Space, Time and the Construction of Identity: Discursive Indexicality in Cultural, Institutional and Professional Fields

This volume collects the findings of the research developed within the PRIN project 2008, which gathered the Universities of Modena-Reggio Emilia, Bergamo, Florence, Naples and Rome “Sapienza”. The project aimed to further illuminate the nature of communication, both corporate and institutional, with a focus on socio-professional-cultural contexts. Given the consolidated position of English as the international language for communication in business and management, as well as in institutional contexts, this book depicts a wide panorama of interactions where identity, image and reputation are a key focus in creating effective interactions. The main theme of the work is how temporal and spatial meaning representations in language reflect and, in turn, construct these personal, professional and corporate identities. From each chapter different sociolinguistic realities emerge which affect English, as it is used by both native and non-native speakers, especially in the relationship between local or national cultures and the global professional discourse community. In this context not only have domain-specific language features been analysed, but also the communication strategies and interactive patterns at work in how different geo-political cultures construe, manifest and adjust their identities over the course of time and in varying physical, virtual, and cognitive spaces. The six chapters in the first section deal with language in institutional and cultural discourse, whereas the six chapters of the second section consider, in particular, corporate identity in intercultural interactions in on-line encounters. In the compilation of these studies, both quantitative and qualitative methodological approaches to discourse analysis have been carried out.