Context in the System and Process of Language (Collected Works of Ruqaiya Hasan)

The concept context of situation introduced by Malinowski some eighty years ago has now become an essential element of the vocabulary of any linguistic theory whose aim is to reveal the nature of language. With the abandonment of the spurious distinction between competence and performance, the process of language, i.e., language use, has claimed its rightful place in the study of language. The chapters of this book focus on the relations of context and text, conceptualising the latter as language operative in some recognizable social context. It is argued that context is not simply a backdrop for the occurrence of words; rather, it is an active element which on the one hand plays a crucial role in the progression of human discourse and on the other enters into and shapes the very nature of language as process and as system, furnishing the foundation for functionality in language. Acting as the interface between language and society, context analysis reveals the power of language for creating, maintaining and changing human relationships.

Ruqaiya Hasan has taught and held visiting positions at various universities in England, America and Australia. Her last appointment was at Macquarie University, Australia, from where she retired as Emeritus Professor in 1994. Throughout her career she has researched and published widely in the areas of stylistics, culture, context and text, lexicogrammar and semantic variation. The latter involved the devising of extensive semantic system networks for the analysis of meaning in naturally occurring dialogues. Jonathan Webster is currently Acting Head, Department of Chinese, Translation and Linguistics, and Associate Dean (Research and Administration), Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the City University of Hong Kong. In addition to being General Editor of the new journal from Equinox called Linguistics and the Human Sciences (coming in April 2005), he is the Series Editor for the ten volume Collected Works of Professor M.A.K. Halliday (Continuum Books); and also the seven volume Collected Works for Professor Ruqaiya Hasan published by Equinox.