ETHNOLINGUISTICS (ADVANCED COURSE)

The course is part of the related or additional studies of the master’s degree program in Cultural Anthropology, Ethnology, Anthropological Linguistics and is compulsory for all curricula. It aims to provide the knowledge required for reflecting and operating on language and languages from an anthropological point of view, with particular attention to the topic of writing and its relationship with thought, culture, and society.

By the end of the course, students are expected to be able to rigorously frame the question of the relationship between languages and cultures in light of the anthropologically salient linguistic phenomenology. Specifically, students are expected to acquire a general knowledge of the history, theories, methods, and fields of application of Ethnolinguistics and a thorough knowledge of the socio-cultural functions which writing can assume in the human groups. Students are also expected to acquire the ability to expose issues and problems relevant to Ethnolinguistics using appropriate terminology.

The course requires basic knowledge of general linguistics. These notions will be recalled during the classes for those who have not previously attended a basic linguistic course. As an alternative, the reading of G. Berruto, M. Cerruti, La linguistica. Un corso introduttivo, Torino, 2017 (chapters 1-5) is suggested. The course also requires the ability to understand English written texts and a good knowledge of the Italian language for foreign students.

The first part of the course will cover the following general contents: the history of Ethnolinguistics; the relationship between language and culture; the social dimension of language; the communicative dimension of language; culturally significant functions and uses of language. The second part of the course will focus on writing and specifically on its definition, on different types of writing systems, on the cultural and social uses of writing, as well as on the question of the relationship between writing and thinking.

1. Reference manuals
G. R. Cardona, Introduzione all’etnolinguistica, Novara, 2006 (sections 3.1.1, 3.2.2, 3.2.3, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 7.4, 8.2, 8.3, 8.5).
M. Mancini, B. Turchetta (eds.), Etnografia della scrittura, Roma, 2014 (chapters 3 and 6).

2. Further readings
2.1. Language and culture
F. Boas, Handbook of American Indian Languages, I, Washington, 1911, pp. 5-83.
E. Sapir, The Status of Linguistics as a Science, in «Language» 5, 1929, pp. 207-214.
B. Malinowski, Coral Gardens and their Magic, II, London, 1935, pp. 3-74.
B. L. Whorf, The relation of habitual thought and behavior to language, in Language, Culture, and Personality, Menasha, 1941, pp. 75-93.
C. Lévi-Strauss, L’analyse structurale en linguistique et anthropologie, in «Word» 1, 1945, pp. 1-21.
C. Lévi-Strauss, Linguistics and Anthropology, in Results of the Conference of Anthropologists and Linguists, Baltimore, 1953, pp. 1-10.
K. L. Pike, Language in Relation to a Unified Theory of the Structure of Human Behaviour, The Hague-London, 1967, pp. 1-7.
B. Berlin, P. Kay, Basic Color Terms, Berkeley-Los Angeles, 1969, pp. 1-45.
N. B. McNeill, Colour and colour terminology, in «Journal of Linguistics» 8, I, 1972, pp. 21-33.
D. Hymes, Foundations in Sociolinguistics. An Ethnographic Approach, Philadelphia, 1974, pp. 1-65.
T. Regier, P. Kay, Language, thought, and color: Whorf was half right, in «Trends in Cognitive Sciences» 10, 2009, pp. 439-446.
I. Krupnik, L. Müller-Wille, Franz Boas and Inuktitut Terminology for Ice and Snow: From the Emergence of the Field to the “Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax”, in I. Krpupnik, C. Aporta, S. Gearheard, G. J. Laidler, L. Kielsen Holm (eds.), SIKU: Knowing Our Ice, Dordrecht, 2010, pp. 377-400.
P. Wolff, K. J. Holmes, Linguistic Relativity, in «Cognitive Science» 2, 3, 2011, pp. 253-265.

