Language, Society and Power: An Introduction (review)

The express purpose of the book is to provide students with an introduction to the ways in which language not only reflects but also empowers existing structures within society. To accomplish this goal, the authors take particular care to integrate relevant examples from British and American newspapers and magazines. Although a perusal of the sources reveals that only two of the twelve were in fact American, the book nevertheless succeeds in bringing to light many of the ways in which language reinforces already existing power structures within American and British society.

For example, in the chapter dealing with ‘Language and politics’, pertinent examples from British newspaper texts are provided on the British Labour Party. In an effort to make their point however, the sometimes overtly cynical tone of writing is such that students might be tempted to believe that all politics is rubbish and propaganda—a point which may be argued among academics but which could lead to unnecessary complacency and defeatism rather than critical consumption of information among younger readers. In comparison, the chapter on ‘Language and the media’ is much more forgiving and provides an interesting discussion on the role of language in radio, television, and newspapers. Given the importance of the internet today, however, it would also have been interesting had this form of media been included as well.

The part of the book which focuses on the effects of language use and minority groups is rather good. The chapter ‘Language and gender’, for example, is convincing, clearly making the point that sexist language prescribes the roles of both women and men. To substantiate this assertion, however, the authors could have given common examples of sexist language use which negatively affect men (e.g. to manhandle vs. to abuse and mothering vs. parenting). Further, much more time could have been given to exploring gender and speech patterns, particularly given the recent attention this topic has received in the nonacademic press. Instead, the authors spend their efforts exploring such well-worn topics as the use of girl vs. woman or Miss vs. Ms. Although such topics continue to be of importance, it must be remembered that thanks to the work of past generations, there is much more sensitivity to these issues among younger generations, and the perpetual recycling of such examples (and research) may inadvertently give the impression that sexist language is no longer a problem today. The same criticism can be made of the book’s handling of the topic ‘Language and ethnicity’. By comparison, the chapter on ‘Language and age’ was rather refreshing. Indeed, given the fact that many of the people reading this introduction will be young, it was an excellent decision to include a discussion on some of the ways in which younger people are privileged in our society and how language may perpetuate negative stereotypes about aging and the aged.

This book is a well-structured and well-written reference which encourages students not only to understand the material presented to them but also to see the ways in which language use affects their everyday lives. It would, therefore, be of interest not only to students who are native speakers of English but also to those advanced students who have English as either a second or a foreign language.