Interaction of discourse and space

We tend to view language, discourse as abstract. Some people go so far as to claim that sticks and stones may break your bones, but words cannot hurt you. Is this true though?

Well, any scholar of discourse, as well as most people who have been targets of hate speech; who have been marginalised, disenfranchised, and/or disadvantaged as a result of popular and/or institutional discriminatory politics; as well as those people who wield power and occupy positions of advantage in our societies would know better than to be fooled by such a misconception.

Language, and more specifically discourse, are among the main means through which we affect the world. From expressing speech acts (which are maybe the most literal way language affects the world); to creating, modifying, and disseminating ideas and ideologies that then govern what actions persons, groups, and societies take; discourse is central to how we explain, affect, and transform the world around us; both in it’s physical form, as well as in it’s metaphysical form: ideas, memories, histories, perceptions.

In the context of studying privileged, majoritised identity discourses, then, with the study of the interaction of discourse and space, I intend to convey an interest in what role discourse plays in affecting and transforming the spaces we inhabit, as well as in forming the various perceptions of such spaces that different people hold. These spaces are the various social spaces available to us: from those in the material world, such as homes, cafés, schools, to those that are arguably not, such as social media, disciplines of scholarship, or identity groups, for example, hipsters.

On the flip side, of course, these spaces affect our discourses and ideologies. Spaces have histories and existing occupants, spaces are often contested by multiple groups that claim ownership or seek equal access. Often there’s a pre-existing set of perceptions that are common about a space; some flattering, some not as much. All these and similar are also within the scope of the study of interaction of discourse and space.

This research agenda then, basically, is about how discourse and space continually influence each other; an influence, as we just said, that flows bidirectionally. Within this framework, I am mainly interested in those interactions that relate to privileged and/or majoritised identity discourses. This entails such topics as gentrification, linguistic and semiotic landscapes, language ideologies, and more.