Language And Sexuality Research Articles

Safe spaces, agency, and resistance: a metasynthesis of LGBTQ language use

The purpose of this metasynthesis is to present a structured review of the literature on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) language usage. Much of the rhetoric surrounding individuals who identify as LGBTQ focuses on their victimization and oppression. To problematize this limited perspective, this metasynthesis of literature suggests that LGBTQ youth are actively working against marginalization, oppression, and silencing through language practices that employ critical literacy and elicit the disruption of hegemonic ideology. Drawing on Darvin and Norton’s (2015, Identity and a model of investment in applied linguistics. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 35, 36–56) key concepts from the model of investment and queer theory, I explore three uses of LGBTQ language: the creation of safe spaces, agency, and resistance. My findings reveal the need for safety within classrooms in order for LGBTQ students to participate successfully in critical literacy practices.

Shared Past, Different Future? Russian and Georgian Authorities’ Discourse Concerning Homosexuality

Russian and Georgian people share not only a common history but also a relatively common negative view on LGBT rights. Russia still does not have anti-discrimination laws and regulates ‘homosexual propaganda’. In contrast, Georgia has discrimination protection on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Why is public opinion in one country deteriorating alongside the passing of anti-discrimination laws, while in the other country, with little improvement in public opinion, it is prohibited to ‘propagandize homosexuality’? We explain how authorities discursively shape institutional changes related to LGBT rights. We assume that the formation of institutions is possible in the process of discursive struggle when actors defend their ideas and meanings about LGBT. Our argument addresses the theoretical framework of institutional change and queer linguistics. We analyze discursive changes in Georgian and Russian authorities debates from 2013 until 2019.

Research of the Czech language from the perspective of Queer Linguistics

The aim of this minireview is to analyse the existing Czech research in the field of Queer Linguistics with the use of the meta-linguistic perspective. After a short introduction of Queer Theory ideas and ideas of Queer Linguistics focusing on the terms queer and heteronormativity, the author deals with the Czech denomination of this field. Against the backdrop of the state of Czech Gender Linguistics, additional circumstances of the current state of Czech Queer Linguistics are presented. Those include (apart from the unavailability of relevant literature in Czech libraries) a limited number of experts dealing with the topic, offering queer-linguistic lectures and seminars at Czech universities. In the next part of the article, the existing publications dealing with various topics from the field of Czech Queer Linguistics are analysed. In the final part of the article, some topics which may extend the publication basis of the field are outlined as they also may help to reflect the current social topics in the Czech Republic.

Discourses of (hetero)sexism in popular music

AbstractThis article analyses interview data to explore how participants negotiated discourses of (hetero)sexism in relation to the controversial pop songBlurred Lines.Our previous work, based on questionnaire data, interrogated interpretations ofBlurred Lines(Handforth, Paterson, Coffey-Glover & Mills 2017) and showed how participants drew on discourses of sexism in their responses. Several participants experienced significant conflict in their interpretations, and here we focus on these more complex interpretations, considering the “small stories” (Bamberg & Georgakopoulou 2008) identified in follow-up interviews with participants. Individual narratives acted as mechanisms through which participants linkedBlurred Linesto wider issues such as rape culture, drawing parallels between these and their own lives. Following research in queer linguistics (King 2014;Leap 2014;Motschenbacher 2010) our use of thematic analysis, corpus linguistic tools and narrative analysis highlights the various subject positions that participants negotiated in their storytelling, and how these positions both echoed and challenged normative understandings of gender and sexuality.

Unveiling the Myth of Mars and Venus in French rap: An analysis of the gender determinants of non-standard language use

This article studies the use of non-standard language (NSL) in a corpus of selected francophone rap tracks to see whether gender determinants have an impact on its use. This study relies on a lexicographic analysis to produce quantitative results, which are then analysed qualitatively with the help of extracts from francophone rap tracks and semi-structured interviews with francophone rappers. This article initially focuses only on male versus female rappers but the qualitative discussion takes more complex notions into account, such as gender performativity, queer linguistics or androgyny. Moreover, this research investigates unequal gender power relations in a male-dominated heterosexist industry. This study reviews how male and female artists react to and perpetuate these stereotypical gender manifestations in their lyrics. Some of the NSL use is also analysed in terms of speech acts to try and determine what the artists want to accomplish by using specific terms in certain contexts. It can be concluded that no real difference can be found between male and female rappers with respect to their NSL use. When differences are found, they are not very wide and can also be observed by only comparing men or only women.

