Sociolinguistic Analysis from a Narrativist Perspective: Developments in Studying Language and Society

Language and society are thought to be inseparably interconnected; onthe one hand, the existence of a human language outside of a humancommunity is difficult to imagine, and on the other, a society, to sustainits identity and historical development, directly depends on language.Sociolinguistics is the sub-branch of linguistic studies concerned withsocial factors. A problem in this line of studies is that there arenumerous effective variables that are not genuinely linguistic (e.g.habitual action) but are considerable in sociological investigation. Thisstudy suggests a narrativist approach to sociolinguistic research inwhich a more comprehensive framework incorporates language andsociety. The study explains that narrative: (a) includes both lingualanalysis and identity formation; (b) analyzes motives, action andagency, in line with social events, structures and hierarchy of relations;and (c) describes socio-historical accounts as storylines, without beingconstrained to synchronic linguistic models.

Keywords:

narrative identity , sociology , habitus , worldmaking , social organizations