Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Space and Language in Conceptualizing Identity

  • Published:
Topoi Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss the conceptualization of space as a dimension relevant to personal identity and the central role that is attributed to language with respect to its constitution. It is argued that the identification with a certain geographical space and the use of (a) certain language(s) or linguistic variety can be regarded as crucial for the self-definition of individuals and also groups. We pursue a threefold goal: (1) to highlight the contribution of geographical research to our understanding of the self as a phenomenon situated in space; (2) to discern merits, but also problems related to the recent strong emphasis of the role of language with respect to identity constitution, especially in constructivist and poststructuralist approaches; and (3) on the basis of these findings, to draw conclusions concerning the given and constructed elements of identity, with a particular focus on space and language. In addition to a survey of relevant theoretical positions, empirical examples are presented with the aim to illustrate how geographically marked identity is constituted.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allen R (ed) (2007) The Penguin English Dictionary. Penguin Books Ltd, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Auer P (ed) (2007) Style and social identities. Alternative approaches to linguistic heterogeneity. Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Baquedano-López P (2001) Creating social identities through doctrina narratives. In: Duranti A (ed) Linguistic anthropology: a reader, 1st edn. Blackwell, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Beinhoff B, Rasinger SM (2016) The future of identity research. Impact and new developments in sociolinguistics. In: Preece S (ed) The Routledge handbook of language and identity. Routledge, Abingdon/Oxon, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Berg-Sørensen A, Holtug N, Lippert-Rasmussen K (2010) Essentialism vs. constructivism: introduction. Distinktion Scand J Soc Theory 11(1):39–45

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhabha HK (1994) The location of culture. Routledge, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Blommaert J, Spotti M, Van der Aa J (2017) Complexity, mobility, migration. In: Canagarajah S (ed) The Routledge handbook of migration and language. Routledge, London New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Bright W (1985): Introduction. The dimensions of sociolinguistics. In: Bright W (ed.) Sociolinguistics. Proceedings of the UCLA Sociolinguistics Conference, 1964. Mouton & Co, The Hague/Paris

  • Buchholtz M, Hall K (2004) Language and identity. In: Duranti A (ed) A companion to linguistic anthropology. Blackwell, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Bühler K (1982/1934) Sprachtheorie. Die Darstellungsfunktion der Sprache (Theory of Language. The representative function of language). Mit einem Geleitwort von Friedrich Kainz. Stuttgart/New York: Fischer. – Ungekürzter Neudruck.

  • Burke M, Harrop K (1994) Selling the industrial town: identity image and illusion. In: Gold JR, Ward SV (eds) Place promotion: the use of publicity and marketing to sell towns and regions. Wiley, Chichester

    Google Scholar 

  • Claval P (1998) An introduction to regional geography. Blackwell Publishers, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Coseriu E (1979) Das Phänomen der Sprache und das Daseinsverständnis des heutigen Menschen. In: Coseriu E (ed) Sprache: Strukturen und Funktionen. XII Aufsätze zur allgemeinen und romanischen Sprachwissenschaft, 3rd edn. Narr, Tübingen

    Google Scholar 

  • Crystal D (2010) The Cambridge encyclopedia of language. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • De Fina A (2006) Discourse and identity. In: De Fina A, Schiffrin D, Bamberg M (eds) Discourse and identity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Diewald G, Kresić M (2012) Objectivizing subjectivity: Person deixis and the constitution of dialogic identity (with an example of German discourse data). In: Baumgarten N, DuBois I, House J (eds) Subjectivity in language and discourse. Emerald Publishing (Studies in Pragmatics series), Bingley

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards J (2009) Language and identity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Erikson EH (1966) Ich-Entwicklung und geschichtlicher Wandel. In: Erikson EH (ed) Identität und Lebenszyklus. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt/M

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuerst-Bjeliš B (2000) Toponimija i pecepcija u prostoru Triplex Confiniuma: Morlakija (Toponymy and perception in the area of Triplex Confinium: Morlacchia). Radovi Zavoda Za Hrvatsku Povijest 32(33):349–354

    Google Scholar 

  • Gast V (2006) The grammar of identity. Intensifiers and reflexives in Germanic languages. Routledge, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Gontier N (2018) Cosmological and phenomenological transitions into how humans conceptualize and experience time. Time Mind 11(3):325–335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helleland B (2009) Place names as identity markers. In: Ahrens W, Embleton S, Lapierre A (eds) Proceedings of the 23rd International Congress of Onomastic Sciences. York University, Toronto

  • Janich N, Thim-Mabrey C (eds) (2008) Sprachidentität – Identität durch Sprache. Narr, Tüningen

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaufmann J-C (2015) Die Erfindung des Ich. Eine Theorie der Identität. UVK, Konstanz

    Google Scholar 

  • Klika D (2012) Identität — ein überholtes Konzept? Z Erzieh 3:285–304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kresić M (2006) Sprache, Sprechen und Identität. Studien zur sprachlich-medialen Konstruktion des Selbst. Iudicium Verlag, München

  • Kresić M (2009) Language as the Medium of the Multifaceted Self. In: Miller D, Pano R, Pano A (eds) La geografia della mediazione linguistico-culturale. Quaderni del CeSLiC - Atti di convegni CeSLiC - 2, Bologna. http://amsacta.cib.unibo.it/2742/

