The essays in this volume raise some pertinent questions with regard to the complex issues that arise when plural cultures meet the monolithic structures of administration and policy that are the inevitable outcomes of the aspirations of the nation state.

By looking closely at the multilingual democracies of India, France and the USA, Harold F. Schiffman examines how language policy is primarily a social construct based on belief systems, attitudes and myths. Linguistic Culture and Language Policy exposes language policy as culture-specific, helping us to understand why language policies evolve the way they do; why they work, or not; and how people's lives are affected by them. These issues will be of specific interest to linguists specialising in multilingual/multicultural societies, bilingual educationalists, curriculum planners and teachers.

This revised and expanded edition provides a comprehensive overview of comparative Indo-European linguistics and the branches of the Indo-European language family, covering both linguistic and cultural material. Now offering even greater coverage than the first edition, it is the definitive introduction to the field. Updated, corrected, and expanded edition, containing new illustrations of selected texts and inscriptions, and text samples with translations and etymological commentary Extensively covers individual histories of both ancient and modern languages of the Indo-European family Provides an overview of Proto-Indo-European culture, society, and language Designed for use in courses, with exercises and suggestions for further reading included in each chapter Includes maps, a glossary, a bibliography, and comprehensive word and subject indexes

From the late Michel de Certeau comes an essential engagement with multiculturalism and identity politics. De Certeau stresses that anyone attempting to understand contemporary societies in the West must grasp the already-existing diversity that outflanks elitist conceptions of the "national group". He argues compellingly that old ideas of social unity have no relevance in the diverse societies of today.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1949.

Polyglot Cinema brings together a diverse group of scholars from Europe, Canada and the US, resulting in a dynamic account of plurilingual migrant narratives in contemporary films from France, Italy, Portugal and Spain. In addition to the close analysis of key films, the essays cover theories of translation and language use as well as central paradigms of cultural studies, especially those of locality, globality and post-colonialism. The volume marks a transdisciplinary contribution to the question of cultural representation within film studies.