An American in Paris
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Timothy Wolcott
Abstract
As “island” study abroad programs (Goodwin & Nacht 1988) increase in popularity, critics suggest that the student participants are merely cocooning themselves in an insulated community wherein they recreate American cultural practices and identities. That is, these students see their term abroad as ultimately about themselves, and this self-obsession is deemed proof of an intransigent American habitus (Bourdieu 1984). In this chapter, I examine how an American undergraduate accounts for her experiences in an island program in Paris. While at first this student’s testimony seems to confirm the dire predictions outlined above, in the end I draw on post-structuralist theories of subjectivity (Kramsch 2009) to demonstrate that this student’s deeply personal subject positionings transcend any ostensibly American identities.
Abstract
As “island” study abroad programs (Goodwin & Nacht 1988) increase in popularity, critics suggest that the student participants are merely cocooning themselves in an insulated community wherein they recreate American cultural practices and identities. That is, these students see their term abroad as ultimately about themselves, and this self-obsession is deemed proof of an intransigent American habitus (Bourdieu 1984). In this chapter, I examine how an American undergraduate accounts for her experiences in an island program in Paris. While at first this student’s testimony seems to confirm the dire predictions outlined above, in the end I draw on post-structuralist theories of subjectivity (Kramsch 2009) to demonstrate that this student’s deeply personal subject positionings transcend any ostensibly American identities.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgement ix
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Part I. Orientation
- Introduction 3
- Researching whole people and whole lives 17
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Part II. Qualitative and case studies
- Self-regulatory strategies of foreign language learners 47
- “Opening up to the world”? 75
- Politics of identification in the use of lingua francas in student mobility to Finland and France 101
- An American in Paris 127
- Exploring the potential of high school homestays as a context for local engagement and negotiation of difference 155
- The transformation of “a frog in the well” 179
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Part III. Pragmatics and identity
- “I joke you don’t” 207
- Getting over the hedge 239
- Identity and honorifics use in Korean study abroad 269
- A corpus-based study of vague language use by learners of Spanish in a study abroad context 299
- Afterword 333
- Name index 337
- Subject index 343
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgement ix
-
Part I. Orientation
- Introduction 3
- Researching whole people and whole lives 17
-
Part II. Qualitative and case studies
- Self-regulatory strategies of foreign language learners 47
- “Opening up to the world”? 75
- Politics of identification in the use of lingua francas in student mobility to Finland and France 101
- An American in Paris 127
- Exploring the potential of high school homestays as a context for local engagement and negotiation of difference 155
- The transformation of “a frog in the well” 179
-
Part III. Pragmatics and identity
- “I joke you don’t” 207
- Getting over the hedge 239
- Identity and honorifics use in Korean study abroad 269
- A corpus-based study of vague language use by learners of Spanish in a study abroad context 299
- Afterword 333
- Name index 337
- Subject index 343
