Katrin Ahlgren
  |
Katrin Ahlgren is an Associate Professor of language education at Stockholm University and a member of the international multidisciplinary Research Centre MIRCo (Multilingualism, Social Identities, Intercultural Relations and Communication) at Autonomous University in Madrid. Her research interest encompasses sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology and applied linguistics, with a particular focus on multilingualism, social justice, and arts-based methods. In recognition of her literary-inspired work on poetic representation, she was awarded the Bernadotte Scholarship by the Swedish Academy for 2021–2022. Katrin Ahlgren also works as a translator of dramatic texts and has contributed to performances at national theatres in Sweden and France such as the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm and La Comédie Française in Paris.
In September 2024, she joins the Paris IAS where she holds the Riksbankens Jubileumsfond Research Chair. This swedish foundation supports research in the Humanities and Social Sciences.
Research Interests
lived experiences of language, multilingualism, migration, transnationalism, language ideologies and performative writing
Polyphonic voices: representations of lived and imagined experiences of language in exile
The geographical displacement and movement of people bear multifaceted consequences that bring about linguistic changes at both individual and societal levels. There is thus a need to better understand the complexity of contemporary multilingual societies from a language user’s perspective.
By adopting a long-term approach and including participants from three European countries—Sweden, Spain and France—this project explores the lived experience of language as interpreted through autobiographical accounts of people from shifting transnational settings. As such, the project has the potential to capture not only aspects of linguistic challenges and discrimination, but also instances of achievement, satisfaction, and success. Imaginary and utopian elements, reflecting the speaking subjects’ existential perceptions of their past, future intentions and aspirations, are also incorporated. An ultimate ambition of this project is to shed light on possible social transformation and find ways to counteract processes of linguistic subjectivation and surveillance.
Furthermore, by bridging literary post-colonial theories and the philosophy of ethics, the project elaborates on a performative representation practice that critically engages with the notion of voice and handles some of the limitations of textual representation. This practice, referred to as writing nearby, not only broadens the academic discourse but also makes the research outcomes accessible to wider audiences.
Key publications
Ahlgren, K. (2021), "Poetic representation: a process of writing nearby", Journal of sociolinguistics, 25(5), 832–851.
Ahlgren, K. (2020), « Un voyage sans fin » : expressions métaphoriques et mudes linguistiques de nouveaux locuteurs suédois, Langage et société, 170 (2), 109–128.
Ahlgren, K. (2019). "Art as a Trigger for Reflection in Sociolinguistic Migration Research", Journal of Mediterranean Knowledge-JMK, 4(2), 203–222, Special Issue: Artistic Strategies of Migration: Art as a Resistance or as a Reinsurance?
|
|
|
|
|
|