Dec 20
ChRIS CLÉiRIGhannouncements
Title: Semiotics of Religion
Subtitle: Signs of the Sacred in History
Series Title: Advances in Semiotics
Publication Year: 2012
Publisher: Bloomsbury Linguistics (formerly Continuum Linguistics)
http://www.continuumbooks.com
Book URL: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/semiotics-of-religion-9781441104199/
Author: Robert A Yelle
Hardback: ISBN: 1441142827 9781441142825 Pages: 256 Price: U.K. £ 75.00
Paperback: ISBN: 1441104194 9781441104199 Pages: 256 Price: U.K. £ 24.99
Abstract:
Following the heyday of Lévi-Straussian structuralism in the 1970s-80s, little
attention has been paid by scholars of religion to semiotics. Semiotics of
Religion reassesses key semiotic theories in the light of religious data.
Yelle examines the semiotics of religion from structural and historical
perspectives, drawing on Peircean linguistic anthropology, Jakobsonian
poetics, comparative religion and several theological traditions. This book
pays particular attention to the transformation of religious symbolism under
modernization and the rise of a culture of the printed book.
Building from the legacy of structuralism while interrogating several key
doctrines of that movement, Semiotics of Religion both introduces the field to
a new generation and charts a course for future research.
‘This book is vast in scope, deep in implications, and admirably clear and
forthright in exposition.The study of religion has needed a work of this kind,
which brings together several research traditions and pushes the resulting
synthesis in new directions.The result is an agenda-setting project of huge
ambition.’ – Webb Keane, University of Michigan, USA.
Dec 20
ChRIS CLÉiRIGhannouncements
Title: Language and Humour in the Media
Publication Year: 2012
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
http://www.c-s-p.org
Book URL: http://www.c-s-p.org/flyers/Language-and-Humour-in-the-Media1-4438-3894-2.htm
Editor: Jan Chovanec
Editor: Isabel Ermida
Hardback: ISBN: 1443838942 9781443838948 Pages: 260 Price: U.K. £ 39.99
Hardback: ISBN: 1443838942 9781443838948 Pages: 260 Price: U.S. $ 59.99
Abstract:
Language and Humour in the Media provides new insights into the interface
between humour studies and media discourse analysis, connecting two areas of
scholarly interest that have not been studied extensively before. The volume
adopts a multi-disciplinary approach, concentrating on the various roles
humour plays in print and audiovisual media, the forms it takes, the purposes
it serves, the butts it targets, the implications it carries and the
differences it may assume across cultures.
The phenomena described range from conversational humour, canned jokes and
wordplay to humour in translation and news satire. The individual studies draw
their material for analysis from traditional print and broadcast media, such
as magazines, sitcoms, films and spoof news, as well as electronic and
internet-based media, such as emails, listserv messages, live blogs and online
news.
The volume will be of primary interest to a wide range of researchers in the
fields of discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, intercultural studies,
pragmatics, communication studies, and rhetoric but it will also appeal to
scholars in the areas of media studies, psychology and crosscultural
communication.
Dec 18
ChRIS CLÉiRIGhannouncements
Title: Circus as Multimodal Discourse
Subtitle: Performance, Meaning, and Ritual
Publication Year: 2012
Publisher: Bloomsbury Linguistics (formerly Continuum Linguistics)
http://www.continuumbooks.com
Book URL: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/circus-as-multimodal-discourse-9781441125637/
Author: Paul Bouissac
Hardback: ISBN: 1441125639 9781441125637 Pages: 224 Price: U.K. £ 75.00
Abstract:
This volume presents a theory of the circus as a secular ritual and introduces
a method to analyze its performances as multimodal discourse.
The book’s fifteen chapters cover the range of circus specialties (magic,
domestic and wild animal training, acrobatics, and clowning) and provide
examples to show how cultural meaning is produced, extended and amplified by
circus performances. Bouissac is one of the world’s leading authorities on
circus ethnography and semiotics and this work is grounded on research
conducted over a 50 year span in Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas.
It concludes with a reflection on the potentially subversive power of this
discourse and its contemporary use by activists. Throughout, it endeavours to
develop an analytical approach that is mindful of the epistemological traps of
both positivism and postmodernist license. It brings semiotics and ethnography
to bear on the realm of the circus.
Dec 16
ChRIS CLÉiRIGhannouncements
Title: Playing by Ear and the Tip of the Tongue
Subtitle: Precategorial information in poetry
Series Title: Linguistic Approaches to Literature 14
Publication Year: 2012
Publisher: John Benjamins
http://www.benjamins.com/
Book URL: http://benjamins.com/catalog/lal.14
Author: Reuven Tsur
Electronic: ISBN: 9789027273253 Pages: Price: U.S. $ 158.00
Electronic: ISBN: 9789027273253 Pages: Price: Europe EURO 105.00
Electronic: ISBN: 9789027273253 Pages: Price: U.K. £ 88.00
Hardback: ISBN: 9789027233493 Pages: Price: Europe EURO 111.30
Hardback: ISBN: 9789027233493 Pages: Price: U.K. £ 105.00
Hardback: ISBN: 9789027233493 Pages: Price: U.S. $ 158.00
Abstract:
In our everyday life we are flooded by a pandemonium of information which
consciousness organizes into more easily manageable phonetic and semantic
categories. In poetry reading, however, the total effect of a poem is not only
obtained by some of these categories but also by precategorial information,
for which there is a growing body of empirical evidence of its psychological
reality. In the Tip of the Tongue phenomenon, a great amount of diffuse
precategorial information is present but fails to “grow together” into a
compact word, generating a feeling of some dense, undifferentiated mass.
