The multilingual family – from a domain to a space
In sociolinguistics, the family has been considered a private domain that sets parameters for, and thus constrains, how one uses and chooses language with family members (Fishman 1991). Implicit in this approach is the conception of the family as a set of relationships within the space of the home. The notion of the family as a private domain can be critically discussed and indeed challenged in light of theoretical approaches to the study of space. Space is conceived as dynamic and continually negotiated among various social actors with different discursive power, material constraints, and spatial practices. Rather than being fixed entities, social units or structures are conceived as dynamic and emergent in social interaction. Families construct themselves, their family identity, through many ways and language plays an important role in this construction. In other words, who is considered ‘family’ is negotiated through language practices, through interactional discourse. The very dynamic and complex nature of ‘stretched’ transnational families brings in the necessity to envisage the family as a space, social in nature, as opposed to a domain. The family can be conceptualized as a space, not constrained by geography or physical presence, in which meaning and relationships are negotiated through linguistic and semiotic resources, that is, the multilingual repertoire.
In my talk, I will discuss the notion of the family as space negotiated through discourse and materiality. I will discuss the transnational family as a space for language (learning) and how this space has become public in the current digital age. I will draw on examples from media discourses, studies of family language policies and practices, and on online parental blogging sites for multilingual families, which offer new opportunities for addressing issues surrounding the social construction of multilingual parenting and family language policy. I will conclude by framing the study of family and language within the wider field of multilingualism.
About the seminar
The aim of this seminar is to support M2 and PhD students interested in the use of language practices in contexts such as the family, school, work, health or justice, traversed by issues of power and inequality. An important place is given to relevant methodological approaches and theoretical frameworks (interactional sociolinguistics, critical sociolinguistics, sociology of language, discourse analysis, linguistic anthropology, political anthropology etc.) and to the circulation of knowledge from varied geographical areas and academic traditions in order to link the study of language practices with contemporary socio-anthropological and political issues.
With the support of the Inalco Doctoral School and UMR SeDyL.