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Register via Eventbrite here:

On Tuesday 18^th May, 2pm BST, all are welcome to attend a workshop led by Professor Eric Anchimbe (University of Bayreuth), for an instalment in the series named “Centring Anti-Racist Scholarship in the Linguistics Curriculum”, which will continue discussions around linguistic and racial justice in the Department. In this particular series, Professor Anchimbe will be presenting research within the framework of Postcolonial Pragmatics. This field aims to decentre Western-based theories of pragmatics to explain the strategies utilised by postcolonial communities to build and maintain relationships, express identity, commit to group and societal cohesion, and respect a culture of collectivism. As Anchimbe and Janney (2011: 1451) explain, “at the turn of the 20^th century, territories under colonial rule accounted for about 30% of the world’s population”, which now constitute “uniquely complex, hybridic communication environments that differ markedly from the kinds of social environments generally studied in pragmatics”.

The workshop will begin with a talk by Professor Anchimbe on Postcolonial Pragmatics. The talk will then be followed by a workshop discussion on actions that we could take to centre anti-racist scholarship in the linguistics curriculum, not only within the field of pragmatics but also across other fields within and outside of linguistics. It is clear, as students, staff, and researchers, that we must come together to ensure that equality is at the forefront of our message, and that we act to combat racial injustice, both in our classrooms and in the research we conduct.

All students, researchers, and staff members are welcome to attend, regardless of your Department of study, particularly as the aim is to be as interdisciplinary in our discussions as possible.

Abstract: Details to follow.

 

Professor Anchimbe’s biography (from the English Linguistics Department at the University of Bayreuth):

Eric A. Anchimbe is an Associate Professor for English Linguistics at the University of Bayreuth. He is a Principal Investigator in the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence and the Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies (BIGSAS) both at the University of Bayreuth. He is the author and editor of several books on varieties of English, identity construction, language policy and pragmatics. His current research focuses on the pragmatics of Postcolonial Englishes (using the framework, Postcolonial Pragmatics, he and Richard Janney introduced), sociolinguistics, World Englishes and political discourse. His recent monograph, Offers and Offer Refusals: A Postcolonial Pragmatics Perspective on World Englishes (2018, Benjamins), fills a gap in the meagre literature on pragmatics of African Englishes.

Schedule of the afternoon (BST):

2.00 – 2.50pm: Talk by Prof. Anchimbe: Postcolonial Pragmatics

2.50 – 3.20pm: Q&A following the talk

3.20 – 3.30pm: Comfort break

3.30 – 4.30pm: Workshop discussion – Centring Anti-Racist Scholarship in the Linguistics Curriculum. Feel free, in this discussion, to link back to anything that Professor Anchimbe discussed in his talk, and the field of Postcolonial Pragmatics.

Please send any questions for Professor Anchimbe to Sophie Whittle (swhittle2@sheffield.ac.uk). If you have any questions about the event’s organisations, please feel free to email Sophie.

Further resources (also cited above):

Anchimbe, E. & R. Janney (2011) ‘Postcolonial pragmatics: An introduction’, Journal of Pragmatics, 43: 1451-1459