Global Linguistic Flow, in Media

Abstract

Through tracing the development and integration of theories related to global “scapes,” hybridity and mimicry, and (re‐)localization, a variety of frameworks for understanding and analyzing global linguistic flows is described. The history of these ideas within linguistic anthropology is discussed, in light of connections to a variety of key concepts (e.g. intertextuality), and various ethnographic case studies are presented to showcase the application of these theories within linguistic anthropological and sociolinguistic research. Through discussions of indigenous and minoritized language media and language usage in online spaces, as well as an in‐depth look at the mobility of popular musical genres (e.g. hip hop), speakers' agency in localizing and creating new linguistic practices and texts is highlighted. Despite an imbalance of power between “world” languages in circulation such as English versus more local languages, global linguistic flows do not necessarily result in the wholescale erasure of local forms. Rather, they may add to the dynamism and transformation of those forms in myriad vital ways, through the provision of generic frameworks as well as linguistic items that may be relocalized to convey unique local meanings.