Theorizing the Postcoloniality of African American English

Abstract

The amount of literature on African American English has grown considerably in the last decade. This article, although another contribution on the subject, follows a slightly different approach. It examines the uneasy relationship between Standard American English and African American English and explains why the relationship remains controversial. The article notes that many varieties of English around the world are more readily recognized as legitimate varieties of English than others; and it explains how African American English falls in the latter category. One of the issues that fascinate practitioners of critical linguistics and sociological inquiry, among others, is how power relations that exist in a society are frequently transferred to other matters such as language and culture. In the case of African American English, the article addresses the issue of whether or not the status of this language variety in America reflects the larger postcolonial struggles of its speakers.