De-hegemonizing language standards
Subtitle: learning from (post)colonial Englishes about "English"
By: Arjuna Parakrama.
Series: Language, discourse, society
Publisher: Macmillan Press; St. Martin's Press; Palgrave
Published: 1995
Place of publication: Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 216
Subjects: English language -- Commonwealth countries.; English language -- Variation -- Commonwealth countries.; English language -- Standardization.; English language -- Sri Lanka.
Description: Here, an examination of so-called uneducated and otherwise non-standard usage in the Sri Lankan context, including popular cultural and protest writing and speech, shows that Sri Lankans communicate powerfully and creatively in this medium. The legitimization of this practice on the margins leads to a de-hegemonizing of language standards.

What can be seen in the Sri Lankan context is not specific to it, but shown to be typical of all languages in use, and, in an analogous argument, the claim is extended from the narrowly linguistic sphere to the much broader field of discursive practice in general.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 206-211) and index.