Mother Tongues

Languages are systems of communication, but they are also social institutions, ideological battlegrounds, instruments used to homogenize populations, define citizenship, and create social hierarchies. In this seminar, we discuss language as part of the social, cultural, and political machinery that enabled the rise of the nation-state, linguistic colonialism, hybrid identities and multilingualism in the 21st century. We approach language as social practice, raise critical awareness of the ways in which language is linked to cultural value and national identity, and deconstruct the notions of linguistic authority and nativism.