Language and Culture

In 1915, Edmond Laforest, a prominent Haitian writer, stood upon a bridge ,tied a French Larousse dictionary around his neck, and leapt to his death. This symbolic gesture dramatizes the relation of language and culture identity. Language, as a symbol of the cultural reality, is the principal means whereby we conduct our social lives. It is closely related to the way we think,and to the way we behave and influence the behavior of others. Hence even at present time the relationship of language and culture is still one of the most hotly debated issue all around the world.

Although linguistics is already well served with introductory texts which provide a detailed initiation into the discipline of linguistics, this book is designed to serve the need for a more general and gradual introduction of language and provide a large-scale view of different areas of it. To ease people into an understanding of complex ideas, the book is divided into four parts: Survey, Readings, References, and Glossary. The Survey is written to inform readers of the main features of the area of language study concerned: its scope and principles of enquiry, its basic concerns and key concepts. In the Reading, the reader is presented with texts extracted from the specialist literature. There is a selection of works (books and articles) for further reading in the third section of the book, following by an index of certain terms in the Survey appearing in bold. Each title is separate and self-contained, with only the basic format in common.The four sections of the format can be drawn upon and combined in different ways, as required by the needs, or interest, of different readers. In order to illustrate some abstract knowledge throughout the whole book, the author often give readers some examples, such as group discussions or dialogues among people coming from a variety of backgrounds. By comparing the difference showed by the examples, we get to know that culture puts its imprint on the conversational and narrative styles of the members of a social group.

This series of introductions draw a map of the subject area in such a way as to stimulate thought and to invite a critical participation in the explorations of ideas. Such is human nature, that a great many people often contrast culture with nature and language and that is where the author makes a start. What really impresses me is the author’s comment on the double effect of culture on the individual. “Culture both liberates people from oblivion, anonymity, and the randomness of nature, and constrains them by imposing on them a structure and principles of selection.” Most people take the view that culture liberates by investing the randomness of nature with meaning,order,and rationality and by providing safeguards against chaos. However, few of them suppose that it constrains by imposing a structure on nature and by limiting the range of possible meanings created by the individual. Here is the example cited in the book. Once a bouquet of roses has become codified as a society’s way of expressing love, it becomes controversial for lovers to express their particular love without resorting to the symbols that their society imposes upon them. In this case, readers gain a concrete understanding of the way culture places its constraints.

There is a view that linguistic wars are always also political and cultural war, which reveals the intricate relationship between language and politics. It has been argued that the modern nations is an imagined community with elastic boundaries and has relied heavily on print capitalism for its expression and dissemination. This prototype of the modern nation as a cultural entity is, of course, a utopia. But such imaging is tenacious and contributes to what we call an individual’s national ‘identity’. On top of that, the case for linguistic rights has been made particularly strong with regard to the hegemonic spread of English around the world. Much of the discussion surrounding the linguistic rights has been focused on linguistic imperialism. However, it still remains difficult to distinguish what is the effect and what is the cause of it. Moreover, since each language provides a uniquely communal, and uniquely individual, means by which hunan beings apprehend the world and one another, linguistic pluralism is a matter that repays urgent attention.

In short, this series as a whole has been designed to provide access to specialist knowledge and stimulate an awareness of its significance in respect to different areas of language study. The links between language and culture have led readers from a study of signs and their meaning all the way to issues of cultural identity and cultural survival. Equally urgent is the necessity to have a broad map of the terrain sketched out in the study of language and culture, and to honor the marvelous difference and diversity among and within human beings.