A Semiotics of the Public/Private Distinction

susan gal is Professor of Anthropology and Linguistics at the University of Chicago. She is presently doing research on the political economy of language, including linguistic nationalism, and especially the rhetorical and symbolic aspects of political transformation in contemporary Eastern Europe. In studying postcommunist societies, her work focuses as well on the construction of gender and discourses of reproduction. Her recent publications include The Politics of Gender after Socialism(Princeton University Press, 2000) co-authored with Gail Kligman,Reproducing Gender: Politics, Publics and Everyday Life after Socialism (Princeton University Press, 2000), which she coedited with Gail Kligman, and Languages and Publics: The Making of Authority (St. Jerome's Press, 2001) coedited with Kathryn Woolard.