Academic literature on the topic 'Linguistic schism'

This chapter investigates the nature of ideological transformation among Wangkatha language consultants in Western Australia, highlighted in the wake of Native Title legislation designed to determine the veracity of Aboriginal claims to land rights. It identifies a schism between the actual and perceived benefits of successful claims, and explores the role of language as it is used by expert witnesses and community members. On-the-ground perceptions about how linguistic practices may be interpreted by a land claim judge influence practice and, potentially, ideology, with a transition from a dialect mesh to an ideologically bounded mosaic, from the prestige of language ownership to the power of language proficiency, and from extreme individual multilingualism to language guardianship. Proficiency in an unchanged, well-bounded traditional language is simultaneously venerated and guarded while traditional ideologies about linguistic identity are overshadowed, at least in the political and legal context.

Recent advances in animal studies have established the widespread use of learned, symbolic communication in the animal kingdom (and hence, of some variety of "language"). Meanwhile, Mechling (1989), has argued that folklore, as shared learned traditions, also exists in non-human animals. Considering that many scholars believe that humans are unique in our ability to tell stories, this schism between human and animal, the story and other folklore, has a great deal to tell us about the outlines and origins of humanity. This chapter seeks to integrate arguments from linguistics, archaeology, folklore, and cognitive science from evolutionary perspectives.