Language, sexuality and inclusive pedagogy

This paper examines linguistic practices of inclusion and exclusion relating to sexual orientation and sexual identity as they surface in the context of language education and multilingual contexts. I argue that queer linguistics can provide a helpful theoretical framework for examining how normative and non‐normative constructions of sexual identity are enacted inscribed in language practices in classrooms, and how these language practices may effect particular discourses of sexuality. I examine extracts of interview data with young people analysed using appraisal analysis. The analysis focuses on how language works as a form of social practice which can include and exclude sexual identities in classroom settings.

Affect as narrative action in the Global South

Abstract This paper focuses on the performance of small stories from two Cambodian men interviewed by the researcher about the relationships they form with men from the Global North. The analysis attends to the empirical significance of these performances by focusing on the mobilization of affect as an interactional linguistic and narrative resource that foregrounds social action in this context. In this way, these small stories reveal how these men may challenge and reshape dominant social discourses at this sexualised North/South interface. Bringing to the field of narrative inquiry approaches from queer linguistics, and Southern perspectives, this paper is therefore tasked with exploring what the field may potentially gain from these areas, especially regarding the theoretical and methodological possibilities of a North/South dialogue in the production of knowledge.

Do “léxico gay” à Linguística Queer: desestabilizando a norma homossexual oculta nas Teorias Queer

O presente artigo examina se, apesar de permitir maiores desconstruções e desnaturalizações das categorias de sexualidade que usamos hoje em dia, a Linguística Queer sofre de um dos problemas que afeta os Estudos Queer em geral: uma “norma homossexual oculta” (GUSTAVSON, 2009), ou priorização do estudo de homens gays. Embora a Linguística Queer tenha prestado maior atenção às performances discursivas de lésbicas, ainda há uma lacuna de pesquisas sobre performances de outras “orientações” sexuais e performances discursivas relacionadas a práticas sexuais que desestabilizam o binário heterossexual/homossexual. Portanto, pretende-se discutir alguns exemplos de estudos recentes realizados no campo da Linguística Queer que vão além da “norma oculta homossexual”: um sobre performances de mulheres bissexuais e outro sobre performances de adeptos/as da prática de pegging.

Corpus linguistics in language and sexuality studies

AbstractAs an introduction to the special issue, this paper presents an overview of previous corpus linguistic work in the field of language and sexuality and discusses the compatibility of corpus linguistic methodology with queer linguistics as a central theoretical approach in language and sexuality studies. The discussion is structured around five prototypical aspects of corpus linguistics that may be deemed problematic from a poststructuralist, queer linguistic perspective: quantification and associated notions of objectivity, reliance on linguistic forms and formal presence, concentration on highly frequent features, reliance on categories, and highlighting of differences. It is argued that none of these aspects rules out an application of corpus linguistic techniques within queer theoretically informed linguistic work per se and that it is rather the way these techniques are employed that can be seen as more or less compatible with queer linguistics. To complement the theoretical discussion, a collocation analysis of sexual descriptive adjectives in the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) is conducted in an attempt to address some of the issues raised. The concluding section makes suggestions for future research.

Discourses of marriage in same-sex marriage debates in the UK press 2011–2014

Abstract This paper interrogates media representations of same-sex marriage debates in the UK using a combination of corpus linguistics tools and close reading, and drawing on Queer Linguistics. Following related work by Bachmann (2011), Baker (2004), and Love and Baker (2015), we analyse a 1.3 million-word corpus of UK national newspaper texts compiled for the Discourses of Marriage Research Group. Our corpus stretches from September 2011 and the announcement of a government consultation on same-sex marriage, to April 2014 when the first same-sex marriages took place. Using a top-down approach we investigate the discourses drawn upon in same-sex marriage debates (as indexed by keywords and key semantic fields) and uncover the binary social categories used to normalise social structures and hold the same-sex marriage debate in place. We also consider which social actors are (not) given a voice and/or agency and discuss how (same-sex) marriage is constituted.

