Team > Dr. Irina Turner


Faculty of Languages & Literatures
African Linguistics I
Irina Turner is Assistant Professor at African Linguistics I (Afrikanistik I).
She teaches about multilingual communication in various contexts and genres as well as interdisciplinary courses at the intersection of text, media, image, and sign in methods and theory.
Her research interest is the role of language in society:
What do people do with language and what does language do to people?
She is a member of the Research Group on Africa, Philosophy and Digital Technologies (APDiT)
Academic Degrees
2013 | Doctorate: English Linguistics, Bayreuth International School of African Studies (BIGSAS), University of Bayreuth Disputation: July 2013 (Dr. phil. Summa cum laude); Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Susanne Mühleisen. Mentors: Prof. Dr. Keyan G. Tomaselli, Prof. Dr. Gabriele Sommer |
2008 | Master of Arts: Media Theory and Practice, University of Cape Town. Supervisor: Dr. Andre Wiesner |
2005 | Diplom-Kulturarbeiterin (FH) (Qualified Arts Manager); Supervisors: Prof.Nicola Lepp; Dr. Rita Schäfer |
Professional Background
2014 – Present | Assistant Professor (fixed-term) (Akademische Rätin a.Zt.) (fixed-term); African Linguistics I, University of Bayreuth |
2012 – 2014 | Research Associate, Institute of African Linguistics I, University of Bayreuth |
2011 – 2012 | Head of Personnel and Assistant to the Director, SR Webatex GmbH, Bayreuth |
2009 – 2011 | International Office Staff Member, University of Bayreuth |
2008 – 2009 | Employment Agency Staff Member, Bayreuth |
2007 – 2008 | Client Liaison Agent DTP Services, Pixelfaerie Visual Services, Cape Town |
Academic Engagement
- Member of the Steering Committee Institute of African Studies (IAS)
- Editorial Board Newsletter of the Bayreuth Institute of African Studies NAB
- Jury-Member of BIGSAS Journalism Award (since 2015)
- Editorial Member of African Journal of Rhetoric
- Trainer for Intercultural Communication
- DAAD Short-term lecturer at Fort Hare University, South Africa (2015-2018)
- Reviewer for Critical Arts: South – North Cultural and Media Studies
- Reviewer for Modern Africa: Politics, History and Society

Faculty of Languages & Literatures
African Linguistics I
- Sociology and Political Economy of Language / Sociolinguistics
- Pragmatic and Semiotic Dimensions of Multilingual Mediated Communication
- Language Politics and Policies in South Africa: Focus isiXhosa
- Decolonization of Higher Education
- Decolonial Science Communication: Astrophysics

