Formulaic genres
By: Koenraad Kuiper.
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; Springer
Published: 2009
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 237
ISBN-13: 9780230553521
Subjects: Discourse analysis -- Social aspects; Language and languages -- Variation
Description: Mikhail Bakhtin was right. Humans could not use the languages they know without also learning the genres which govern so much of our social life. These genres frequently consist of rules prescribing the order in which we must say things and formulaic phraseology which prescribes what can and should be said. Native speakers know only a small fraction of the formulaic genres in a speech community. This relativizes the concept of a native speaker in all situations. Koenraad Kuiper illustrates these views with an array of fascinating case studies of engagement notice writers, horse race commentators, weather forecasters, pump aerobics instructors, square dance callers, cartoonists, and Red Guards.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.