linguistic form and social action , mdia vol . 13 the editorial staff of michigan discussions in anthropology , vol . 13 , are pleased to announce the publication of " linguistic form and social action " . with this issue of michigan discussions in anthropology we join linguistically oriented anthropologists and anthropologically attuned linguists who have , since the days of sapir and malinowski , regarded language as constitutive of culture . we believe , however , that although linguistic terminology has become part of our common critical language , too often it merely serves as metaphor . theorists may deploy it to explain macro cultural phenomena but bypass the opportunity to examine linguistic form . in the past decade the call has come again to create a theoretical site encompassing fine-grained linguistic analysis and the broader concerns of cultural anthropology , in which grammar plays a key role in structuring social fields . the papers in mdia volume 13 , contributed by junior and senior scholars with ties to the linguistic anthropology program at the university of michigan , explore this set of issues from a range of theoretical and methodological perspectives . this volume is edited by graduate students affiliated with linguistic anthropology at the university of michigan . the program , established by the department of anthropology in 1990 , emphasizes the ethnographic analysis of language within the larger context of social theory . we seek to preserve the sense in which language is simultaneously a formal system and one which is pragmatically deployed . central to this mission is a belief that the core concerns of cultural anthropology , increasingly involving the analysis of 'd iscourse , ' ' representations , ' and 's ocial action , ' must also integrate analysis of linguistic form . the papers in this volume integrate linguistic data and ethnographic description and demonstrate rich microanalysis while attending to the larger cultural context and to history . while the articles stand on their own as examples of a new synthesis of approaches to the study of linguistic form and social action , we also hope that as a whole this volume will provoke further discussion of the theory and practice of linguistically-oriented anthropology and ethnographically-influenced linguistics . for ordering information , please respond to this email , or visit : http : / / www-personal . umich . edu / ~ jherron / mdia13 . html contents " introduction " jennifer dickinson and mandana limbert " married to dukha : discourse analysis of a newar woman 's narrative of suffering " laura kunreuther " the power of the drunk : humor and hegemony in china 's tibet " char makley " ritual language and social memory in a chinese secret sworn brotherhood " jean debernardi " do you want to go forward ? turn back ! etymology as national defense in the ' new ' europe " penelope papailias " sounding country in urbanizing texas : private speech in public discourse " barbara johnstone " purity and power : the geography of language ideology in ukraine " laada bilaniuk " pearls on the string of the chinese nation : pronouns , plurals , and prototypes in talk about identity " susan blum " on the dialogic emergence of ' resistance ' : participation framing and collusion in a prison exit interview " james herron " negotiating meaning with the least ( collaborative ) effort " lesley milroy " time , not the syllables , must be counted ' : quechua parallelism , word meaning , and cultural analysis " bruce mannheim