  • Kresić Vukosav M, Vukosav B (2020) Identität in Sprache und Raum. In: Behr J, Conrad F, Kornmesser S, Tschernig K (eds) Schnittstellen der Germanistik. Festschrift für Hans Bickes. Peter Lang, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Kučan A (1999) Cultural landscapes as symbols of national identity – protection or change? Agric Conspec Sci 64(4):259–268

    Google Scholar 

  • Lasan F (2016) Prostorni obuhvat i identitet tradicijske regije Dalmacije (Spatial extent and identity of the traditional region of Dalmatia. Thesis, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Science, Zagreb

  • Marković I, Fuerst-Bjeliš B (2015) Prostorni identitet kao pokretačka snaga razvoja turizma: komparativna analiza regija Bjelovara i Čakovca (Spatial identity as a driving force in tourism development: comparative analysis of the Bjelovar and Čakovec regions). Hrvatski Geografski Glasnik 77(1):71–88

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merriam-Webster (2020) Identity politics. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/identity%20politics. Accessed 25 Nov 2020

  • Merriam-Webster (2021) Region. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/region . Accessed 30 Jan 2021

  • Milroy L (1991) Language and social networks. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford/New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Mirošević L (2011) Tvorbeni elementi prostornih identiteta u Dalmaciji (južnoj Hrvatskoj) (Formative Elements of Spatial Identities in Dalmatia (Southern Croatia)). Doctoral thesis, University of Zadar, Department of geography, Zadar.

  • Mirošević L (2012) Dalmacija kao historijsko-geografska i vernakularna regija (Dalmatia as a historical-geographic and a vernacular region). In: Mirošević L, Graovac Matassi V (eds) Dalmacija u prostoru i vremenu: što Dalmacija jest, a što nije. pp 7–10

  • Morgan MH (2014) Speech communities. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Nash D, Simpson J (2012) Toponymy: recording and analyzing placenames in a language area. In: Thieberger N (ed) The Oxford handbook of linguistic fieldwork. Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Norton B (2013) Identity and language learning: extending the conversation. Multilingual Matters, Clevedon/Buffalo/Toronto

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Paasi A (1986) The institutionalization of regions: a theoretical framework for understanding the emergence of regions and the constitution of regional identity. Fennia 164:106–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paasi A (1991) Deconstructing regions: notes on the scales of human life. Environ Plan A 23:239–256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paasi A (2003) Region and place: regional identity in question. Prog Hum Geogr 27(4):475–485

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peters E (2014) What’s in a name? Toponyms as Linguistic Data for Historical Comparisons (thesis). Haverford College, Department of Linguistics. https://scholarship.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/bitstream/handle/10066/16880/2015PetersE.pdf?sequence=2

  • Preece S (ed) (2016) The Routledge handbook of language and identity. Routledge, Abingdon/Oxon, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Relph EC (1976) Place and placelessness. Pion, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Stipčević A (1977) The Illyrians: history and culture. Noyes Press, Park Ridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Tuan Y (1977) Space and place: the perspective of experience. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis

    Google Scholar 

  • URL1. https://www.dalmacija.hr/novosti/clanak/artmid/1766/articleid/1085/„hajduk“-obilježio-65-godina-obnove-kluba . Accessed 1 Dec 2020

  • URL2. https://www.dalmacijanews.hr/clanak/vz0i-karamarko-hajduk-je-simbol-dalmacije-ne-volim-kad-ga-potkradaju?fb_comment_id=1174934459213751_1174995859207611 . Accessed 1 Dec 2020

  • Vukosav B (2012) Dalmatinska zagora – formalni i vernakularni elementi definiranja tradicijske regije (Dalmatinska zagora – formal and vernacular elements of defining a traditional region). Doctoral thesis, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Science, Zagreb

  • Vukosav B, Fuerst-Bjeliš B (2016) Labels of interest groups as indicators of a vernacular region: a case study in Croatia. Tijdschr Econ Soc Geogr 107(4):454–467

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weedon C (1997) Feminist practice and poststructuralist theory. Blackwell, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Wenger E (1998) Communities of practice: learning, meaning, identity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Zelinsky W (1980) North America’s vernacular regions. Ann Assoc Am Geogr 70(1):1–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zimmerbauer K (2011) From image to identity: building regions by place promotion. Eur Plan Stud 19:243–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zotzmann K, O’Regan JP (2016) Critical discourse analysis and identity. In: Preece S (ed) The Routledge handbook of language and identity. Routledge, Abingdon/Oxon, New York

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, University of Zadar, Ulica dr. Franje Tuđmana 24i, 23000, Zadar, Croatia

    Branimir Vukosav

  2. Department of Linguistics, University of Zadar, Trg kneza Višeslava 9, 23000, Zadar, Croatia

    Marijana Kresić Vukosav

Authors
  1. Branimir Vukosav
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Marijana Kresić Vukosav
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Branimir Vukosav.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Vukosav, B., Kresić Vukosav, M. Space and Language in Conceptualizing Identity. Topoi 41, 471–482 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11245-021-09777-8

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11245-021-09777-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation