New book: Discursive Constructions of Immigrant Identity

Bois, Inke Du (2010): Discursive Constructions of Immigrant Identity. A Sociolinguistic Trend Study on Long-Term American Immigrants. Frankfurt am Main/New York: Peter Lang.

In which way can language be an indicator for cultural identity in immigration contexts? How are collective identity, social networks and the use of the inclusive pronoun "we" connected? Does code-switching in additive bilingualism and first language attrition indicate a loss of home cultural identity? Designed as a longitudinal trend study, this book answers such complex questions. It investigates data collected from interviews with thirty U.S. Americans who immigrated to Germany between 1963 to 2001. On one hand, indepth discourse analyses take the discursive construction of identity through code-switching, narrative structures and deictics within the sociopolitical context of Germany into account. One the other hand, quantitative analysis of lexical attrition, code-switching and the 'we' pronoun show clear correlations with socio-demographic factors such as age at arrival, length of residence, education, and English-related profession.

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