Language from Below -The Irish Language, Ideology and Power in the 20th-century Ireland

摘要

The book Language from Below starts with an evocative title that puts the perspective of Caoimhghin O Croidheain clearly in opposition to the vision of language proposed by Saussure who, as Volosinov (1973: 108) argues, analyses it 'from above', from an external point of view considering only the objective side of the linguistic phenomena. On the contrary, the survey presented here touches the relationship between the Irish language and the society in which it has developed involving a wide observation that includes, as the subtitle suggests, ideology, power, nationalism and class struggle. The aim of the book is to examine the role of the Irish language in Irish society from a critical standpoint, trying to discover the reasons for its decline with respect to the English language in spite of some advances in the areas of media and education. The decline of the Irish language is seen as part of globalisation, in which the homogenisations of the markets and of linguistic boundaries have become prominent. Moreover, it demonstrates that the status of the Irish language in Ireland is dependent on the political needs of elites in Irish society. The book critically investigates the relationship between the Irish language and politics, taking into account all the individuals and movements associated with the language. This approach challenges socialist and nationalist perspectives on language and society in Ireland. O Croidheain intends to contribute to a more critical understanding of Irish cultural identity and its connection to the Irish language.