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The first decade of the new millennium has
witnessed tremendous challenges, changes and innovations in
various disciplines of knowledge. The main reason for this, one
may argue, is globalisation and the inevitable impact it has had
on humanity in general, and on knowledge in particular. Its
forceful impact has also given rise to a phenomenon known as
glocalisation, which may be seen as its antithesis, to check the
imbalance in knowledge transfer from the West. |
The rise of these opposing forces has created new
realities and given rise to issues of negotiations, appropriations as
well as border-crossing phenomena in many areas of knowledge. Indeed,
these are significant realities and issues which have been centre-staged
in various academic forums, including those on language (linguistics and
literature) and culture.
In the area
of language, a millennium reality that has become a global concern is
the status of the English language as a “global language”. No longer the
exclusive property of the British or the Americans, the English language
has transcended borders and developed into new hybrids or “glocal” forms
after negotiating the local languages and cultures. This scenario which
exemplifies language contact in action clearly demonstrates that
linguistic negotiations, appropriations and indeed changes are not
one-way. In addition, it also affects language use, pedagogy, identity,
culture etc. In this regard, where Asia is concerned, the effect and
impact of English on local languages, and their linguistics and cultures
are new realities that require further research and understanding.
Yet another
millennium reality which requires close scrutiny is the rise in
cross-disciplinary work especially in the field of linguistics and
literature. As regards linguistics, specific areas such as Critical
Discourse Analysis has defied borders and formed close associations with
Media Studies in order to show how the language of the media distorts
reality and reinforces certain prevailing assumptions of the world,
those that pertain to gender, class, ethnicity and minority groups.
By the same token, literature is studied using ideas drawn from a number
of critical theories. It is also no longer studied on its own but in
tandem with Film and Cultural Studies. New ideas and perspectives that
have been generated have enabled the exploration of refreshing themes
such as the search for identity, the perils of ethnic politics and the
complexities of nation formation, which also happen to be the central
concerns of new writings in English in Asia. These realities and
transformations have also impacted the field of Translation and they
require further investigation. The new realities, changes and
innovations discussed above provide the impetus for ICLLIC 2010. The
conference hopes to convene academics, researchers and educators to
deliberate and debate on emerging matters and approaches in Linguistics,
Literature and Culture, particularly in Asia, as well as their
implications on research, theory and pedagogy.
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