For the repertoire approach, biographical methods can be particularly interesting as they emphasize the perspective of the experiencing and speaking subject. In multilingualism research a shift of paradigm can be observed: the idea of languages as distinct categories is being abandoned in favour of the notion of linguistic repertoire, which seems more apt to grasp the complexity of heteroglossic practices.
The notion of linguistic repertoire in interactional sociolinguistics In view of the current debate on linguistic diversity, it is useful to go back to the origin of the notion of a linguistic repertoire. The third part discusses how a poststructuralist approach can contribute to expanding the notion of 'repertoire'. The second part presents empirical material on linguistic repertoires using a multimodal, biographical approach, and involves a close reading of a language portrait, a visual and verbal representation of linguistic experience, and linguistic resources. In the first part of the article, I discuss how the notion of a linguistic repertoire was developed by John Gumperz from an interactional perspective, how the concept is challenged by the conditions of super-diversity, and how poststructur-alist approaches, especially those of Jacques Derrida and Judith Butler, can contribute to exploring undervalued factors such as the power of categories or the significance of desire in language.
REVISITING THE LINGUISTIC REPERTOIRE This article argues for the relevance of poststructuralist approaches to the notion of a linguistic repertoire and draws on empirical data to show how speakers conceive and represent their heteroglossic repertoires. The final part of the article discusses how a poststructuralist approach can contribute to expanding the notion of 'repertoire'. In the second part, this article considers a novel methodological approach to studying linguistic repertoires: a multimodal, biographical approach using a language portrait, which involves a close reading of the visual and verbal representation of linguistic experience and linguistic resources.
It then argues that poststructuralist approaches, exemplified in the work of Jacques Derrida and Judith Butler, add an exploration of previously neglected factors such as the power of categories or the significance of desire in language. The first part of the article revisits Gumperz's notion of a linguistic repertoire, and then considers the challenge to the concept represented by the conditions of super-diversity. Derived from our individual complexities and the context, Busch explains that our repertoire becomes multidimensional that is, it is integrated by the resources we have and those we don’t have, the social spaces we occupy and our potential to face future situations or events.This article argues for the relevance of poststructuralist approaches to the notion of a linguistic repertoire and introduces the notion of language portraits as a basis for empirical study of the way in which speakers conceive and represent their heteroglossic repertoires. Busch (2015) tells us that the linguistic repertoire is similar to a “toolbox” (p.17) from which we take elements to communicate in given contexts or situations. The impact of globalization and superdiversity over our everyday lives and interactions have also influenced the concept’s definition. Over the last decades and based on new evidence, the notion of ‘linguistic repertoire’ has been expanded to comprise the identity complexities of individuals, communities, and the world in general. that best aid us to communicate, understand and/or interact in such situations. For example, every time we talk with someone, when we write an email or watch content in social media (among other activities) we make decisions about the languages, varieties, styles, levels of formality, etc. From that perspective, it can be seen as a collection of linguistic elements from which we draw from to communicate in any situation. Based on that research, Busch (2015) explains that “the repertoire is understood as a whole, comprising those languages, dialects, styles, codes, and routines that characterize interaction in everyday life” (p.5). The concept ‘linguistic repertoire’ is known since the 60s thanks to Gumperz’ groundbreaking work conducted with rural communities in India and Norway.
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