MLL 602

At the intersection of linguistics and anthropology, the ethnography of communication has as its goal an understanding of the patterning of communicative behavior within culture. Topics to be covered in the course include what it means to “talk” in different cultural contexts, the functions of literacy in the United States and elsewhere, the symbolic organization of the world in writing and speaking, language attitudes and social prestige, and how languages and cultures are acquired and reproduced. Readings will include case studies drawn from work on a wide variety of cultures.