PLT4949

Language and politics: meaning, power and cultural conflict

Proposed to be offered next in 1999

Ray Nichols

12 points
* 2 hours per week
* Clayton

Objectives On successful completion of this subject students should have an informed appreciation of language's importance in the cultural sciences; achieved a critical understanding of the nature and role of language in politics, especially in cultural creativity and conflict; developed the capacity to use political language critically and imaginatively. Members of the seminar will be encouraged to link its materials with their other concerns.

Synopsis This seminar critically explores language's recent emergence at the centre of the cultural sciences. It focuses on language's real importance and what we can do with it in political understanding and action. Major themes are: (1) modern fragmentation and the distinctive powers of language; (2) cultural difference and the spectre of relativism; (3) political `communication' and controversy; (4) `word magic', metaphor, and the constitution of common meanings.

Assessment Essay (6000 words) and seminar contributions: 50%
* Examination (3 hours): 50%

Recommended texts

Black M (ed.) The importance of language Cornell U P
Crocker J and Sapir J (eds) The social use of metaphor Cornell U P
Derrida J Of grammatology Johns Hopkins U P, 1976
Gibbons M (ed.) Interpreting politics Blackwell, 1987
Habermas J Communication and the evolution of society Beacon, 1979
Leach E Culture and communication CUP, 1976
Taylor C Human agency and language CUP, 1985