On Being a Linguist and Doing Linguistics: Negotiating Ideology through Performativity

摘要

In this paper I explore and contrast the multiple positions available to me as a linguist, bothwithin the academy and in the communities where I do fieldwork. These domains makequite different demands on me in my professional practice. In my experience, transitioningbetween these domains can be challenging, since the assumptions about my identity androle are divergent and often conflicting. I use the concept of performativity to identify thedifferent positions I enact and which are attributed to me in each of these roles. I suggestthat rather than seeing a binary division between academia and community, it may be usefulto conceive of our work with communities as occurring in a third space that is sharedby members of the relevant community, but which is distinct from the community per se.Such a distinction provides space for both linguists and communities to negotiate the extentto which ideas, methods, and ideologies from one field are expected to infiltrate another.The advantage of such a model is that it allows everyone involved to recognize and, whereappropriate, engage with the frameworks of others. This facilitates a richer understandingof the forces at play in language development work and allows competing priorities a placein the process.