Posthumanist applied linguistics / by Alastair Pennycook.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pennycook, Alastair, 1957- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Applied linguistics--Social aspects.

Applied linguistics.

Multilingualism--Social aspects.

Multilingualism.

Language and education.

Language and culture.

Sociolinguistics.

Social aspects.

Physical Description:

x, 168 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, 2018.

Summary:

Drawing on a range of contexts and data sources, from urban multilingualism to studies of animal communication, Posthumanist Applied Linguistics offers us alternative ways of thinking about the human predicament, with major implications for research, education and politics. Exploring the advent of the Anthropocene, new forms of materialism, distributed language, assemblages, and the boundaries between humans, other animals and objects, eight incisive chapters by one of the world's foremost applied linguists open up profound questions to do with language and the world. This critical posthumanist applied linguistic perspective is essential reading for all researchers and students in the fields of applied linguistics and sociolinguistics. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Introducing posthumanist applied linguistics 1

The planet, the people, animals and objects 2

Posthumanist applied linguistics 6

Posthumanist challenges 10

From humanism to posthumanism: navigating this book 15

2 Posthumanism and the strange humanist subject 19

The peculiar human subject 21

Religion, science, immanence 25

Human rights and situated ethics 27

New materialisms 31

Posthumanism and poststructuralism 33

Beyond human exceptionalism 37

3 Distributed language, spatial repertoires and semiotic assemblages 40

Finding your way underwater 40

Extended and distributed cognition 44

From individual trajectories to spatial repertoires 47

Distributed language 51

Conclusion: towards vibrant assemblages 52

4 The human hierarchy of senses 56

There's nothing there 56

Locating smell 57

Cities, smells and the Other 59

Semiotic, linguistic and sensory landscapes 63

Language in the absence of sound 66

Multisensory assemblages 69

5 Animals and language 72

The killer whales of Eden 72

Animal smarts 74

Language and animals 79

Missing the point 83

An expanded account of language 87

6 Mutual misunderstanding 90

Mutual intelligibility 90

Dogmas of inter subjective conformity 91

Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb 94

Thinking otherwise 100

Alignment, assemblages and attunement 103

7 Re-engaging with reality 108

On mugs, rocks and tables 110

The cat of the bottom of the garden 112

Speculative and other realisms 117

Back on the table 120

Conclusion: critical posthumanist realism 121

8 Towards a posthumanist applied linguistic commons 126

Entangled humans 126

Posthumanist trends in applied linguistics 130

Reclaiming the commons 136

Conclusion: towards a critical applied linguistic commons 140.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781138209220

1138209228

9781138209244

1138209244

OCLC:

1002722415