Language, Politics, and Social Interaction in an Inuit Community
Author | : Donna Patrick |
Publisher | : Walter de Gruyter |
Total Pages | : 269 |
Release | : 2003 |
ISBN-10 | : 3110176521 |
ISBN-13 | : 9783110176520 |
Rating | : 4/5 (21 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: Since the early 1970s, the Inuit of Arctic Quebec have struggled to survive economically and culturally in a rapidly changing northern environment. The promotion and maintenance of Inuktitut, their native language, through language policy and Inuit control over institutions, have played a major role in this struggle. Language, Politics, and Social Interaction in an Inuit Community is a study of indigenous language maintenance in an Arctic Quebec community where four languages - Inuktitut, Cree, French, and English - are spoken. It examines the role that dominant and minority languages play in the social life of this community, linking historical analysis with an ethnographic study of face-to-face interaction and attitudes towards learning and speaking second and third languages in everyday life.