Dr. Rita Vallentin

Monographien:

- (2019): Language and Belonging. Local Categories and Practices in a Guatemalan Highland Community. Berlin: Peter Lang (=Sprachliche Konstruktion sozialer Grenzen: Identitäten und Zugehörigkeiten / Linguistic Construction of Social Boundaries: Identities and Belonging, Band 4). 

Herausgeberschaften:

- (in Planung) mit Dorothea Horst: Sprache entgrenzen. Beiträge zu einer kulturwissenschaftlichen Linguistik. Berlin: Transcript.

- mit Jungbluth, Konstanze / Savedra, Mônica (2022): Language.Belonging.Politics. Impacts for a Future of Complex Diversities. Baden-Baden: Nomos.

- mit Rosenberg, Katharina  (2012): Norm und Normalität. Beiträge aus Linguistik, Soziologie, Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaften. Berlin: Logos.

Aufsätze und Buchbeiträge:

- (2023, in Vorbereitung) "Körper – Technik – Diabetes. Selbstwahrnehmung von Patient*innen bei der Nutzung von Diabetes-Technologie. Ergebnisse einer Interviewstudie mit Menschen mit Typ-1-Diabetes", Diabetes Congress Report, Mainz: Kirchheim Verlag.

- (2023) "Pragmatic functions of humor in Berlin’s directive Covid-19 Signs". Pragmatics and Society 14:2, Special Issue The interpersonal functions of public signs during the Covid-19 pandemic edited by Eva Ogiermann, pp. 234–256.

- (2022) "Language Contact in the Triad of Language - Belonging - Politics". In: Jungbluth, Konstanze/Savedra, Mônica/Vallentin, Rita Tamara (eds.), Language.Belonging.Politics. Impacts for a Future of Complex Diversities. Baden-Baden: Nomos, pp. 13–34.

- (2022) "Introduction". In: Jungbluth, Konstanze/Savedra, Mônica/Vallentin, Rita Tamara (eds.), Language.Belonging.Politics. Impacts for a Future of Complex Diversities. Baden-Baden: Nomos, pp. 7–10 (mit Konstanze Jungbluth).

- (2021) "Ambiguities of space and place. Making sense of the rural/urban divide in interaction". In: Mancini, Bruna/Maiorani, Arianna (Hrsg.), Space and Place as Human Coordinates: Rethinking Dimensions across Disciplines. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars, pp. 45–63 (mit Dominik Gerst und Concha Maria Höfler).

- (2020) "Constructing non-ethnic community belonging on grounds of spatial affiliation: The local adverb aquí in a Guatemalan community". In:  Carsten Levisen, Eeva Sippola (eds.): The Pragmatics of Place: Colonial and Postcolonial Perspectives. Journal of Postcolonial Linguistics, 2, pp. 67–84. Download: https://iacpl.net/journal-of-postcolonial-linguistics-22020/.

- (2019): "Linguistic Practices. Theoretical approaches and empirical findings." In: Repertórios plurilíngues em situação de contato. Rio de Janeiro: Edições LCV: LABPEC, pp. 112–118.

- (2017): "Contando a própria identidade – uma narrativa quilombola como projeto colaborativo". Anais do V Simpósio Mundial de Estudos de Língua Portuguesa. 

- (2015): Jungbluth, Konstanze/Vallentin, Rita: "Brazilian Portuguese". In: Jungbluth, Konstanze/da Milano Federica (Hrsg.): Manual of Deixis in Romance Languages. In: Holtus, Günter/Sánchez Miret, Fernando (eds.): Manual of Romance Linguistics, II. Sachgebiete. Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter, pp. 315–331.

- (2015): "Linguistic Strategies of Constructing Durable and Permeable Ethnic Boundaries in a Brazilian Quilombo Community". In: Jungbluth, Konstanze/Rosenberg, Peter/Zinkhahn Rhobodes, Dagna (eds.): Linguistic Construction of Ethnic Borders. Frankfurt a.M.: Peter Lang, pp. 33–53.

