This project intends to investigate the relationship between language and history from an interdisciplinary perspective, bringing together researchers in sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology, historical sociolinguistics, language teaching, and history. It focuses in particular on “historic and socially situated moments” to which the description and analysis of language practices must be anchored. The goal is to propose interpretations and explanations of linguistic phenomena that account for broader social dynamics across both spatial and temporal dimensions (Heller 2002, p. 9).
Through interdisciplinary dialogue, the project seeks to examine how such historical moments are, or ought to be, integrated into sociolinguistic description and analysis. In other words, it aims to elucidate why and how historical elements are incorporated, thereby raising the fundamental question of the role of history in the study of languages in society: which histories are mobilized, in what ways (as object, perspective, discourse, etc.), and for what purposes. This, in turn, prompts a critical reflection on how our understanding of past events informs and shapes our interpretations of contemporary language dynamics.
Heller, M. (2002). Éléments d’une sociolinguistique critique. Éditions Didier.