Language as Hope

by Daniel N. Silva, Jerry Won Lee

Overview

Although it feels like we live in a time of seeming hopelessness, this pioneering book illustrates what language can teach us about the practice, logic, and feasibility of hope in the twenty-first century. Silva and Lee highlight how people living in Brazilian urban peripheries, who have grown accustomed to unrelenting prejudice and violence on an everyday basis, use language to survive and imagine futures that are worth aspiring to. In so doing, this book foregrounds how language becomes a matter of survival for these communities. It provides a thorough theorization of how language can produce conditions of hope, moving away from the idea of language merely as a tool of communication and toward something that can meaningfully impact social realities. Innovative and engaging, it is essential reading for researchers and students in applied linguistics, sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781009306546
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	08/28/2025
Pages:	199
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 1.25(h) x 9.00(d)

About the Author

Daniel N. Silva is a professor at the Universidade Estadual de Campinas – Unicamp, Brazil. His research focuses on language, violence, and hope in Rio de Janeiro's favelas.

Jerry Won Lee is a professor at the University of California, Irvine. His other books include Locating Translingualism (Cambridge University Press, 2022).

Table of Contents

List of Figures; Acknowledgements; Notes on the Text; Introduction; 1. Language as Hope; 2. 'País do Futuro' and Present-Day Communities of Hope; 3. Hope in the Present; 4. The Enregisterment of Hope; 5. Scaling Hope; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

‘Consider the variety of language-games we play: forming and testing hypotheses; making up stories; offending; humiliating … hoping. This volume argues compellingly for the centrality of language in the study of hope. By focusing on those who dare to hope amidst all forms of contemporary violence, it will certainly provide deep sources of inspiration to imagine new paths forward.' Branca Falabella Fabrício, Associate Professor, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

‘With rare theoretical and ethnographic finesse, Silva and Lee show that hope isn't merely expressed through language. Language is itself a reason for hope – a form of practical reasoning with which speakers regenerate shattered worlds. Hope, thus, must be a prime focus of sociolinguists' attention if we want to understand how lives are lived against the vicious forces of capital and neoliberalism. This book enlivens sociolinguistics and makes one feel hopeful about its future.' Rodrigo Borba, Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

‘Language as Hope creatively fuses new literatures in sociolinguistics with insights forged by ‘citizen sociolinguistics' in Brazilian favelas. Its careful argumentation and bold confrontation of the politics of oppression and despair challenge scholars to join their interlocutors in creating more just, hopeful worlds.' Charles L. Briggs, author of Unlearning: Rethinking Poetics, Pandemics, and the Politics of Knowledge

‘Through this account, Silva & Lee demonstrate how language provides a unique perspective to understand hope as both the reason and resource for social change. Their work teaches us about hoping in hopelessness and how researchers can trace this process through individuals’ most intricate and high-stakes social pursuits.’ Yunpeng Du, Language in Society

From the Publisher