- (2013): "Global Studies and Language Use. English(es) in the Academic World(s)". In: Fulquet, Gastón/Janz, Caroline/Kumar, Asheesh (eds.): Analyzing Globalization in the 21st Century. New Delhi: Palm Leaf, pp. 29–43.

(2012): "Entwurf eines praxeologischen Ansatzes für die empirische Normenforschung". In: Rosenberg, Katharina / Vallentin, Rita (Hrsg.): Norm und Normalität. Beiträge aus Linguistik, Soziologie, Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaften. Berlin: Logos.

(2012): "El idioma como práctica social - Construyendo una identidad rural comunitaria amarrada al aquí". Paper written for the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) Conference in San Francisco, May 2012. Download: https://lasa.international.pitt.edu/members/congress-papers/lasa2012/files/31042.pdf

(2011): “La lengua como práctica social – La influencia de ONGS transnacionales en las prácticas sociales de una comunidad local en Guatemala”. Paper written for the Alfal. Publicación en Actas del XVI Congreso de la Asociación de Lingüística y Filología de la América.

(2010): En-gendered linguistic varieties in a project of grassroots-glocalization? A case-study from the Guatemalan highlands. Paper written for the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) Conference in Toronto, October 2010. Download: http://lasa.international.pitt.edu/members/congress-papers/lasa2010/files/5897.pdf.

Januar 2023: "Körper – Technik – Diabetes. Selbstwahrnehmung von Patient*innen bei der Nutzung von Diabetes-Technologie. Ergebnisse einer Interviewstudie mit Typ-1 Diabetiker*innen", Diatec 2023, Berlin.

August 2022: "Interaction with personal robots. Perceived (social) agency", Studying technologized social interaction. University of Oulu – GenZ, COACT, Oulu, Finland.

Mai 2022: "Transhumanismus im Diabetesmanagement Versprachlichungen von Mensch-Maschine-Beziehungen", 7. Jahrestagung der Kulturwissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft, Sektion: Sprache und kommunikative Praktiken (organisiert durch Wolf-Andreas Liebert, Helga Kotthoff und Rita Vallentin), Graz, Österreich.

März 2022: "Multilingualism and academic writing in a new EMI program for Cultural and Social Studies", 32. Conference of the Arbeitskreis der Sprachenzentren an Hochschulen, Darmstadt, with Jeffrey Purchla.

Juni 2021: "Humor and communities of knowledge in Berlin's Covid-19 signs", 7th i-Mean conference, Basel. In the Panel: "The interpersonal functions of public signs during the Covid-19 pandemic" organized by Eva Ogiermann.

Oktober 2020: Panel "Sprachliche Grenzziehungspraktiken und das Sprechen an und über Grenzen: Zu den Herausforderungen aktueller linguistischer Grenzforschung" organised with Maria Klessmann at B/Ordering Cultures: Alltag, Politik, Ästhetik; 6. Jahrestagung der Kulturwissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft (KWG), Frankfurt (Oder).

September/Oktober 2019: "Sprach(en)kontakt: Perspektiven und Herausforderungen für eine mehrsprachige und pluriethnische Zukunft. Língua(s) em contato: perspectivas e desafios dum futuro multilíngue e pluriétnico", XXXVI Romanistentag, Kassel. In der Sektion: Sprach(en)kontakt: für eine mehrsprachige und pluriethnische Zukunft organisiert von Konstanze Jungbluth, Monica Savedra und Rita Vallentin.

September 2019: "Gaining an emic perspective – discussing the value of ethnography in understanding constructions of belonging in contexts of diversity" with Britta Schneider at Approaches to Migration, Language and Identity. Practices, Ideologies and Policies now and then (AMLI), Essen, Germany.

Juni 2019: "Dealing with Marginality in Brazilian Quilombo communities". 16th International Pragmatics Conference, Hong Kong, China. In the Panel: Dealing with Marginality: Categories and Positioning in Interaction organised by Concha Maria Höfler, Maria Klessmann and Rita Vallentin.

