The Discursive Construction of the Scots Language

Download or read book The Discursive Construction of the Scots Language written by Johann Wolfgang Unger and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 2013-10-24 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This monograph is about how the Scots language is discursively constructed, both from ‘above’ (through texts such as educational policies, debates in parliament and official websites) and from ‘below’ (in focus group discussions among Scottish people). It uses the interdisciplinary discourse-historical approach to critical discourse analysis to examine what discursive strategies are used in different texts, and also to investigate salient features of context. This allows a broader discussion of the role of this language in Scotland, and how different ways of constructing a language can percolate through society, appearing in both important, elite texts and discussions among ordinary people. It thus contributes to the body of knowledge about contemporary Scots, but also expands the range of possible applications for critical discourse analysis approaches.