24 - Linguistic anthropology and critical theory

Summary

This chapter is meant to characterize the core theoretical claims of linguistic anthropology while, simultaneously, critiquing the cultural logic underlying its practices of claim-making. It takes a critical look at theory in the discipline of linguistic anthropology by foregrounding its dependence on certain moves in critical theory. The chapter summarizes a dozen or so relatively axiomatic commitments of linguistic anthropologists. Many of the core moves aren't from linguistic anthropology proper, but have been adopted by linguistic anthropologists from other fields, making our discipline seem like an incredibly stream-lined device for sieving wheat from chaff. Like many other disciplines, linguistic anthropology has traditionally been interested in two particular modes of mediation. The chapter discusses four complications in detail: framing, embedding, disturbances, and meta-mediation. Linguistic anthropology has taken up as its foundational axiom Boride's famous claim that practice mediates both structure and ideology which themselves mediate practice.