International Linguistics Research

A Sociolinguistic View of Globalization

Manar Almanea — Wed, 04 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0800

The present study offers an analysis of the effects of globalization from a sociolinguistic point of view. It attempts to discuss the tremendous effects of globalization on societies and languages. The major characteristics of globalization as noticed nowadays are excessive communication (through language of course) and increased mobility all around the world. Therefore, the study elaborates on the consequences of globalization in two basic dimensions, people's mobility (migration and ease of traveling), and language mobility (which resulted in the development of English as an international language). The discussion strongly suggests that many of the established sociolinguistic phenomena become questionable in the current era of globalization. Several issues about languages and societies such as dialects and lingua franca appeared to require further sociolinguistic examination and a sustainable definition. In its dynamism of change, the future of the sociolinguistics of globalization will continue to raise an array of questions and concerns.

A Psychoanalytic Reading of Ahmed Saadawi's Novel Frankenstein in Baghdad

Mohammad Ahmad Mostafa Al-Leithy — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0800

Ahmed Saadawi’s novel Frankenstein in Baghdad provides a distinct exposure of the psychic ailments (disorders) that engulf almost all of the characters in the novel. Even though they are not themselves aware of the problem, the characters in the novel suffer from split psyches, traumas they cannot deal with and knots they cannot resolve. The novel shows, to quote T. S. Eliot, but “a heap of broken” (Ellmann 459) psyches. Such is a phenomenon that blights contemporary Iraqi personality in general and can, in a sense, be termed collective unconscious (Bressler 127) (Note 1). The novel is, thus, a representation of what can be dubbed psychic fractures that have befallen the Iraqi character, noticeably ensuing the American invasion of Iraq that took place in 2003, the aftermaths of which the Iraqi people is still undergoing. Importantly, despite being an essential facet of the novel and an indispensable venue to understanding the characters this aspect has escaped the attention of critics and researchers alike.