Conclusion: Communication, Identity and Representation Through Languages in War

Abstract

Traditionally, linguists and philosophers have seen the primary purpose of language as being representation and communication. Language is what enables people to articulate things, ideas and attitudes in an intelligible form and to transmit the results to other people. More recently, linguists have recognized the importance of language in identities. Language enables us to express who we think we are and how we are connected with other people. The three functions of representation, communication and identity are intimately interwoven, and in each case language is the main means by which human beings carry out the crucial tasks of developing their understanding of the world, communicating with each other and negotiating their own place within it ( Joseph 2004). When these tasks are undertaken between members of different language communities, the balance between communication, representation and identity becomes both more complex and more critical to the outcomes of interaction.