2.2. Writing
Claude Lévi-Strauss, Tristes tropiques, Paris, 1955, pp. 337-349.
J. Goody, I. Watt, The Consequences of Literacy, in «Comparative Studies in Society and History» 5, 1963, pp. 304-345.
J. Derrida, Nature, culture, écriture. La violence de la lettre de Lévi-Strauss à Rousseau, in «Cahiers pour l’Analyse» 4, 1966, pp. 7-50.
K. H. Basso, The Ethnography of Writing, in R. Bauman, J. Sherzer (eds.), Explorations in the Ethnography of Speaking, Cambridge, 1974, pp. 425-432.
W. J. Ong, Orality and Literacy, New York, 1982, pp. 77-114.
E. A. Havelock, The Muse Learns to Write, New Haven-London, 1986, pp. 98-116.
G. Sanga, Scrivere tessere tracciare, contare cantare sognare. Tre postulati su scrittura, lingua e pensiero, in «La Ricerca Folklorica» 31, 1995, pp. 107-131.
A. Perri, Evento linguistico vs evento scrittorio: verso un nuovo modello, in «Rivista di Psicolinguistica applicata» 7, 2007, pp. 125-145.
G. Sanga, Antropologia della scrittura. Origini e forme, in M. Mancini, B. Turchetta (eds.), Scrittura e scritture: le figure della lingua, Roma, 2009, pp. 13-66.
K. M. Petersson, M. Ingvar, A. Reis, Language and Literacy from a Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective, in D. R. Olson, N. Torrance (eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Literacy, Cambridge, 2009, pp. 152-181.
N. Limerick, Kichwa or Quichua? Competing Alphabets, Political Histories, and Complicated Reading in Indigenous Languages, in «Comparative Education Review» 62, 1, 2017, pp. 103-124.

Further bibliographical references will be given for those interested in studying specific writing systems.

Learning will be assessed through an interview. The interview will focus on four general topics, which will be selected by the teacher:
- one from Introduzione all’Etnolinguistica (sections 3.1.1, 3.2.2, 3.2.3, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 7.4, 8.2, 8.3, 8.5);
- one from Etnografia della scrittura (chapters 3 and 6);
- one from the further readings concerning Language and culture (2.1);
- one from the further readings concerning Writing (2.2).
It should be noted that the further readings will be framed and discussed during the lessons.
In particular, mastery of the topics, ability in presentation, and terminological adequacy will be taken into account for evaluation.

Classroom-taught classes with the help of presentations for reading and commenting on excerpts selected from the further readings list.

Italian

On-line texts:
Boas 1911 https://archive.org/details/handbookamerica00fracgoog/
Sapir 1929 https://www.jstor.org/stable/409588
Malinowski 1935 https://archive.org/details/coralgardensandt031834mbp
Whorf 1941 https://www.jstor.org/stable/42581315
Lévi-Strauss 1945 https://doi.org/10.1080/00437956.1945.11659244
McNeill 1972 https://www.jstor.org/stable/4175133
Regier – Kay 2009 https://www1.icsi.berkeley.edu/~kay/tics2.pdf
Krupnik – Müller-Wille 2010 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226206215_Franz_Boas_and_Inuktitut_Terminology_for_Ice_and_Snow_From_the_Emergence_of_the_Field_to_the_Great_Eskimo_Vocabulary_Hoax
Wolff – Holmes 2011 http://psychology.emory.edu/cognition/wolff/papers/Wolff%20Holmes%202011.pdf

Goody e Watt 1963 https://www.jstor.org/stable/177651
Deridda 1966 http://cahiers.kingston.ac.uk/pdf/cpa4.1.derrida.pdf
Sanga 1995 https://www.jstor.org/stable/1480040
Petersson – Ingvar – Reis 2009 https://pure.mpg.de/rest/items/item_60209_8/component/file_60210/content
Limerick 2017 https://www.academia.edu/38496830/Kichwa_or_Quichua_Competing_Alphabets_Political_Histories_and_Complicated_Reading_in_Indigenous_Languages

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