The Business of Words

Wordsmiths, Linguists, and Other Language Workers

Crispin Thurlow

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English

Routledge
12 August 2019

Language: history & general works; Sociolinguistics; Communication studies

The Business of Words examines the practices of ‘high-end’ language workers or wordsmiths where we find words being professionally designed, institutionally managed, and, inevitably, objectified for status and profit.

Aligned with existing work on language and political economy in critical sociolinguistics and discourse studies, the volume offers a novel, complementary insight into the relatively elite practices of language workers such as advertisers, dialect coaches, publishers, judges, translators, public relations officers, fine artists, journalists, and linguists themselves. In fact, the book considers what academics might learn about language from other wordsmiths, opening a space for ‘dialogue’ between those researching language and those who also stake a claim to linguistic expertise and a way with words.

Bringing together an array of leading international scholars from the cognate fields of discourse studies, sociolinguistics, and linguistic anthropology, this book is an essential resource for researchers, advanced undergraduate, and postgraduate students of English language, linguistics and applied linguistics, communication and media studies, and anthropology.

Edited by: Crispin Thurlow
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
Weight: 354g
ISBN: 9781138485266
ISBN 10: 1138485268
Pages: 210
Publication Date: 12 August 2019
Audience: College/higher education , General/trade , Primary , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Crispin Thurlow is Professor of Language and Communication in the Department of English at the University of Bern, Switzerland.

Reviews for The Business of Words: Wordsmiths, Linguists, and Other Language Workers

'In 1956, the French philologist Marcel Cohen suggested that language practices could usefully be understood as a form of work. Finally, decades later, we have a volume which takes up this idea seriously, exploring what language work/language as work tells us about questions of value, the social construction of reality, and social inequality in contemporary conditions. You won't look at a keyboard - or a pen - the same way after you have read this book.' Monica Heller, Editor of the Journal of Sociolinguistics 'This pioneering volume on the production of high-end wordsmithery explores previously unengaged aspects of the political economy of language. In detailed examinations of the work of journalists, PR writers, marketers, linguists, and others, we see their word-craft in ways that clarify their critical and often invisible roles as semiotic brokers.' Bonnie Urciuoli, Hamilton College (Emeritus), USA