Toward a Bourdieusian theory of multilingualism

Abstract

ABSTRACT Attempts at the definition of multilingualism range from the structuralist interpretation as the coexistence of multiple codes to the critical sociolinguistic efforts to go beyond the idea of languages as fixed entities. The author’s purpose is to explore the suitability of Pierre Bourdieu’s model of linguistic production and circulation to account for the phenomenon of multilingualism. Central to this endeavor are the linguistic biographies of five second-generation British-Arab multilingual immigrants based in Cardiff, Wales. Starting from the idea that in Cardiff primarily linguistic practices with English are dominant, the question that arises refers to the immanent sociohistorical conditions and power relations that allow these agents to produce linguistic practices with Arabic, apart from English. The analysis of the interviews through the Bourdieusian conceptual lenses allows a focus on the linguistic habitus of the multilingual interviewees, which is defined as an integral set of linguistic dispositions adapted not only to the multiple linguistic markets they are part of, but also to the unbalanced power relations among such markets. These results demonstrate that an adapted version of the Bourdieusian model allows for a complex redefinition of multilingualism from the perspective of the immanent power relations under which this phenomenon emerges.