Psychic and Ethical Dimensions of Language Loss1

Bibliographic Data

ID3609718
AuthorsPaola Bohórquez (Russian State Agrarian Correspondence University, corresponding author)
Year2009
Volume30
Issue2
Pages157-172
Publication date2009-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Intercultural Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0725-6868 • E-ISSN: 1469-9540
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/07256860902766966
OpenAlexW2070571338
LanguageEN
References cited17

This paper examines the structural and contextual registers of the experience of language loss in the process of translingual subject formation. Using the psychoanalytic theory of bereavement, the paper argues that the psychic and social obstacles against mourning one's monolingual condition foster melancholic formations that manifest as recalcitrant enclavism in the language of origin or furious monolingual assimilation into the host language. In examining the socio-cultural conditions that hinder or facilitate the work of mourning, the paper proposes that productive bereavement of language loss requires some form of intersubjective witnessing. Accordingly, I explore the potential of translingual texts and performances to both provide viable models of identification for mourning linguistic injury and to increase our social awareness of the challenges entailed in commuting between languages

Linguistics · Psychic · Psychoanalysis · Psychoanalytic theory · Sociology · Computer Science · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Multilingual Education and Policy · Names, Identity, and Discrimination Research · Philosophy · Psychology

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