Swearing and cursing. Contexts and practices in a critical linguistic perspective. Edited by Nico Nassenstein and Anne Storch. Berlin: de Gruyter Mouton 2021.

Book Review

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.59677/njlc.v16i1.32

Keywords:

Swearing, Cursing, Critical Linguistic Perspective

Abstract

Swearing and cursing are little-recognised and cross-culturally ostracised, but subliminally particularly effective expressions in any language. As the papers in Swearing and Cursing, an anthology edited by Nico Nassenstein and Anne Storch as proceedings of a 2015 convention in Cologne, demonstrate, the two terms imply more than a speech act, though. Verbal snotting, the use of taboo words and its emotion make use of materialities and modalities whose study usefully complements the existing book-length analyses by Magnus Ljung (Swearing: A cross-cultural linguistic Study, 2010) or Timothy Jay (Why we Curse, 2000). It is Jay whom the editors present as the opener to their collection of sixteen articles, giving him room for consideration of the state of arts in Swearingistics and Cursingology.

Author Biography

  • Bruno Arich-Gerz, RWTH Aachen University

    Bruno Arich-Gerz graduated at the University of Cologne and received his PhD. from the University of Constance with a thesis on Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow. He taught German and English studies at the universities of Antwerp, Darmstadt, Cologne, Wuppertal and RWTH Aachen University. His research interests include literary theory, memory culture(s) and Namibian cultures, literatures and linguistic varieties (one monograph, numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, external reviewer RNF, advisory board member Journal of Namibian Studies).

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Published

28-02-2023

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 1 (2022): NAWA Journal of Language and Communication

Section

Articles

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Copyright (c) 2022 Bruno Arich-Gerz

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How to Cite

Swearing and cursing. Contexts and practices in a critical linguistic perspective. Edited by Nico Nassenstein and Anne Storch. Berlin: de Gruyter Mouton 2021.: Book Review. (2023). Namibian Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Communication Studies, 16(1), 131-132. https://doi.org/10.59677/njlc.v16i1.32