Thinking about language with Bourdieu

Pointers for social theory in the language sciences

Authors

  • Linus Salö KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/sols.32916

Keywords:

social theory, Pierre Bourdieu, relational thinking, field, habitus, practice

Abstract

This paper presents Pierre Bourdieu's sociological gaze, agenda and toolkit to scholars of language, so as to offer a social theoretical framework within which sociolinguistic questions can be fruitfully investigated. It outlines Bourdieu's dual conception of social life and presents the key thinking tools - field and habitus - with which this dualism can be explored empirically. In addition, it locates work produced at the nexus of sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology where Bourdieusian insights have been productively employed. It also discusses Bourdieu's reputation as a macro theorist, and argues that this image must be supplemented with an understanding of his idea that social reality also has a mode of existence in people's bodies, habitus, and practices. The paper argues that Bourdieu's gaze and thinking tools import with them a solid social theoretical base of the comprehension of human practice, including linguistic practice, which therefore offers some purchase to account for the relationship between the market side of language and its embodied manifestations.

Author Biography

  • Linus Salö, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University

    Linus Salö holds a PhD in Bilingualism from Stockholm University and works currently at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. He is active in a number of fields, including sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology, sociology of knowledge, and history of ideas. His work has featured in outlets such as the Journal of Sociolinguistics, Language and Communication, and Higher Education, as well in edited volumes published by Routledge and John Benjamins. He is also the author of the recently published monograph The Sociolinguistics of Academic Publishing: Language and the Practices of Homo Academicus, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.

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Published

2019-05-02

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Salö, L. (2019). Thinking about language with Bourdieu: Pointers for social theory in the language sciences. Sociolinguistic Studies, 12(3-4), 523-543. https://doi.org/10.1558/sols.32916