Linguistic Representations of Identity. Texts, Contexts, and Methods in Diachronic Perspective

The chapter presents the dynamics of the linguistic relationship between identity and otherness by focusing on languages mainly spoken in the Mediterranean area, taking a predominantly (but not exclusively) diachronic approach. It illustrates the main themes discussed by the papers collected in the volume, that focus on situations of prolonged language contact and the spectrum of consequences they produced both on languages and on the sociocultural settings in which contact took place. In the chapter, identity is taken to mean the social positioning of self and other as realized in specific historical and cultural settings. This process can be achieved through linguistic strategies and the selection and/or mixing of linguistic codes used within a specific repertoire. The research presented in this chapter and carried out in the book rests upon two basic assumptions, firstly that speakers and writers of all historical periods commonly resort to identity markers in their communicative exchanges in order to express, maintain and negotiate the linguistic representation of themselves or of their interlocutors. Secondly, in the reception of discourses and texts, hearers and readers can identify identity markers independently of the speakers’ or writers’ will. Different types of documents can furnish evidence of such identity linguistic dynamics.