Shared Languages, Shared Identities, Shared Stories

Download or read book Shared Languages, Shared Identities, Shared Stories written by Doris Schüpbach and published by Peter Lang. This book was released on 2008 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores how 15 immigrants from German-speaking Switzerland in Australia make sense of their migratory experience, of building a new life in a different language. It does so by examining their written and oral life stories. The analysis takes two complementary perspectives: Firstly, the construction of language identities is studied through the language practices and attitudes discussed and displayed by the participants. Secondly, the ways in which they create coherence in their life stories focuses on autobiographical identities where language is a medium of sense-making across their life course. The combined perspectives highlight the diversity among the participants and the complexities of language and identity construction in the context of migration.