Transgender identity labels in the British press

AbstractThis contribution focuses on the linguistic representation of transgender people in the British press, through the analysis of a corpus of newspaper articles collected between 2013 and 2015. Within the framework of Queer Linguistics and Corpus-based Discourse Analysis, this study analyses the linguistic choices retraceable in the corpus under investigation, conveying a given representation of transgender individuals as social subjects. The analysis focuses on naming strategies and the collective representation of transgender identities.

Queer Bodies, Queer Lives in China English Contact Literature

Abstract Ha Jin and his works have contributed significantly to world Englishes knowledge, both through direct scholarly engagement with contact literatures and through the linguistic creativity exhibited in his works of fiction (Jin 2010). His fiction writing also acts as a site of scholarly inquiry (e.g., Zhang 2002). Underexplored, however, are how local varieties of English as used to create queer identities. This paper will seek to address this gap by exploring how Ha Jin created queer spaces in his short story “The Bridegroom.” This investigation will utilize a Kachruvian world Englishes approach to analyzing contact literatures (B. Kachru 1985, 1990, Y. Kachru & Nelson 2006, Thumboo 2006). This analysis will be supported by interfacing it with perspectives from the fields of queer theory and queer linguistics (Jagose 1996, Leap & Motschenbacher 2012), which will allow for a contextually sensitive understanding of queer experiences in China. This approach will enable us to examine how Ha Jin utilized the rhetorical and linguistic markers of China English to explore historical attitudes towards queerness during the post-Cultural Revolution period. These markers include the use of local idioms and culturally-localized rhetorical moves to render a uniquely Chinese queer identity.

Queer English Language Teacher Identity: A Narrative Exploration in Colombia

This article presents partial results of research exploring links between language teacher identity and queer identity in English language teachers working in Colombia. Three gay male teachers participated in a narrative research project framed within a poststructural perspective on identity. I conducted and recorded semi-structured interviews with the participants and then carried out a thematic analysis of these interviews which led to the emergence of three main themes. Here, I present the most prevalent theme, that of being a gay language teacher in the Colombian context which reveals that the participants all live their queer identity alongside their language teacher identity with ease although they do recount instances of homophobia which have impacted their day-to-day lives and their careers.

Opposition as victimhood in newspaper debates about same-sex marriage

In this article, we take a queer linguistics approach to the analysis of data from British newspaper articles that discuss the introduction of same-sex marriage. Drawing on methods from critical discourse analysis (CDA) and corpus linguistics, we focus on the construction of agency in relation to the government extending marriage to same-sex couples, and those resisting this. We show that opponents to same-sex marriage are represented and represent themselves as victims whose moral values, traditions and civil liberties are being threatened by the state. Specifically, we argue that victimhood is invoked in a way that both enables and permits discourses of implicit homophobia.

“How my hair look?”

AbstractThis article builds on research in queer linguistics and linguistic scholarship on race in the media to examine the semiotic representation of race, gender, and sexuality inThe Wire, often considered one of the most “authentic” media representations of Blackness. Based on an analysis of the entire series, the article argues that this authenticity effect is partly due to the show’s complex African American characters, who reflect a range of gendered and sexual subjectivities. The analysis focuses on three queer Black characters onThe Wirewho are represented as both “authentically queer” in their social worlds and “authentically Black” in their language. However, the semiotic authenticity of the series is linked to its reification of familiar stereotypes of Blackness, especially hyperviolence and hypermasculinity. Thus, these characters both contest and complicate traditional representations of queerness and gender while reinforcing problematic representations of Blackness for its largely white, affluent target audience.

“Building a thick skin for each other”

Abstract Although queer linguistics has long acknowledged the playful use of potentially impolite utterances by LGBT people to build in-group solidarity these practices have not been analyzed from a sociopragmatic approach, nor have they been mentioned in the general pragmatics literature. Responding to these two gaps, the present study examines the functional use of the interactional practice ‘reading’ in the backstage talk of four drag queen performers. By employing a mock impoliteness analytical framework (Haugh & Bousfield 2012) this study shows how these utterances, which could potentially be evaluated as genuine impoliteness outside of the appropriate context, are positively evaluated by in-group members who recognize the importance of “building a thick skin” to face a hostile environment from LGBT and non-LGBT people. This study also seeks to draw attention to the use of backstage talk, and supplemental interview data, to uncover drag queen cultural practices through language use.

