ST 86 – ECHOES OF RESILIENCE, ARCHITECTURES OF REVIVAL

Abstract

This thematic symposia explores the life cycles of languages across the Caribbean, both insular and continental. The region, with its linguistic diversity shaped by Indigenous, European, African, Asian, and Sign languages, serves as a living laboratory for examining how languages are born, develop, face obsolescence or death, and undergo revitalisation, and for understanding the complex challenges of language documentation and development in such a context. Adopting a decolonial discourse and a linguistic ecology perspective, this symposia views languages as dynamic systems intertwined with socio-political and historical forces, and we highlight the crucial work of language documentation and revitalisation, examining not only traditional strategies but also the transformative potential of digital technologies, and especially community-led approaches.

Coordinator

Jo-Anne S. Ferreira (The University of the West Indies)