On J. K. Rowling's Discourse on Transsexual Issues, An Analysis of the Language Used on Rowling's Twitter and the Sociolinguistic Implication of Hate Speech

Abstract

2019 Maya Forstater against transgender women rights have left the online community shocked, especially when renowned author J. K. Rowling have shown support for the case. In this paper it will be analyzed how author J. K. Rowling’s opinions on the matter have caused a social uprising against the very author, who has been loved for over two decades by millions. Her words will be analyzed to find out what she has really meant and what the public has understood. The main purpose of this analysis is to understand whether Rowling has or has not a position of power over her followers and whether her words have an influence in the fight for LGTB+ rights. In the present study the topics of social injustice and word formation related to such phenomenon are also discussed and analyzed. The paper analyzes how public opinions can lead to linguistic neologisms and how such words are used in the everyday language, explaining how these linguistic creations not only enrich our lexicon but also contribute to fight social injustice. Finally, regarding the structure of this study, the present paper is subdivided in three main sections: section one covers the events of late 2019, from the very first vocal tweet to the uprising of the web; section two covers the events of 2020 leading to the most recent controversies; and lastly section three, which will cover the linguistics features of the language used in the midst of the controversies. In this paper the social phenomenon of publicly voicing opinions is analyzed to investigate on language evolution.