Poetic language typically exploits such precategorial information for its
effects. By way of theoretical considerations and close readings, this book
explores the semantic and phonetic strategies by which a text may increase
or decrease the impact of such information. It investigates the conditions
that boost or inhibit overtone fusion in rhyme and alliteration. By seeking
empirical evidence for the claims he makes in different fields such as music,
art, literature, linguistics, experiments in the speech laboratory, the author
provides ample and sound examples (ambiguity intended) in an almost
conversational tone, which makes us really anticipate reading each new
chapter.
Dec 15
ChRIS CLÉiRIGhannouncements
Title: The Semantics of Colour
Subtitle: A Historical Approach
Publication Year: 2012
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
http://us.cambridge.org
Book URL: http://www.cambridge.org/us/knowledge/isbn/item6633840/The%20Semantics%20of%20Colour/?site_locale=en_US
Author: Carole P. Biggam
: ISBN: 9780521899925 Pages: 274 Price: U.S. $ 99.00
Abstract:
Human societies name and classify colours in various ways. Knowing this, is it
possible to retrieve colour systems from the past? This book presents the
basic principles of modern colour semantics, including the recognition of
basic vocabulary, subsets, specialised terms and the significance of
non-colour features. Each point is illustrated by case studies drawn from
modern and historical languages from around the world. These include
discussions of Icelandic horses, Peruvian guinea-pigs, medieval roses, the
colour yellow in Stuart England, and Polynesian children’s colour terms. Major
techniques used in colour research are presented and discussed, such as the
evolutionary sequence, Natural Semantic Metalanguage and Vantage Theory. The
book also addresses whether we can understand the colour systems of the past,
including prehistory, by combining various semantic techniques currently used
in both modern and historical colour research with archaeological and
environmental information.
1. What is colour?
2. What is colour semantics?
3. Basic colour terms
4. Non-basic and non-standard colour expressions
5. Basic colour categories
6. The evolutionary sequence
7. Different approaches
8. Historical projects: preliminaries
9. Synchronic studies
10. Diachronic studies
11. Prehistoric colour studies
12. Applications and potential.
Dec 15
ChRIS CLÉiRIGhannouncements
Title: Meaning and Humour
Series Title: Key Topics in Semantics and Pragmatics
Publication Year: 2012
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
http://us.cambridge.org
Book URL: http://www.cambridge.org/us/knowledge/isbn/item6636912/Meaning%20and%20Humour/?site_locale=en_US
Author: Andrew Goatly
Paperback: ISBN: 9780521181068 Pages: 380 Price: U.S. $ 35.99
: ISBN: 9781107004634 Pages: 380 Price: U.S. $ 95.00
Abstract:
How are humorous meanings generated and interpreted? Understanding a joke
involves knowledge of the language code (a matter mostly of semantics) and
background knowledge necessary for making the inferences to get the joke (a
matter of pragmatics). This book introduces and critiques a wide range of
semantic and pragmatic theories in relation to humour, such as systemic
functional linguistics, speech acts, politeness and relevance theory,
emphasising not only conceptual but also interpersonal and textual meanings.
Exploiting recent corpus-based research, it suggests that much humour can be
accounted for by the overriding of lexical priming. Each chapter’s discussion
topics and suggestions for further reading encourage a critical approach to
semantic and pragmatic theory. Written by an experienced lecturer on the
linguistics of the English language, this is an entertaining and user-friendly
textbook for advanced students of semantics, pragmatics and humour studies.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Meaning in the language system: aspects of form and meaning
3. Semantics and conceptual meaning of grammar
4. Semantics and the conceptual meaning of lexis
5. Personal, social and affective meanings
6. Textual meaning and genre
7. Metaphor and figures of speech
8. Pragmatics, reference and speech-acts
9. Pragmatics: co-operation and politeness
10. Relevance theory, schemas and deductive inference
11. Lexical priming: information, collocation, predictability and humour.
Dec 12
ChRIS CLÉiRIGhannouncements
Title: Society and Discourse
Subtitle: How Social Contexts Influence Text and Talk
Publication Year: 2012
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
http://us.cambridge.org
Book URL: http://www.cambridge.org/us/knowledge/isbn/item6893168/Society%20and%20Discourse/?site_locale=en_US
Author: Teun A. van Dijk
Paperback: ISBN: 9781107407107 Pages: 298 Price: U.S. $ 46.00
Abstract:
Please note: This is a new paperback edition of a previously announced book.
