Newcastle University

Introduction

I joined the School of Modern Languages at Newcastle from the Institute of Latin American Studies at the University of Liverpool in July 2005. I work on the anthropology and sociolinguistics of the Andes. My research is based on field work in areas where both Spanish and Quechua are spoken (Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia). My PhD dealt with Quechua oral storytelling in highland Ecuador. Since then I have published widely on Quechua oral history; anthropological approaches to the study of language contact, especially translation issues; language politics and cultural identity in the Andes; and intercultural education policy for indigenous peoples.

Research Interests

Sociolinguistics and anthropological linguistics of the Andes; Quechua-Spanish language contact; language ideologies; language policy in Latin America; language and cultural identity; issues of translation in multicultural settings; Critical Discourse Analysis in multicultural, postcolonial settings; Quechua language; interactive multimedia technology for the teaching of Quechua in context.

Other Expertise

Latin American indigenous social movements; Latin American government policy on multiculturalism.

Current Work

Recent book: 'Por los linderos de la lengua: ideologias linguisticas en los Andes', Lima: Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, 2007, 426 pages. The book uses qualitative data collection and analysis techniques, and applies Critical Discourse Analysis to a range of verbal testimonies recorded during fieldwork in the three countries. The book develops a comparative framework and applies concepts developed in cultural studies (hybridity, transculturation, borders) to the study of the role of language in the construction of cultural identities.
Endangered language research on a previously undocumented Quechua dialect of the Upper Marañón valley of central highland Peru; based on field linguistics techniques, a dictionary is being prepared in collaboration with local speakers and linguistics students at the Catholic University of Peru in Lima.

Future Research

I am beginning new research on the 'performance of power' as displayed in the political discourse and mediated presentational style of the Evo Morales government in Bolivia. This government is leading major policy change founded on a politics of 'decolonisation', and bringing about a groundswell of change in public attitudes towards racial difference and cultural diversity in the country. Language use and use of other media such as clothing are telling indicators of underlying social and political processes.

Research Roles

Director of Postgraduate Studies, School of Modern Languages, Newcastle University

Postgraduate Supervision

Ximena Córdova, thesis topic: 'The performance of identity in the Carnival of Oruro, Bolivia', AHRC funded
Josep Cru, thesis topic 'Endangered languages and language politics in Latin America'

• Howard R. Beyond the lexicon of difference: discursive performance of identity in the Andes. Latin American and Caribbean Ethnic Studies 2009, 4(1), 17-46.
• Howard R. Education reform, indigenous politics, and decolonisation in the Bolivia of Evo Morales. International Journal of Educational Development 2009, 29(6), 583-593.
• Howard R. Language ideologies, identities and the discourse of interculturalism in the Andes. In: Süselbeck, K; Mühlschlegel, U; Masson, P, ed. Lengua, nación e identidad. La regulación del plurilingüismo en España y América Latina. Madrid/Frankfurt: Iberoamericana Vervuert Verlag, 2008, pp.367-386.
• Howard R. Por los linderos de la lengua: Ideologías lingüísticas en los Andes. Lima: Instituto Francés de Estudios Andinos / Instituto de Estudios Peruanos / Fondo Editorial Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, 2007.
• Howard R. Rumi: an ethnolinguistic approach to the symbolism of stone(s) in the Andes. In: Dransart, P, ed. Kay Pacha: Cultivating Earth and Water in the Andes. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2006, pp.Chapter 24.
• Howard R. Translating hybridity in the Peruvian Andes. In: Granqvist, RJ, ed. Writing Back in/and Translation. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2006, pp.39-53.
• Howard R. Translating Hybridity: A Case from the Peruvian Andes. In: Hart, S; Rowe, W, ed. Bulletin of Hispanic Studies: Studies in Latin American Literature and Culture in Honour of James Higgins. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2005, pp.159-172.
• Howard R. Quechua in Tantamayo (Peru): toward a "social archaeology" of language. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 2004, 2004(167), 95-118.
• Howard R. 'Papel de viento': procesos semioticos en el discurso literario andino. In: Higgins, J, ed. Heterogeneidad y literatura en el Peru. Lima: Centro de Estudios Literarios Antonio Cornejo Polar, 2003, pp.127-155.
• Howard R. Yachay: The Tragedia del fin de Atahuallpa as Evidence of the Colonisation of Knowledge in the Andes. In: Stobart, H; Howard, R, ed. Knowledge and Learning in the Andes: Ethnographic Perspectives. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2002, pp.17-39.
• Stobart H, Howard R. Knowledge and Learning in the Andes: Ethnographic Perspectives. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2002.
• Howard R. Spinning a yarn: landscape, memory and discourse structure in Quechua narratives. In: Urton, G; Quilter, J, ed. Narrative Threads: Accounting and Recounting in Andean Khipu. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 2002, pp.26-49.
• Howard R. Shifting voices, shifting worlds: evidentiality, epistemic modality and speaker perspective in Quechua oral narrative (central Peru). Pragmatics and Society 2012, 3(2), 243-269.