Social Sciences and Sociolinguistics: Disciplines, Alternatives, Conversations and Criticisms
Type de matériel :
51
This paper examines two major challenges faced by sociolinguistics, that of making itself heard beyond its historic disciplinary inscription, and that of its ability to make sense of the knowledge produced outside of its field–knowledge required to understand linguistic phenomena in society. These challenges highlight a tension at the very heart of disciplinary logics; they certainly allow for the production of legitimate and in all likelihood structured knowledge, but otherwise they create constraints that prevent and influence the very production of this knowledge. We examine these challenges by looking at the complex relationships that sociolinguistics has with the social sciences. We show how the disciplinary inscriptions of sociolinguistics inform knowledge production, its limits, and, more specifically, the uncertainty of the positioning of sociolinguistics in relation to the social sciences. We outline initiatives, alternatives to departmental or disciplinary structures, that represent areas of productive contact between language sciences and the social sciences. Finally, we look at the temporary eradication of disciplinary logics and the way in which intellectual convergences invite us to broaden our understanding of both social matters and linguistics.
Réseaux sociaux