After his earlier book Discourse and Context, also published by Cambridge
University Press, Teun A. van Dijk in this 2009 study presents the second part
of his new multidisciplinary theory of context. The main thesis of this theory
is that the influence of society on discourse is not direct, as is postulated
for instance in sociolinguistics, but cognitively mediated by subjective
mental models of the communicative situation: context models. These dynamic
models control discourse production and comprehension and define the pragmatic
appropriateness of text and talk. Whereas in Discourse and Context the
psychological and linguistic aspects of context were analyzed, this book
focuses on the social psychological, sociological, anthropological and
political aspects of context. Tony Blair’s 2003 speech defending his motion to
go to war against Saddam Hussein and the following debate in parliament is
used as an example illustrating the new theory.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Context and social cognition
3. Context and society
4. Context and culture
5. Context and politics: the Iraq debate in British parliament
6. Conclusions
Dec 12
ChRIS CLÉiRIGhannouncements
Title: (Re)presentations and Dialogue
Series Title: Dialogue Studies 16
Publication Year: 2012
Publisher: John Benjamins
http://www.benjamins.com/
Book URL: http://benjamins.com/catalog/ds.16
Editor: François Cooren
Editor: Alain Létourneau
Electronic: ISBN: 9789027273161 Pages: Price: U.S. $ 149.00
Electronic: ISBN: 9789027273161 Pages: Price: Europe EURO 99.00
Electronic: ISBN: 9789027273161 Pages: Price: U.K. £ 83.00
Hardback: ISBN: 9789027210333 Pages: Price: Europe EURO 104.94
Hardback: ISBN: 9789027210333 Pages: Price: U.K. £ 99.00
Hardback: ISBN: 9789027210333 Pages: Price: U.S. $ 149.00
Abstract:
This edited volume proposes key contributions addressing the connections
between two important themes: dialogue and representation. These connections
were approached or interpreted in three possible ways: 1. Dialogue as
representation, 2. Normative perspectives on dialogue/representation issues,
and 3. Representations of dialogue. The first interpretation — Dialogue as
representation — consists of exploring dialogue as an activity where many
things, beings or voices can be made present, whether we think in terms of
ideologies, cultures, situations, collectives, roles, etc. The second
interpretation – Normative perspectives on dialogue/representation issues –
leads scholars to explore questions of normativity, which are often associated with the notion of
dialogue, when conceived as a morally stronger form of conversation. Finally,
the third interpretation – Representations of dialogue – invites us to address
methodological questions related to the representation of this type of
conversation. Echoing Bakhtin, contributors were invited to explore the
polyphonic, heteroglot, or dialogic character of any text, discourse or
interaction.
Dec 10
ChRIS CLÉiRIGhannouncements
Commitment
Edited by Philippe De Brabanter and Patrick Dendale
Institut Jean Nicod & Université Paris 4-Sorbonne / University of Antwerp
Paperback
ISBN 978 90 272 2682 2 | EUR 95.00 | USD 143.00
Commitment is a notion widely invoked in speech-act theory, in studies on modality and in dialogue modelling, but it has never been the central topic of a monograph or a collective volume in linguistics. This volume is the very first to bring together researchers from different linguistic traditions and request them to focus on the notion. All the contributions presented here use commitment as a key concept in accounting for a broad range of linguistic phenomena in various languages, from illocutionary acts like assertions and questions to modal expressions, through sentence-types, finite subordinate clauses, concessive markers, tense markers, and even text-types and genres. Each contributor takes pains to explicate his/her understanding of the term commitment, thus making interesting comparisons possible across theoretical boundaries. Some authors also point out potential drawbacks of the notion and argue for replacing or supplementing it with a related concept of involvement.
Dec 10
ChRIS CLÉiRIGhannouncements
Title: Information Structure, Discourse Structure and Grammatical
Structure
Series Title: Belgian Journal of Linguistics 26
Publication Year: 2012
Publisher: John Benjamins
http://www.benjamins.com/
Book URL: http://benjamins.com/catalog/bjl.26
Editor: Bart Defrancq
Editor: Gudrun Rawoens
Editor: Els Tobback
Paperback: ISBN: 9789027226860 Pages: Price: U.S. $ 161.00
Paperback: ISBN: 9789027226860 Pages: Price: U.K. £ 107.00
Paperback: ISBN: 9789027226860 Pages: Price: Europe EURO 113.42
Abstract:
This volume is a collection of papers dealing with the close connection
between discourse and grammar, illustrating the many, sometimes conflicting,
facets of that relationship in various European languages. Central to all
contributions is their focus on diverse aspects of clause combination and on
the various parameters, such as information structure, that have a special tie with clause
combination. Most of the papers are centred around subordination as a
grammatical structure and its status in a discourse. With a few notable
exceptions, subordination has been thought of as part of the discursive
background. This volume adduces convincing evidence from the field of
deictic/anaphoric items, information structure and rhetorical structure in
favour of a more nuanced approach to the status of subordination in discourse.
It also illustrates how rhetorical patterns in discourse give rise, through a
grammaticalisation process, to new interclausal dependencies.
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