Speech and the City
Multilingualism, Decoloniality and the Civic University

Explores how cities can offer a counter-weight to hostile attitudes to multilingualism by forging civic identities that embrace diversity.

Yaron Matras (Author)

9781108485708, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 30 May 2024

190 pages
23.5 x 15.9 x 1.5 cm, 0.43 kg

'In 'Speech and the City', Yaron Matras documents his groundbreaking work on the Multilingual Manchester project. The monograph is a refreshing combination of the intimate and the intellectual, taking readers through the many projects which formed part of the eleven-year venture, and allowing them to meet the students, academics, and community members who contributed to the project's success. … 'Speech in the City' is unique in its focus on applied linguistic work rooted in advocacy. It presents the trials and triumphs of conducting academic research for, in, and with communities, and is essential reading for those who are invested in sound, socially minded research.' Guyanne Wilson, Language in Society

The Brexit debate has been accompanied by a rise in hostile attitudes to multilingualism. However, cities can provide an important counter-weight to political polarisation by forging civic identities that embrace diversity. In this timely book, Yaron Matras describes the emergence of a city language narrative that embraces and celebrates multilingualism and helps forge a civic identity. He critiques linguaphobic discourses at a national level that regard multilingualism as deficient citizenship. Drawing on his research in Manchester, he examines the 'multilingual utopia', looking at multilingual spaces across sectors in the city that support access, heritage, skills and celebration. The book explores the tensions between decolonial approaches that inspire activism for social justice and equality, and the neoliberal enterprise that appropriates diversity for reputational and profitability purposes, prompting critical reflection on calls for civic university engagement. It is essential reading for anyone concerned about ways to protect cultural pluralism in our society.

Preface
1. Linguaphobia
2. The city as a multilingual utopia
3. (Re-)claiming knowledge
4. Access and agency
5. Heritage and skills
6. Celebration and citizenship
7. Academic and advocacy
8. The mirage of the civic university.

Subject Areas: Sociolinguistics [CFB]