Indexing Authenticity

Scholars working on language and society have increasingly discussed authenticity, but few have pinned down what it means from a sociolinguistic standpoint. This collection grows out of a conference held in Freiburg, Germany, in November 2011, where researchers debated the question from several angles.

The chapters take up three central questions. What do authenticity and its local meanings look like within broad cultural and social frameworks? What does a sense of linguistic authenticity mean when language is detached from a fixed place or homeland? And how do writing and political speech signal authenticity in other settings where language is used?

Contributors are specialists in sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology and contact linguistics. The book makes no claim to completeness, but it presents many case studies that deepen our grasp of how authenticity is produced and perceived in language.