Roxy Harris and Ben Rampton (eds.), The language, ethnicity and race reader

Extract

Roxy Harris and Ben Rampton (eds.), The language, ethnicity and race reader. London & New York: Routledge, 2003. Pp. x, 357. Pb $38.98.

Harris & Rampton's collection of 25 classic and current articles on language and ethnicity is a welcome tool for the undergraduate-level instructor who requires an astute collection with diverse theoretical and historical perspectives. The introduction guides teachers and students toward theoretical implications of the articles and offers a number of organizational suggestions for how to “read.” The book is first organized into three sections: “Colonialism, imperialism, and global process,” “Nation states and minorities,” and “Language discourse and ethnic style.” In turn, each of the sections proceeds historically along a continuum: premodern → modern → postmodern. For pedagogical purposes, the editors supply a table locating each of the excerpts in its place along this continuum – “a gross oversimplification” to spark debate, for which they hope the readers will take them to task (p. 6).