Event overview
The Richard Hoggart Lectures in Literature presents: Deborah Cameron (University of Oxford) '"Britishness","cohesion" and the politics of language: verbal hygiene for the 21st century'
** postponed from 12 February **
Since around 2005, British politicians and media commentators have become obsessed with promoting the English language, both rhetorically and through legislation, as a symbol of national identity and a means of ensuring 'social cohesion'.
By 2012, opinion polls suggested that a large majority of UK residents regarded speaking English as a key indicator of 'Britishness' and an indispensable qualification for living in Britain. Though in many countries this attitude to the national language has a long history, in the UK, for various reasons, it does not.
In this talk I consider what's behind the recent promotion of English as a mark of British identity and unity. Is it addressing a real problem, or is it a form of 'verbal hygiene' (Cameron 2012), where regulating language becomes a symbolic way of dealing with other, nonlinguistic problems and anxieties? I will suggest that it is the latter, and that the anxieties it expresses are about Britain's place in a globalised, multicultural, post-9/11 world.
Biography
Deborah Cameron is Professor of Language and Communication at Oxford University, where she teaches English, Linguistics and Women's Studies. Her books include Verbal Hygiene (Routledge 2012), The Myth of Mars and Venus (Oxford University Press 2007) and Language and Sexuality (with Don Kulick, Cambridge University Press 2003).
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Mar 2014 | 6:15pm - 8:00pm |
Accessibility
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