We are seeking abstracts of chapters to be included in an edited volume on Multilingualism in Politics. This edited volume aims to make a significant contribution to the area of multilingualism in politics. Starting from the premise that language influences the way we think and ultimately the way we argue (Whorf, 1956; Ervin, 1964; Koven, 1998 etc.), the book will address the nexus between multilingualism and politics in broad terms.
Multilingualism has always existed in society and politics at all levels; from the Ancient world, the Ottoman and Habsburg Empires, to 19th century France, to today’s Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, South Africa and other (officially) multilingual countries. In contemporary societies, multilingualism constitutes a key element of the social construction of public spheres. The link between multiple, and sometimes competing, languages in political argumentation and the ensuing questions of access, language status, language choice, translation and interpreting in political deliberation and decision-making are of paramount importance in contemporary politics. Linguists and political researchers have pointed out the tension between the multilingual reality and a monolingualist ideology in the way contemporary democracies function (Doerr, 2012; Granič, 2012; Pym 2013, Piller, 2016 and others). The proposed book seeks to address this in the context of contemporary socio-political developments, through multiple lenses: a sociolinguistics lens; a politics and cultural studies lens; a translation and interpreting studies lens; and finally, a language policy lens.
Against this backdrop, we seek chapter proposals that fulfil one or more of the following criteria:
- the focus on multilingualism as a key element of the social construction of contemporary public spheres
- the interdisciplinarity between languages and politics and, more specifically, the combination of sociolinguistics, cultural studies, language policy and translation & interpreting studies.
- a wide scope, including not only empirical explorations on EU politics, but also local contexts of migrant and diasporic public spheres.
- the combination of theoretical and empirical insights.
Specific topics may include (but not be limited to) the following:
* Discourse studies / CDA approaches to multilingual argumentation
* Translating / interpreting ideology in political debate
* Minority languages in politics
* Deaf publics
* Relevant case studies from Europe
* Relevant case studies from the rest of the world
* Relevant case studies from migrant and diasporic public spheres
* Relevant case studies of interpreted multilingual debates
The book proposal will be submitted to Palgrave, who have already expressed interest in it. The tentative publication date will be around the end of 2018 / early 2019.
Submission information:
Please send an abstract of 500-600 words (including 4-5 references, along with authors’ names, institutional affiliations, e-mails and a few words on each contributor) to the editor, Katerina Strani : A.Strani@hw.ac.uk
Deadline for submission: 16 October 2017. Authors will be notified within 4-6 weeks.
Complete chapters (8,000 – 9,000 words including references) of selected abstracts should be sent around July 2018.
Please feel free to disseminate the call to your networks of colleagues who may be interested in contributing to this volume.
We look to receiving your chapter proposals!