Linguistic Anthropology: A Reader, 2nd Edition

Linguistic Anthropology: A Reader is a comprehensive collection of the best work that has been published in this exciting and growing area of anthropology, and is organized to provide a guide to key issues in the study of language as a cultural resource and speaking as a cultural practice. Revised and updated, this second edition contains eight new articles on speech communities, the power and performance of language, and narratives, among others.

Editor Alessandro Duranti's extensive introduction provides an original perspective on the development of the field and highlights its most compelling issues. Each section of the volume includes a brief introductory statement, a set of guiding questions, and a recommended further reading list. The readings are both historically oriented and thematically coherent, and are grouped according to four themes: speech community and communicative competence; the performance of language; language socialization and literacy practices; and the power of language. Duranti has taken care throughout to trace theoretical and methodological connections among different authors and research agendas from anthropology and other disciplines. This is a collection that stands to serve both scholars and students.