In Living Memory, 1999 IDRF Fellow Jillian Cavanaugh investigates the complex question of language and its place at the heart of Bergamasco culture in northern Italy. By integrating extensive participant observation with sociolinguistic data collection, she reveals the political and social dynamics of a dominant national language (Italian) and a local dialect (Bergamasco) struggling for survival. Cavanaugh introduces the original concept of the “social aesthetics of language” – the interweaving of culturally–shaped and emotionally felt dimensions of language choice. Written to be accessible to students and specialists alike, Living Memory makes a significant contribution to linguistic anthropology. Buy from Amazon