Subjectivity, Language and the Postcolonial: Beyond Bourdieu in South Africa

Description

In Subjectivity, Language and the Postcolonial, Hannah Botsis draws on theoretical work that exists at the intersection of critical social psychology, sociolinguistics and the political economy of language, to examine the relationships between language, subjectivity, materiality and political context. The book foregrounds the ways in which the work of Bourdieu could be read in conjunction with ‘poststructural’ theorists such as Butler and Derrida to offer a critical understanding of subjectivity, language and power in postcolonial contexts. This critical engagement with theorists traditionally from outside of psychology allows for a situated approach to understanding the embodied and symbolic possibilities and constraints for the postcolonial subject. This exploration opens up how micro-politics of power are refracted through ideological categories such as language, race and class in post-apartheid South Africa. Also drawing on the empirical findings of original research undertaken in the South African context on students’ linguistic biographies, the book offers a unique perspective – critical social theory is brought to bear on the empirical linguistic biographies of postcolonial subjects, offering insight into how power is negotiated in the postcolonial symbolic economy. Ideal for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students on courses including social psychology, sociolinguistics, sociology, politics, and education, this is an invaluable resource for students and researchers alike. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Preface Introduction Language in South Africa A focus on youth Decolonising language in higher education Theoretical frameworks Geography of this book 1 Subjectivity, identity and language Language and languages Identity and subjectivity Identity and authenticity Identity as belonging Linguistic repertoires Language and subjectivity in context Conclusion 2 The symbolic economy The symbolic and the material The symbolic economy Bourdieu’s theory of fields The relationship between the material and symbolic Forms of capital 3 The paradox of subjection Habitus Habitus, the symbolic economy and change Interpellation The discontinuity of power Conclusion 4 Subjectivity in the postcolonial symbolic economy Prosthetic interpellation Subjectivity and colonial languages The South African educational symbolic economy 5 Subjectivity, language and the South African symbolic economy Introduction The symbolic economy of Wits ‘Authentic’ blackness Ignorant whiteness Accentedness Conclusion Conclusion Bourdieu on the particularity of colonialism and the postcolonial Universalising theories of the subject and historical particularity Theories from the South South Africa’s contested futures Acknowledgements Index