Abstract
Working within and against various concepts of hospitality and guest/host relationships, we propose a framework for analysis of both linguistic in/hospitality and linguistic in/civility, outlining the tensions that arise between guest and host languages. At the macro level, linguistic in/hospitality arises from feelings associated with language use, and legitimate participation in various host/guest communities of linguistic practice, such as the use of English or French by recent immigrants who associate this language with [military] betrayal, with colonization of their country of origin, or with neo-colonialism represented by capitalism. At the meso-level, linguistic in/hospitality may be found at the level of discourse: news reports, social media, and other forms of public education that both create and reflect social and cultural norms and send clear messages about individual or social identities (e.g., those referenced by “MAGA supporters” or “anti-vaxxer”). At the micro-level, in/hospitality may reside in layers of complex respectful language usage that have been added in living memory including non-racialized language, or the use of gender-neutral terms such as “pregnant people” instead of “expectant mothers”. Also at the micro-level, we find linguistic in/hospitality in interpersonal discourses requiring facility with nuanced language resulting in micro-aggressions. Our purpose is twofold: (1) to initiate conversations about linguistic in/hospitality at micro, meso, and macro-levels of analysis, and (2) to then raise questions about the responsibilities of those in higher education contexts to ensure that everyone has access to the new rules governing dangerous words and acceptable speech.
Presenters
Sandra KouritzinDistinguished Professor, Education, University of Manitoba, Manitoba, Canada Nathalie Piquemal
Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba, Manitoba, Canada
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Communications and Linguistic Studies
KEYWORDS
Linguistic in/civility, Linguistic in/hospitality, Analytic framework
