inter-stratal tension

Context in the System and Process of Language

Jul 06

ChRIS CLÉiRIGhbook publication No Comments

Title: Context in the System and Process of Language
Subtitle: Volume 4
Series Title: The Collected Works of Ruqaiya Hasan

Publication Year: 2016
Publisher: Equinox Publishing Ltd
http://www.equinoxpub.com/

Book URL: https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/context-system-process-language-collected-works-ruqaiya-hasan-vol-4/

Author: Ruqaiya Hasan
Editor: Jonathan Webster

Hardback: ISBN:  9781904768395 Pages: 512 Price: U.S. $ 100
Paperback: ISBN:  9781904768401 Pages: 512 Price: U.S. $ 40

Abstract:

The concept context of situation introduced by Malinowski some eighty years
ago has now become an essential element of the vocabulary of any linguistic
theory whose aim is to reveal the nature of language. With the abandonment of
the spurious distinction between competence and performance, the process of
language, i.e., language use, has claimed its rightful place in the study of
language. The chapters of this book focus on the relations of context and
text, conceptualising the latter as language operative in some recognizable
social context. It is argued that context is not simply a backdrop for the
occurrence of words; rather, it is an active element which on the one hand
plays a crucial role in the progression of human discourse and on the other
enters into and shapes the very nature of language as process and as system,
furnishing the foundation for functionality in language. Acting as the
interface between language and society, context analysis reveals the power of
language for creating, maintaining and changing human relationships.