Book review: Anna De Fina and Gerardo Mazzaferro (eds), Exploring (Im)mobilities: Language Practices, Discourses and Imaginaries

Abstract

established power of Putin’s propaganda machine to provide a space for resistance. Throughout, then, power is variously expressed, negotiated and resisted. Particularly relevant to academic culture, Tannen reflects on her surprise that what she, as a professor, regarded as informal friendliness in emails is often interpreted by students as impolite, demonstrating that a communicative move ‘intended to show solidarity or create connection can come across as ― and simultaneously be ― an expression of power’, and vice versa (p. 66). Tannen uses this to remind scholars to be wary of assuming only one interpretation of an utterance or non-verbal expression. Following Tannen’s observation of polysemy, Marmorstein’s subsequent chapter showcases the variety of meanings of the Arabic yaʕni (‘it means’) and Hebrew borrowing, ya’ani, in different communicative and cultural contexts to convincingly show that discourse markers and their contexts ‘co-shape each other’ (p. 85). Meanwhile, in Chapter 8, Ehrlich highlights the need for researchers to attend to the semiotic ideologies of participants, as this is ‘crucial in understanding how representing something through images or language has an impact on meaning’ (p. 133). Clearly, participants’ perspectives and contextual factors must be attended to, as these can challenge and expand the researcher’s existing knowledge to provide a more nuanced view of how semiotic resources are received. Overall, this edited collection is an important contribution that further supports Schiffrin et al.’s (2015: 5) proclamation that ‘the vastness and diversity of discourse analysis is a strength rather than a weakness’. Of course, more contexts and approaches can always be suggested. However, considering its inevitable spatial limitations, the collection effectively balances methodologies, theories, datasets, languages and modalities to provide a nuanced showcase of the diversity and interdisciplinarity of discourse analysis as a field. Scholars and students from any disciplinary background will be able to benefit from this collection, which should be able to push readers beyond their own established niche to consider the depth and breadth of what studying discourse can mean.