The Language and Politics of Exclusion

About this book

This new volume brings together articles that apply critical discourse analysis to texts and speech that contribute to the marginalization of minority groups. Studying both the fine details of language use and the political values implicated by word choice, the contributors examine how an "us versus them" division is played out in a wide array of cultural settings. Among the groups considered are immigrants in Western Europe, African Americans, African Canadians, Mexican Natives, Jews in Austria, and Muslims in Europe and North America. Examples of everyday speech through which prejudice is conveyed include advertising, parliamentary debate, travel literature, newspaper articles, the law, autobiography, and even classroom discourse. Collectively, the chapters make a strong and original case for the value of linguistic perspective in the study of prejudice and social inequity. By providing an in-depth look at the ways in which discourse can marginalize others, The Language and Politics of Exclusion should prove useful to scholars and to students in communication, sociology, journalism, and linguistics.