Salvatore Attardo, The linguistics of humor: An introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020. Pp. 496. Pb. £29.99.

Abstract

Toril Opsahl’s chapter on the limited presence of Polish as a minority language within Oslo’s LL. The issue of using a migrant language, an official language, or both is also present in Michelle Harrison’s chapter on signs in hyperdiverse Leicester, which investigates public and private actors’ motivations for (not) using Gujarati. Luk Van Mensel discusses a square in Brussels being renamed after Congolese politician Patrice Lumumba and explores how changes in the LL can create feelings of inclusion and empowerment for ethnic and linguistic minorities such as Belgium’s Congolese diaspora. Similarly, Robert Blackwood’s chapter on Breton language activists in France shows minority language speakers using direct action to problematise the absence of their language, contest the LL, and empower themselves. Finally, Andry Sophocleous extends the discussion to multidialectism, with preschool teachers in Cyprus empowering their students by allowing them to speak Cypriot Greek as they gradually learn Standard Modern Greek. This volume’s diverse chapters all demonstrate multilingualism’s potential to transform society and empower certain speakers. In their conclusion, the editors rightly point out that work on empowerment is more relevant than ever in today’s world. This excellently edited book not only achieves considerable progress with regards to examining multilingualism and empowerment, but will likely serve as inspiration for future work on these topics—both within and outside of Europe.