Januar 2019: Podiumsdiskussion zum Thema "Los dilemas de la educación intercultural" im Ibero-Amerikanischen Institut, Berlin.

November 2018: "Quilombos in Brasilien: Zwischen Widerstand, Bewahrung und Anpassung". Vortragsreihe Afrolateinamerika - Kolonialismus und neue Diversität des Zentralinstituts für Lateinamerikastudien (ZILAS), Katholische Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt.

September 2018: "A luta identitária quilombola: um quilombo fluminense entre preservação e adaptação". Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, Brasilien.

Juli 2018: "Navigating interactional context and story structure: Evidence from two narratives by the same speaker". Narrative Matters 2018, The ABCs of Narrative, Enschede, Netherlands.

Juli 2018: Chair of the Panel: "Identity, change, and development: Gender, power and agency." Narrative Matters 2018, The ABCs of Narrative, Enschede, Netherlands.

Juli 2017: "Somos todos de aquí - 'We all are from here': Place as a co-constructed category qualifier in identification practices". 15th International Pragmatics Conference, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

März 2017: "O alemão e o polonês como línguas de migração no Brasil a partir de uma perspectiva estrutual". X Congresso Internacional da ABRALIN, Niterói, Brasil.

Juni 2016: "'Not merely there'" – Empirical evidence for the interrelation between an interaction and its observing researcher". Sociolinguistic Symposium 21, Murcia, Spanien

Oktober 2015: "Contando a própria identidade – Co-construções em uma narrativa quilombola". Simpósio Mundial de Estudos de Língua Portuguesa, Lecce, Italien

September 2013: "Borders, Discourses, Identity: An Introduction or a 'zoom out' from the individual to discourse". 13th International Pragmatics Conference (IPrA), New Delhi, India. 

September 2013: Panel Organization in collaboration with Concha Maria Höfler and Katharina Rosenberg: Borders, Discourses, Identity at the 13th International Pragmatics Conference (IPrA), New Delhi, India. 

August/September 2013: "Discursive strategies of constructing social borders between durability and permeability in a Brazilian quilombo community". Internationale Tagung Sprachliche Konstruktion Sozialer Grenzen, Frankfurt (Oder), Germany.

Mai 2013 - Live beim Science Slam im Fritz Club im Postbahnhof in Berlin und via Fernsehen beim rbb: "'Wir und die da' - Wie wir mit Sprache Gruppenzugehörigkeit herstellen". --> MOZ-Artikel zum Science Slam

April 2013: "We/here/now - Deictic elements as identity markers in spoken interaction". i-Mean@UWE 3 conference at the University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol, Great Britain.

März 2013: "Borders without borderland: The construction of a border-based varying groupness by an afro-Brazilian community". Borders and Identities Conference (BIC 2013), Rijeka, Croatia.

August 2012: “Groupness and place narratives – The importance of “here” in identity constructions of a Guatemalan community”. 19th Sociolinguistic Symposium, Berlin, Germany.

Mai 2012: “El idioma como práctica social - Construyendo una identidad rural comunitaria amarrada al ‘aquí’”. Internationaler Kongress der Latin American Studies Association (LASA), San Francisco, USA.

März/April 2012: “Global Studies and Language Use: English(es) in the academic world(s)“.  Understanding Dynamics of Globalization, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India.

Juni 2011: “La lengua como práctica social – La influencia de ONGs transnacionales en las prácticas sociales de una comunidad local en Guatemala”. Congreso Internacional de la Asociación de Lingüística y Filología de la América Latina (ALFAL), Alcalá de Henares, Spain.

Dezember 2010: „Think globally, act locally! – Eine Fallstudie zur Änderung von lokalen Strukturen durch Anpassung an Normen transnationaler Organisationen“. Promovierendenworkshop Norm und Normalität, Frankfurt (Oder), Germany.

Oktober 2010: „En-gendered linguistic varieties in a project of grassroots-glocalization? A case-study from the Guatemalan highlands“. Internationaler Kongress der Latin American Studies Association (LASA): Sektion: Variación lingüística en América: manifestaciones locales, Toronto, Canada.