Faculty of Languages & Literatures
African Linguistics I
Publications
2023
Irina Turner: Decolonisation through Digitalisation? African Languages at South African Universities. In: Curriculum Perspectives, 43 (2023). - S. 73-82.
doi:10.1007/s41297-023-00196-w
Irina Turner: Dynamics of media convergence in translingual expert interviews : An example from isiXhosa radio in South Africa. In: Journal of Pragmatics, 210 (2023). - S. 71-84.
doi:10.1016/j.pragma.2023.03.014
Susanne Mohr, Irina Turner, Sibonile Ellece: Sociolinguistics in Southern Africa . In: Martin J. Ball, Rajend Mesthrie, Chiara Meluzzi (Hrsg.): The Routledge Handbook of Sociolinguistics Around the World. 2. Auflage. - Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY: Routledge, 2023. - S. 400-410
doi:10.4324/9781003198345-39
Irina Turner, Zameka Sijadu, Stephanie Rudwick: South Africa Laughs At Covid : A Functional Perspective on Political Humour in Social Media. In: African Journal of Rhetoric, 15 (2023). - S. 375-405.
2021
Irina Turner, James Merron, Siri Lamoureaux: Indiscipline as Method : From Telescopes to Ventilators in Times of Covid. In: Filosofia Theoretica : Journal of African Philosophy, Culture and Religions, 10 (2021). - S. 79-101.
doi:10.4314/ft.v10i3.6
Stephanie Rudwick, Zameka Sijadu, Irina Turner: Politics of Language in COVID-19 : Multilingual Perspectives from South Africa. In: Politikon : South African Journal of Political Studies, 48 (2021). - S. 242-259.
doi:10.1080/02589346.2021.1917206
Irina Turner: Selling radio for charity : How convergence affects on-profit promotion. In: Sarah Chiumbu, Gilbert Motsaathebe (Hrsg.): Radio, Public Life and Citizen Deliberation in South Africa. - London : Routledge, 2021. - S. 196-216.
2020
Irina Turner: What is the point of studying Africa in Europe? : A micro-ethnographic study of decolonising African studies through international postgraduates in Germany. In: Abraham Brahima, Irina Turner, Emnet T. Woldegiorgis (Hrsg.): Decolonisation of Higher Education in Africa : Perspectives from Hybrid Knowledge Production. - London ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2020. - S. 78-99.
doi:10.4324/9780429355288
Irina Turner: As far as the eye can see : Urban bias in South African linguistic research. In: Sociolinguistic Studies, 14 (2020). - S. 257-275.
doi:10.1558/sols.38789
Decolonisation of Higher Education in Africa : Perspectives from Hybrid Knowledge Production. - Abraham Brahima, Irina Turner, Emnet Tadesse Woldegiorgis (Hrsg.). - London : Routledge, 2020. - 244 S.
doi:10.4324/9780429355288
Abraham Brahima, Irina Turner, Emnet Tadesse Woldegiorgis: Epilogue : A long way towards a decolonial future in African higher education. In: Abraham Brahima, Irina Turner, Emnet Tadesse Woldegiorgis (Hrsg.): Decolonisation of Higher Education in Africa : Perspectives from Hybrid Knowledge Production. - London : Routledge, 2020. - S. 230-240.
doi:10.4324/9780429355288
2019
Irina Turner: Axing the Rainbow : does Fallism Reconfigure Post-apartheid Nationhood in South Africa?. In: Modern Africa, 7 (2019). - S. 81-110.
doi:10.26806/modafr.v7i1.244
2015
The cultural economy of contemporary aesthetic production : a focus on the breach between text and context. - Irina Turner, Rémi Armand Tchokothe (Hrsg.). - Critical Arts : South-North Cultural and Media Studies, 29 (2015), 4
doi:10.1080/02560046.2015.1078537
Irina Turner: Cap, Piotr ; Okulska, Urszula (eds): Analyzing Genres in Political Communication. Amsterdam, 2013. In:Discourse & Society, 26, S. 401-403: 2015
doi:10.1177/0957926515578966e
Irina Turner, Rémi Armand Tchokothe: Editorial: The cultural economy of contemporary aesthetic production : a focus on the breach between text and context. In: Critical Arts : South-North Cultural and Media Studies, 29 (2015). - S. 437-445.
doi:10.1080/02560046.2015.1078537
Irina Turner: A matter of choice? : the Role of English and isiXhosa for University Graduates in their Early Careers. In: Modern Africa, 3 (2015). - S. 43-74.
Irina Turner: The State of the Nation : "businification" of political rhetoric in post-apartheid South Africa. - Berlin : LIT, 2015. - 368 S.
2013
Irina Turner: The Changing State of the South African Nation : political Proximity to Business from a Rhetorical Perspective. In: Anthony A. Olorunnisola, Aziz Douai (Hrsg.): New Media Influence on Social and Political Change in Africa. - Hershey : IGI Global, 2013. - S. 168-186.
Irina Turner: Opposing the Developmental State online : how do South Africans make use of online platforms to challenge government’s macroeconomic strategies?. In: Mohamed A. G. Bakhit, Irina Turner, Peter Narh, Girum Getachew Alemu, Julia Boger, Felix Brinkmann (Hrsg.): Challenging notions of development and change from everyday life in Africa. - Bayreuth : Inst. für Afrikastudien, 2013. - S. 22-48.
2008
Irina Turner: Comprehending Gender Issues Through Photography? : a South African Case Study. - Saarbrücken : VDM, 2008.

Faculty of Languages & Literatures
African Linguistics I
Dr. Irina Turner
Assistant Professor, African Linguistics I
University of Bayreuth
Literatures in African languages
95440 Bayreuth
Room: 1.08 (GW I)
Fax: +49 (0)921 / 55-3641
Phone: +49 (0)921 / 55-3558
E-mail: irina.turner@uni-bayreuth.de