Queer contestation of neoliberal and heteronormative moral geographies during #occupygezi

During the summer of 2013, Turkey witnessed the largest protest movement in the history of the republic. The protests began with environmentalist concerns to save a public park in central Istanbul, Gezi Park, from becoming a shopping mall. However, in a matter of days, the protests turned into a reaction against what many protestors perceived to be the authoritarian rule of the prime minister at the time. While the mainstream protest discourses focused on reacting against such perceptions, which produced sexist and heterosexist discourses, queer discourses were centered on celebrating coexistence and diversity through resistance. Drawing on literatures of queer theory that focus on queer space and moral geography, this article builds on Foucault’s notion of heterotopic space. Using queer linguistics to investigate blog posts that were written at the time of the protest by queer individuals who were taking part in protest, this article investigates the ways in which queer discourses construct the moral geography of the Gezi Park and at the same time challenge neoliberal and heteronormative moral geographies.

Gay language: Impact on colloquial communication in Barangay Sto.Tomas, City of Binanm Laguna

Many communication disputes and misunderstandings came from not being able to understand a culture that is different than the one that people are comfortable. When a person is trying to learn about another sub culture that is different from their own understanding the speech style is important in order to learn about the other rules and norms within the group. It has been found out that homosexuals have vocabulary of their own popularly known as “Gay Language” that sets them apart from the mainstream heterosexual. In the Philippines, sexual orientation has become a moral, political and social issue of acceptability. This study determined the impact of gay language on colloquial communication in terms of understanding acceptability and usage in Barangay Sto. Tomas, City of Binan, Laguna. The study used the descriptive method of research since it can describe the situation objectively. The results revealed that there is no significant difference in the impact of gay language on colloquial communication when grouped according to age and gender.

10.52518/2017.14.1-05quilng

Using the framework of Pragmatics and Grice’s (2012) cooperative principle and conversational maxims, this paper dissects the gay language’s contextual meanings, and effects on narrative and characterization as used in Vice Ganda’s selected hit films. This paper also scrutinizes the socio-cultural-political implications of the use of gay language as manifested in the role and image of the gay-language-speaking characters and how these might actually reflect empowerment and/or oppression of gays in a heteronormative society. Analyses indicate that while the use of gay language may not be indicative of gays’ social class or status, it reflects the experience, culture and discipline in which the gay takes part. Further, while Vice Ganda’s brand of humor and personality are still apparent and that gay language was used to induce laughter, it cannot be denied that, amidst society’s minoritization of gays, there are deeper underlying meanings and significance for such use of gay language.

CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS AS QUEER LINGUISTICS: RELIGIOUS PRO- AND ANTI-LGBT EQUALITY FRAMING AND COUNTERFRAMING IN TWO LETTERS TO THE EDITOR IN THE CITY PRESS

This article is situated at the intersection of the applied linguistic fields of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), Collective Action Framing (CAF) and a sociolinguistic field recently referred to as “queer linguistics” (QL). Drawing on a qualitative method of analysis, the article investigates the discursive (re)production of religiously-motivated arguments in favour of and against LGBT equality in two letters to the editor in the City Press newspaper. The paper aims to illustrate the ways in which religiously-framed pro- and anti-LGBT-equality arguments are discursively constructed in public discourses, and to demonstrate the methodological overlap between CDA and QL, and between CDA and CAF. The article’s findings reveal that both the pro- and anti-LGBT-equality letters frame their religious arguments in ways that echo that which is predicted in the literature by making strategic use of lexical items, modifiers, implicature, presupposition, rhetorical devices, and attributive strategies; and that these discursive devices enable the realisation of the core framing tasks that are necessary for social mobilisation to varying extents. Further, the findings indicate that the anti-LGBT-equality letter is more explicit in its ideological positioning and framing tasks, and that it draws significantly more on disclaimers than the pro-LGBT-equality letter. Lastly, the discourse that is present in the diagnostic, prognostic and motivational framing tasks of the pro-LGBT-equality letter attempts to reframe and counterframe anti-LGBT-equality arguments by providing an alternative perspective of same-sex attraction within the religion frame.