Books by E. Dominguez Barajas
Grounded primarily in the ethnography of communication and aligned with the multidisciplinarity o... more Grounded primarily in the ethnography of communication and aligned with the multidisciplinarity of discourse analysis, the book examines the use of proverbs in the daily life of a social network of Mexican-origin transnational families in Chicago and Michoacan, Mexico. Various and detailed analyses of actual proverb use reveal that proverbs in this particular population function as a highly contextualized communicative strategy that serves four discrete social functions: to argue, to advise, to establish rapport, and to entertain. Proposing that the social and cognitive aspects of language use must be combined for a complete understanding of how such genres of language are actually used by regular people in daily life, the author shows how ordinary people use sophisticated cognitive processes to interpret the socially-relevant meanings of proverbs in everyday conversation. The book provides an unusual mix of contextualized discourse analysis that is ethnographic, linguistic, and cognitive, yielding much needed insight into a segment of the Mexican-origin population of the Midwestern U.S., a population whose increasing importance and size is often mentioned, but about which precious few linguistic studies have been conducted.Departing from the conventional approach of ignoring the role of everyday-language use in order to focus exclusively on culture, economics, or migrant patterns, the book makes linguistic practice the central issue, and thus affirms that it is language that weaves together the two distant sites of transnational communities, providing a fertile area for understanding the perspectives of the transmigrants themselves.
Papers by E. Dominguez Barajas
Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 2012
Elías Domínguez Barajas' book is one of the few works by an ethnolinguist concerning proverbs. In... more Elías Domínguez Barajas' book is one of the few works by an ethnolinguist concerning proverbs. In addition to textual, interdiscursive, and speech community issues, he explores educational-societal matters. According to the author, educators' thoughtful application of discursive techniques favored by ethnolinguistic minorities, in this case proverbs for Latinos, can help ensure the academic and professional success of members of these same groups. Proverbs are a nearly universal genre using culturally-specific metaphors. Often proverb research monographs describe proverb use in one location, whether a country, region, or city. Domínguez Barajas instead delves into proverb implementation in discourse among one extended family in their two locations of residence, the farming village of Janácuaro, Mexico and Chicago, U.S.A. Research concerning proverbs has been carried out by various disciplines with no individual field able to claim exclusive rights to the endeavor. Key disciplines in the research of proverbs have included anthropology, cognitive science, folklore, and psychology. Those who have attempted to limit the purview to one primary discipline have been left with a stilted presentation of proverbs. In contrast, Domínguez Barajas affirms and demonstrates a robust interdisciplinary approach to contextual proverb analysis. Topics addressed in the book such as migration, footing, language ideology, and innovation will be familiar to anthropologists. Although the author does not address these topics with these specific anthropological terms, these matters are at the core of his inquiry. Where a contemporary anthropologist would likely look to Asif Agha, Domínguez Barajas takes counsel from the likes of Roman Jakobson. Still, the topics he considers are vital to contemporary linguistic anthropology and its shared efforts with related fields, as described in a recent article by Francis Cody ("Linguistic Anthropology at the End of the Naughts: A Review of 2009" American Anthropologist, 2010:200-207). Building on the work of Jakobson, the author posits three primary functions for proverbs: supporting arguments, teaching the younger generation, and enhancing rapport. There is substantial proverb research addressing the first two functions, but little on the matter of supporting group identity. The author attributes a wide range of subfunctions under "enhancing rapport": overcoming generational gaps (p. 15), reinforcing shared values (p. 17), and expressing solidarity (p. 67). Domínguez Barajas describes the significance of proverb implementation in providing a place for discourse, effectively (re)creating "the social and cultural landscape of its place of origin" (p. 165) whether implemented in that place or a foreign land. Domínguez Barajas begins with an overview and discussion of the transnational network being investigated. He then focuses for two chapters on proverb meaning and use as part of discourse. Here he both affirms the approach of ethnography of speech and more recent explorations concerning intertextuality. Next, he presents two chapters on the cognitive processes involved in understanding and applying proverbs. His two points: 1. intelligence is based on both inborn capacity and learned linguistic competence; 2. proverbs involve high order mental processes similar to those utilized in effective written communication. This section is followed by the author's argument for changes needed in the educational system to bs_bs_banner
The Function of Proverbs in Discourse: The Case of a Mexican Transnational Social Network, 2010
The book examines how thinking, speaking, and interacting influence the construction of meaning a... more The book examines how thinking, speaking, and interacting influence the construction of meaning among interlocutors. Its revelatory analysis of the complex use of proverbs as discursive tools in the daily life of a social network of transnational families based in Chicago and Mexico makes it an important contribution to the fields of discourse studies, rhetoric, literacy theory, and pedagogy.
Many years ago, while wandering through the aisles of a small public library, a book whose title ... more Many years ago, while wandering through the aisles of a small public library, a book whose title I can no longer recall ended up in my hands. The book's general argument also escapes me now, but a scenario described therein stayed with me. Imagine, the author proposed, a prehistoric time, a pristine landscape, and a band of early humans, who can communicate with each other in a more than rudimentary way, moving purposely toward the mountainous range before them. The seasons are changing, and they must follow the migrating herds they hunt in order to survive. Their journey quickly leads them to the foot of mountain where they have to make a choice: should they cross over the snow-covered peak of the mountain, braving the elements and the craggy terrain, or should they take the far longer path around the mountain, braving the wild animals that prey in its deep forests? The author imagined that it was at a moment like this that leaders emerged; each would make the case for one or the other path, and it would be for the rest of their party to choose whom to follow. The author, if I recall correctly, proposed that this was the birth of rhetoric. With their lives in the balance, the stakes of the choice made couldn't be higher, and the leaders, in articulating the reasons for their position, probably each won adherents, which also created factions within the group. Carrying the scenario further, the author proposed that this was probably also how clans emerged, and eventually, with social and biological evolution, so did entire cultural groups.
Ernesto Quiñónez's novel, Bodega Dreams, is presented as an exemplar of contemporary Latino/a wri... more Ernesto Quiñónez's novel, Bodega Dreams, is presented as an exemplar of contemporary Latino/a writers' persistent depiction of ethnic identity as a life-defining social factor. By positing the dialectical opposition of the ethnic to the mainstream as the analytical framework for interpreting the significance of the moral dilemma central to the novel, the argument advanced is that Bodega Dreams instantiates a particular social sensibility tied to ethnicity and character formation that may be referred to as the postmodern ethnic condition, and that the definition of that social sensibility is a permutation of the political project of the fading civil rights era.
Paper presented at the NCTE 2014 Annual Conference addressing the importance of examining and (re... more Paper presented at the NCTE 2014 Annual Conference addressing the importance of examining and (re)covering the personal narrative in writing composition classes at the college level. A critical examination of personal literacy narratives and classroom pedagogy is presented to encourage writing instruction that connects personal experience with public discourses and social policies.
Written Communication, Jan 1, 2007
The study of communicative competence entails the identification of discursive elements that enab... more The study of communicative competence entails the identification of discursive elements that enable communicative intelligibility and involvement in particular linguistic communities (Gumperz 1982, p. 43; Tannen 1989, p. 10). A lack of familiarity with the communicative practices that characterize a linguistic community can often lead outsiders not only to misconstrue the communicative intent of those whose discourse differs from theirs but also to devalue alternate forms of discourse. This is likely to happen when the discursive practices of others are evaluated on the grounds of external communicative standards and conventions.
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Books by E. Dominguez Barajas
Papers by E. Dominguez Barajas