Elite positionings towards Hindi: Language policies,political stances and language competence in India1

In India, Hindi is imagined and institutionalized as the national language which weds together India's pluralistic population under the banner of a shared Indian identity. Approaching language competence as embedded in and performed through language practices and ideologies, I explore how a New Delhi elite community positions themselves towards Hindi vis‐à‐vis national language policies and political movements. Contrasting with traditional unified elite portrayals, e.g. ‘elite closure’ ( Myers‐Scotton 1990 ), India has multiple sociolinguistically discordant elite groups, and these liberal elites ideologically construct their Hindi (in)competency in an alternative framework attending to the history (and failure) of Hindi‐based nationalism, their disalignment with modern right‐wing movements, and their continued affiliation with English. This perspective of some elites as negotiating and disagreeing with contemporary political movements and language policy legislature illuminates language competencies as socially constructed and locally grounded, and challenges past interpretations of postcolonial elites as unified actors controlling the dominant linguistic marketplace.     

Staking the claims of identity: Purism,linguistics and the media in post‐1990 Germany1

The paper examines one of the major metalinguistic debates in post‐war Germany: the debate about the influence of English on German, an issue which was raised in the 1990s in the German media and has dominated media discussions on language ever since. The analysis demonstrates that the debate is deeply embedded in current socio‐political discourses as well as in long‐term discursive traditions concerning, on the one hand, the socio‐political changes following German reunification in 1989/90, which involved a revision of the concepts of nation and nationalism, and, on the other, the genesis of the concept of nation, which is closely bound up with the history of the educated bourgeoisie and the process of standardisation as well as linguistic purism. It is argued that the debate on Anglicisms, as is the case in many other metalinguistic debates, cannot be regarded in isolation from the socio‐political environment and the context of historical usage within which it is embedded.     

“The right to lead”: Navajo language,dis‐citizenship,and Diné presidential politics

This article examines the 2014 Navajo Nation presidential primary election and language debate as a window into the politics of Navajo heritage language and identity. Using Facebook posts written in response to a videotaped hearing testing the fluency of one of the candidates that subsequently went viral, we analyse social citizenship and stigmatized language identities through the lens of critical Diné (Navajo) language consciousness. Focusing on generational differences between speaker groups that undergirded this debate, we analyse (a) the fluency test itself and (b) online and ethnographic responses to the fluency test. Using discourse analysis of Facebook posts of both heritage language and new Navajo speakers, we show how new speakers in particular express investment in their language and Diné cultural continuity and, through their emphasis on the heterogeneity of contemporary Diné communicative practices, offer an alternative template for ways to move forward in Diné language reclamation efforts.     

Fear of missing out,feeling of acceleration,and being permanently online: a survey study of university students’ use of mobile apps in China

We argue that the usage of mobile apps could be understood in the context of being permanently online. That is, contrary to functionalist theories, the usage of mobile apps is not simply an outcome based on the user’s rational needs and goals but also reflects the new state of being in the online world of the mobile Internet environment. Following this approach, in this study we review the emerging concept of being permanently online, as well as two key influential factors: the fear of missing out (FOMO) and the feeling of acceleration. We then use the survey data collected from university students in Shanghai, China (N?=?687) to examine the relationships between FOMO, the feeling of acceleration, being permanently online, and two types of mobile apps usage (i.e. WeChat and O2O life service apps). The results showed that in controlling for other variables, FOMO, the feeling of acceleration, and being permanently online were significantly related to mobile apps usage. In particular, FOMO was positively related to being permanently online. These empirical findings demonstrate the significance of examining mobile app usage from a new theoretical perspective, and they indicate that this approach deserves further attention in the research on this topic.     

