I’ve been using these three readings in my class and I thought others might find them interesting in discussions on metaphors (and a range of other topics on language use). I think these are applicable in a lot of the different 309s (and 306s), not just mine on language and identity. And these readings have generated lots of interesting discussion in my class. You may already have come across these, but if not take a look. These can also serve as a spring board for evaluating the way language is being used with respect to other current events.

Haberman discusses the importance of naming and labeling and what words mean and how they’re used in the Middle East political arena. Tannen talks about how battle metaphors are used in our culture, how we depict debates as two-sided and the implication this has on our perception of events. Santa Ana analyzes the metaphor “immigration as dangerous waters”, which continue to be used in the debates on immigration.

I’ve included the original sources below, but all of these are reprinted in Walters and Brody. Walters, Keith and Michal Brody. 2005. What's language got to do with it. NY, NY: Norton.

Haberman, Clyde. 2001. "In the Mid-East this year, even words shoot to kill," New York Times, 5 August.

Santa Ana, Otto. 2002. Immigration as Dangerous Waters: The Power of Metaphor In Brown tide Rising: Metaphors of Ladinos in Contemporary Public Discourse. University of Texas Press.

Tannen, Deborah. 1998. Introduction. In The Argument Culture: Moving from Debate to Dialogue. Random House.