Context Counts

"Robin Lakoff's work is inspirational. Just read her captivating, reflective Afterword to understand why. Using a distinctive personal and often passionate voice from her earliest articles in the 1970s, she has consistently enriched and deepened linguistic analysis with insightful social and political perspectives when many were heading in a very different direction. Her perceptive analyses of the interaction of gender and power in particular have been a consistent theme throughout. I was lucky enough to be one of those who heard her voice and loved her writing from the first, and I have continued to do so through to the present, an exciting intellectual and socio-political journey which is reflected very satisfyingly in this "attractive, substantial and tasty" linguistic treasury of her work."--Janet Holmes, Emeritus Professor of Linguistics, Victoria University of Wellington "This book finally allows insight into the amazing intellectual trajectory of Robin Lakoff by covering the huge range of her work across so many relevant fields of Linguistics, Pragmatics, Feminist Linguistics, and Sociolinguistics. The selected papers manifest the enormous range of expertise and knowledge acquired over many years. Robin Lakoff's innovative and dedicated scholarship will continue to inspire students and academics alike. A must-read!"--Ruth Wodak, Emeritus Professor, Distinguished Professor and Chair in Discourse Studies, Lancaster University/University Vienna "Robin Lakoff is brilliant. In this breathtaking body of work spanning several decades, she demonstrates the analytical power of the social scientist and the interpretive strength of the humanist brought together to provide insight after insight into how language works and how it shapes and takes shape from the human experience. If you are in any way interested in modern linguistics - in the intersection of language theory and language use - and in how to view the world through a lens that embraces women as well as men - this is a must read."--Janet L. Holmgren, President Emerita, Mills College and former Susan Mills Professor of English; Author (Janet Holmgren McKay) of Narration and Discourse in American Realistic Fiction (1982) and co-author with Spencer Cosmos of The Story of English (1986). "This collection provides a window into the brilliant mind of Robin Tolmach Lakoff, one of the most important linguists of our current era. The articles reprinted here, each revolutionary in its own right, are as bold and relevant now as they were at the time of their first publishing. These are elegant essays, crafted by a scholar and public intellectual who has transformed our understanding of semantic, pragmatic, and sociopolitical meaning."--Kira Hall, Associate Professor of Linguistics and Anthropology, University of Colorado "This collection of Lakoff's work will be indispensable for those interested in Lakoff's ideas, those seeking a diachronic study of her work, or those interested in the history of pragmatics and gender. The writings pay particular attention to Lakoff's debt to Grice's maxims and concepts of politeness and how intercultural syntax depends on cultural context. Selected from Lakoff's most important works, the selections are introduced and contextualized by contemporary scholars who explain and annotate each selection's purpose and place in time. These works reaffirm Lakoff's importance in linguistic history by demonstrating how far the field has come and how obvious many earlier ideas now seem." --R. Shapiro, City University of New York, Choice