Forschungsschwerpunkte und methodische Schwerpunkte

• Soziolinguistik, Pragmatik
• Sprachliche Praktiken
• Multimodale Interaktion
• Zugehörigkeit und Identifikation
• Post- und Transhumanismus
• Mehrsprachigkeit, Sprachkontakt und Sprachwandel
• Globalisierung
• Konversationsanalyse, Narrativanalyse, Linguistische Diskursanalyse

Sprachen: Deutsch, Englisch, Spanisch, Portugiesisch, (Französisch)

Aktuelle Forschungsprojekte und Forschungsinteressen

Linguistic practices of negotiating human-machine relations in diabetes management 

This research project is concerned with linguistic practices of human-machine relations in diabetes management. People living with type-1 diabetes are increasingly co-coordinating their diabetes management with medical devices – so called (hybrid) loop systems – that continuously measure blood sugar levels and help regulating the insulin supply. Based on interviews with users of these devices, the study looks at these discursive (re)productions of particular categories, positionings and attitudes towards the machines. Additionally, questions of trust in the technology and possible shifts in the role of the 'human' in diabetes management are addressed. The findings connect to larger post-humanist questions by exploring what it means to be 'human' in the context of a medically essential human-machine interaction, and how participants linguistically rework the boundaries between themselves and the devices. This not only contributes to the emerging field of post-humanist linguistics (Pennycook 2018), but also connects to medical research on diabetes technology from a discourse-linguistic perspective that seeks a stronger patient focus.

Dynamics of Multimodal Interaction and Linguistic Practices in Online-Communication with English as a Lingua Franca

In this research project I investigate different communities of practice (students and professionals in Berlin’s start-up scene) who use English as a lingua franca in educational and professional settings and whose members have diverse linguistic backgrounds. The research focuses on emerging linguistic practices within the communities and how tasks, discussions and socializing are interactionally realized, given the online setting, the specifics of the lingua franca and the interplay with other multimodal resources in interaction.

Human-Machine Interaction

As member of the COST action "Language in the Human-Machine Era" (LITHME) Working Group 8 – "Language variation/change/contact, pragmatics, interaction" I'm especially interested in the following questions: How do interactional patterns of human interaction change with the use of different technologies? How is language use influenced by medium variation? Does augmented interaction with voice-based and script-based technology influence human spoken and written interaction which is mediated by technology?

http://lithme.eu/

Linguistic Landscapes in times of the pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic that has a grip on the world since the end of 2019 yielded significant changes and renewals in the semiotic landscapes globally. An avalanche of signs related to the virus appeared in institutions, shops, restaurants and other locations of public life. They regulate behavior, display sanctions in case of non-compliance or point out specific rules related to the establishment. A corpus of Covid-19 related signs was collected between March and August 2020 in Berlin, especially the neighborhoods of Friedrichshain, Neukölln and Prenzlauer Berg. The signs show an interplay of multilingual, graphic and intertextual features. A semiotic analysis reveals an emotive, often witty and humorous translation of the official rules that is tailored to an implicit portrayal of the institutions' or shops' (corporate) identity through linguistic and graphic design. In these cases, the interactional meaning of the sings is broadened from directive elements regarding behavior during the pandemic by creating an emotional attachment and possible identification of the interlocutor with the businesses. Thus, the inevitable Covid-19 signs serve to establish "common ground" and to strengthen social ties between the businesses and their customers.

Narratives of Belonging in Brazilian Quilombo Communities

In collaboration with the Universidade Federal Fluminense in Rio de Janeiro and the Universidade Federal da Bahia in Salvador da Bahia a corpus of interviews with members from five Quilombo communities in Bahia and one Quilombo in the state of Rio de Janeiro is compiled. Within these interviews narratives of the communities' history, of belonging and non-belonging with the majority population in Brazil and of struggles of recognition emerge. A narrative-as-practice approach to these accounts of Quilombolas will shed light on the participants positioning in Brazilian society and the linguistic resources they use to do so.