Introduction to Regimenting Postcolonial Multilingualism: Discourses of Speaker/Listener Ideological Positioning

Abstract

This introduction explores ways of understanding multilingualism in relation to coloniality, with insights from ethnographic case studies in former colonies across several continents. We argue that this theme series advances theorization of the subtleties of power inherent in multilingual discourse with a focus on listening subject agency as speakers negotiate postcolonial, racialized regimentations. The series contributions show how ideological regimentation in postcolonial multilingual societies is co‐constitutive of speaker and listener positioning, and that it recurs within, not only against, previously colonized communities. After an overview of sociolinguistic, applied linguistic, and linguistic anthropological literature, we summarize the main concerns of the theme series articles and consider their common themes. Drawing on the prisms of listening subjects and semiotic processes, we discuss how the authors analyze data showing social actors cross‐culturally engaging in intentional linguistic choices, language boundary‐making dialogue and translanguaging, spotlighting social inequality, political economy, and racism in the data.