Distributed Languaging, Affective Dynamics, and the Human Ecology Volume II: Co-articulating Self and World

Language is a vital part of human life, but the traditional definition of language in the language sciences has limited our understanding of it. Thibault's study presents a new perspective on language called the Distributed Language view, which argues that languaging behavior is a bio-cultural organization of process that is embodied, multimodal, and integrated across multiple space-time scales. The book takes a distinctively interdisciplinary approach, relating dialogical theories of human sense-making to the distributed view of human cognition, ecological psychology, and languaging as inter-individual affective dynamics grounded in the subjective lives of selves. The two volumes aim to bring our understanding of human languaging closer to human embodiment, experience, and feeling while also showing how languaging enables humans to transcend local circumstances and dialogue with cultural tradition.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 276 pages
Publication date: 01 August 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Language holds a pivotal position in the intricate tapestry of human existence, yet the confines imposed by the language sciences of the 20th century and the traditions they have inherited may have hindered our comprehensive understanding of what language truly encompasses. In two interconnected volumes, Thibault's study unveils profoundly significant facets of an emerging new perspective shift on language, known as the Distributed Language view. This perspective is gaining increasing international attention and recognition.

The Distributed Language view challenges the traditional notion that the fundamental architecture of language can be localized as a series of interrelated levels of formal linguistic organization, functioning as coded inputs and outputs to each other. Instead, it proposes that languaging behavior is a bio-cultural organization of process that is embodied, multimodal, and integrated across multiple space-time scales. Thibault compellingly argues that we must view human languaging as the distinctive mode through which we become and exist as selves within the broader human ecology, enabling the types of experiences that this entails. Paradoxically, this also necessitates exploring language in non-linguistic ways that transcend the confines of conventional meta-languages used to understand human languaging.

Thibault's book establishes a foundation for languaging in process theory, emphasizing that languaging and the forms of experience it realizes are always events, not static objects we employ. By adopting a distinctively interdisciplinary approach, the book connects dialogical theories of human sense-making to the distributed view of human cognition, to recent insights into distributed language, to ecological psychology, and to languaging as inter-individual affective dynamics rooted in the subjective experiences of selves. Through this lens, the book explores the coordination of languaging within social and ecological contexts, shedding light on the intricate interplay between language, cognition, and the natural world.

In conclusion, language plays a central and multifaceted role in human life. Thibault's study contributes to a transformative shift in our understanding of language by challenging traditional perspectives and embracing a distributed language view. By recognizing language as an embodied, multimodal, and integrated process that spans space and time, we can expand our horizons and explore new avenues for understanding human cognition, experience, and the complex interplay between language and the environment.

Weight: 570g
Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367611903