Linguists in the past two centuries have, for the most part, approached language as an autonomous entity; their practice has been to study languages without considering the culture, society, or beliefs of the speakers. "Autonomous linguistics" has been attacked from both the left and the right. Critics on the left (in particular Marxists) argue that the separation of language from its societal context reinforces the status quo by downplaying the role of language as an instrument of ideology and social control. Critics on the right object to the value-free analyses of individual languages required by the autonomous approach and to the idea that all languages merit equal attention.
ISBN: | 9780226577227 |
Publisher: | University of Chicago Press |
Imprint: | The University of Chicago Press |
Published date: | 15 Mar 1988 |
Language: | English |
Number of pages: | 180 |
Weight: | 260g |
Height: | 217mm |
Width: | 140mm |
Spine width: | 11mm |