Difficult Neighborhoods

As we go about our daily lives, we face diverging views, values, and cultures. When these diverging views and values collide, we inevitably face conflicts, creating situations that require us to navigate a “difficult neighborhood.” This book examines the symptoms of conflict in culture, literature, and language that emerge as we enter such challenging neighborhoods. It features original research studies that examine the semiotics and pragmatics of conflict in various discourses of borders and neighborhoods—geographical, political, ethnic, religious, and linguistic—as expressed in widely understood cultural texts. With this diverse scope in mind, we hope to have cleared the horizon assisting readers to understand and approach various conflicts in a more creative, humane, innovative, and objective manner.

An open access edition of this book is available at http://hdl.handle.net/10342/14445.

Sachiyo M. Shearman is a professor in the School of Communication at East Carolina University.

Władysław Chłopicki is a professor of linguistics and translation at the Institute of English Studies, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland, as well as at the University of Applied Sciences in Krosno, Poland.

Władysław Witalisz is a professor at the Institute of English Studies, Jagiellonian University in Kraków.

Linda G. Kean is the dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication at East Carolina University.