The characteristics, nature, and content of the language used in the public sphere of various Western and non-Western societies are examined in this collection of essays. They also analyze the functions language plays in the polity and the link between culture, political culture, and the language that politicians and the public use in their symbolic interaction. This work details and examines the characteristics, nature, and content of the language used in the public sphere of various Western and non-Western societies; the functions language plays in the polity; and the link between culture, political culture, and the language that politicians and other elites, as well as the public, use in their symbolic interaction. The essays describe and analyze the topic of political language from different perspectives—political science, psychology, philosophy, sociology, gender studies, economics, religious, public administration, mass communication, and linguistics. Essays examine the discourse of political press reports and TV interviews, political orations and election propaganda, legalistic, political-philosophic, and religious treatises. Throughout it provides an overview of the state of the art of political language, utilizing various research methods and disciplines.

This book comprises a range of general discussions on tradition and innovation in the methodology used in discourse studies (Pragmatics, Discourse Analysis, Argumentation Theory, Rhetoric, Philosophy) and a number of empirical applications of such methodologies in the analysis of actual instances of language use in the public sphere - in particular, discourses arising in the context of the debate on the presence of religious symbols in public places.

The essays in this volume represent a cross-section of current scholarship examining the implications of the concept of Öffentlichkeit (the public sphere), originally conceived by the German philosopher Jürgen Habermas in the early 1960s, in his socio-historical study Strukturwandel der Öffentlichkeit (The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere). The contributions herein add to the discourse surrounding an evolving public sphere using diverse perspectives to explore a variety of contexts in which this concept appears and reappears. For almost forty years, the Southeast Conference for Languages, Literatures and Film (SCFLLF) has been a premier platform for the discussion and dissemination of the latest scholarship in the Humanities, with emphasis on non-English area studies. The current volume showcases some of the most impactful papers originally presented at the 25th SCFLLF, held in Asheville, North Carolina, in March of 2023.

In this broad-ranging text, Peter Dahlgren clarifies the underlying theoretical concepts of civil society and the public sphere, and relates these to a critical analysis of the practice of television as journalism, as information and as entertainment. He demonstrates the limits and the possibilities of the television medium and the formats of popular journalism. These issues are linked to the potential of the audience to interpret or resist messages, and to construct its own meanings. What does a realistic understanding of the functioning and the capabilities of television imply for citizenship and democracy in a mediated age?

This is a definitive introductory text to modern sociolinguistics that looks at the study of language and society through the concept of identity. It uses these sociolinguistic constructs of identity to tie together current concepts and methods in the field, offering a full overview of the discipline, both past and present. Deckert and Vickers adopt an interdisciplinary approach, introducing work from a variety of fields that examine sociolinguistic data, from linguistics to anthropology, sociology, psychology and education. The book moves from looking at language varieties and globalization to a close examination of language in social interaction, covering the concepts of ideology and power. Throughout, the authors offer keen insight into all of the topics, issues and methods that students of language and society will need to understand. The chapters contain a range of pedagogical features, including key terms, study questions, chapter summaries and further reading. This is an essential new text for all those studying contemporary sociolinguistics, suitable for undergraduates and postgraduates alike.

This book discusses the extent to which the theoretical relevance and analytical rigor of the concept of the public sphere is affected by current processes of transnationalization. The contributions address fundamental questions concerning the viability of a socially and politically effective public sphere in a post-Westphalian world.