The discursive construction of gay teenagers in times of mediatization: youth's reflections on intimate storytelling,queer shame and realness in popular social media places

New media applications such as social networking sites are understood as important evolutions for queer youth. These media and communication technologies allow teenagers to transgress their everyday life places and connect with other queer teens. Moreover, social media websites could also be used for real political activism such as publicly sharing coming out videos on YouTube. Despite these increased opportunities for self-reflexive storytelling on digital media platforms, their everyday use and popularity also bring particular complexities in the everyday lives of young people. Talking to 51 youngsters between 13 and 19 years old in focus groups, this paper inquires how young audiences discursively constructed meanings on intimate storytelling practices such as interpreting intimate stories, reflecting on their own and other peers' intimate storytelling practices. Specifically focusing on how they relate to intimate storytelling practices of gay peers, this paper identified particular challenges for queer youth who transgress the heteronormative when being active on popular social media. The increasing mediatization of intimate youth cultures brings challenges for queer teenagers, which relate to authenticity, (self-) surveillance and fear of imagined audiences.     

The local political economy of languages in a Sámi tourism destination: Authenticity and mobility in the labelling of souvenirs1

In this article we use ethnographic and discourse analytic approaches to examine how the labelling of tourist souvenirs affects, and is in turn affected by, the local political economy of language of a tourist destination, which is also a minority language space. We begin by arguing for the importance of our particular focus of study, souvenir labels, in the process of global and local tourism, and consequently as evidence of the interplay of languages, politics and economics. We then consider the distinctive features of the local political economy of language in our particular case study, the multilingual Sámi village of Inari in Northern Finland. In a related discussion, we describe how Inari functions as a site of experiential cultural tourism, and how the purchase of souvenirs is part of the tourist experience. We then go on to describe a number of practices that we have observed in the choice and use of linguistic and visual resources for the labelling of souvenirs in Inari, the delicate balancing act that takes place in these practices between authenticity and mobility, and how this reflects and is reflected in the local political economy of language. Tutkimme tässä artikkelissa etnografiaa ja diskurssianalyysiä hyödyntäen miten matkamuistot ja niiden kuvaukset nimilapuissa rakentuvat kielten paikallisessa poliittisessa ja taloudellisessa konteksteissa samalla niitä rakentaen. Tarkasteltavana oleva turistikohde on alkuperäisenä saamelaiskylänä markkinoitu Inari, joka sijaitsee uhanalaisten saamenkielten kotiseutualueella Pohjois‐Suomessa. Aluksi kuvaamme matkamuistojen tarkastelun kiinnostavuutta kielten, politiikan ja talouden tutkimuksen risteymässä. Seuraavaksi tarkastelemme Inarin kieliympäristöä ja sen nivoutumista paikalliseen poliittiseen talouteen. Tämän jälkeen kuvaamme Inarissa myynnissä olevien matkamuistojen ja niiden nimilapuissa tehtyjä kielellisiä ja visuaalisia valintoja. Matkamuistojen multimodaalisen diskurssin analyysimme kuvaa, miten niihin liittyvät käytänteet tasapainottelevat autenttisuuden ja liikkuvuuden rakentamisen välillä samalla kun ne nivoutuvat paikalliseen kielten poliittiseen talouteen. [Finnish] Mii dutkat dán artihkkalis, mo mátkemuittut ja daid govvideapmi gilkoriin ?addet gielaid báikkála? politihkala? ja ekonomala? konteavsttas nu, ahte dat seammás huksejit daid. Geavahit dutkanvuohkin etnografiija ja diskursaanalysa. Geah?adit turisttaid mátkemeari Anára, mii márkanastojuvvo originála sápmela? gilá?in. Anár lea gilli áitojuvvon sámegielaid ruovttuguovllus Davvi‐Suomas. Álggos mii govvidit, man bero?tahtti mátkemuittuid geah?adeapmi lea gielaid, politihka ja ekonomiija gaskkas. ?uovvova??an mii geah?adit Anára giellabirrasa ja dan, mo dat ?atnasa báikkála? politihkala? ekonomiijai. Dán ma??á mii govvidit, makkár gielala? ja visuálala? válljemat leat dahkkon dain mátkemuittuin ja daid gilkoriin, mat leat vuovdinláhkai Anáris. Min analysa mátkemuittuid multimodálala? diskurssas govvida, mo vierut, mat laktásit mátkemuittuide, dássádallet autentala?vuo?a ja lihkadeami huksema gaskkas seammás go dat ?atnasit gielaid báikkála? politihkala? ekonomiijai. [Northern Sámi]