An insightful work in its multi-disciplinary approach to the critically important but intellectually challenging questions surrounding the ongoing formation of social identity. The book's extensive and helpful bibliographic passages on the evolution of scholarly thought in the areas of identity and culture, and its intriguing theoretical work on the independent relationship of these three areas of human experience, constitute a welcome and valuable contribution to the social identity literature.--Sanford Lakoff "Journal Of Sociolinguistics ", Riley explores in considerable detail questions of how language shapes people's identities and vice versa. A definitive sociolinguistic study of this sort necessarily demands a comprehensive understanding of social psychology, anthropology, history, language variations, and a host of related subjects. Riley is remarkably well informed in these fields...the author is skilled in presenting material in ways that will engage and interest readers... Summing Up: Recommended--Sanford Lakoff, Riley's volume provides a detailed and knowledgeable overview of the rich range of literature dealing with identity as a social phenomenon. In addition to providing the reader with an informative survey of the literature on the sociology of identity, the book reminds us of the myriad ways in which we use language to perform acts of identity on a daily basis. --Sanford Lakoff

Philip Riley is Emeritus Professor of Ethnolinguistics at the University of Nancy, France.