The emergence of American English as a discursive variety

Do speakers’ identity constructions influence the emergence of new varieties of a language? This question is at the heart of a debate about how the process of the emergence of postcolonial varieties of English can best be modeled. This volume contributes to the debate by linking it to models and theories proposed by anthropological linguists, sociolinguists and discourse linguists who view identity as a social and cultural phenomenon that is produced through linguistic and other social practices. Language is seen as essential for identity constructions because speakers use linguistic forms that index social ‘personae’ as well as specific social practices and values to convey an image of self to other speakers. Based on the theory of enregisterment that models the cultural and discursive process of the creation of indexical links between linguistic forms and social values, the argument is made that any model of the emergence of new varieties needs to differentiate carefully between a structural level and a discursive level. What emerges on the discursive level as a result of processes of enregisterment is a ‘discursive variety’. The volume illustrates how the emergence of a discursive variety can be systematically studied in a historical context by focusing on the enregisterment of American English as it can be observed in nineteenth-century U.S. newspapers. Using a discourse-linguistic methodological framework and two large databases containing close to 78 million newspaper articles, the study reveals a complex pattern of indexical links between the phonological forms /h/-dropping and -insertion, yod-dropping, a lengthened and backened bath vowel, non-rhoticity, a realization of prevocalic /r/ as a labiodental approximant as well as the lexical items baggage and pants on the one hand and social values centering around nationality, authenticity and non-specificity on the other hand. Qualitative analyses uncover the social personae associated with the linguistic forms (e.g. the American cowboy, the African American mammy and the ‘Anglo-maniac’ American dude), while quantitative analyses trace the development over time and show that the enregisterment processes were widespread and not restricted to a particular region

The emergence of American English as a discursive variety

Do speakers’ identity constructions influence the emergence of new varieties of a language? This question is at the heart of a debate about how the process of the emergence of postcolonial varieties of English can best be modeled. This volume contributes to the debate by linking it to models and theories proposed by anthropological linguists, sociolinguists and discourse linguists who view identity as a social and cultural phenomenon that is produced through linguistic and other social practices. Language is seen as essential for identity constructions because speakers use linguistic forms that index social ‘personae’ as well as specific social practices and values to convey an image of self to other speakers. Based on the theory of enregisterment that models the cultural and discursive process of the creation of indexical links between linguistic forms and social values, the argument is made that any model of the emergence of new varieties needs to differentiate carefully between a structural level and a discursive level. What emerges on the discursive level as a result of processes of enregisterment is a ‘discursive variety’. The volume illustrates how the emergence of a discursive variety can be systematically studied in a historical context by focusing on the enregisterment of American English as it can be observed in nineteenth-century U.S. newspapers. Using a discourse-linguistic methodological framework and two large databases containing close to 78 million newspaper articles, the study reveals a complex pattern of indexical links between the phonological forms /h/-dropping and -insertion, yod-dropping, a lengthened and backened bath vowel, non-rhoticity, a realization of prevocalic /r/ as a labiodental approximant as well as the lexical items baggage and pants on the one hand and social values centering around nationality, authenticity and non-specificity on the other hand. Qualitative analyses uncover the social personae associated with the linguistic forms (e.g. the American cowboy, the African American mammy and the ‘Anglo-maniac’ American dude), while quantitative analyses trace the development over time and show that the enregisterment processes were widespread and not restricted to a particular region

Visualising the experiences of working part time postgraduates: A meteoric juggling of worlds

Universities in the United Kingdom have witnessed, but largely ignored the continued decline in part-time mature students. Firmly focused on young full-time undergraduate learners the recruitment, retention and achievement of postgraduate Masters students has largely been left to chance. This study explores the individual experiences of five working part-time postgraduate students enrolled on a taught Masters course at a large northern post-1992 university. The thesis seeks to make their experiences visible and their voices heard. Adapting visual narrative methodology, the participant stories of their experiences and transitions are retold and visualised. Creatively combining photo-elicitation method and geotagged experience maps the colour, vibrancy, depth of the stories comes to life. The data we co-constructed was analysed to provide both individual participant stories and a collective social worlds narrative of part-time postgraduate experience informed by social worlds perspective. Returning to study the participants found themselves disorientated, overwhelmed and unsure of the expectations, practices and discourse of postgraduate study. It took varying lengths of time for the participants to feel more confident and stop questioning their entitlement and belonging in the part-time postgraduate world. The excitement and enthusiasm expressed by most participants provided some balance within their stories. All were positive about progressing their careers and transferring their learning into the other areas of their life. There was a definite message of transition and self-transformation as participants developed strategies to manage and embed the part-time postgraduate world within their individually patterned social worlds space (SWS). Each SWS comprised a unique constellation of social worlds, multiple memberships, borders, and intersections which affected how and to what extent the individual participated and performed their social roles in each social world. Without doubt becoming a part-time postgraduate learner was a meteoric juggling of worlds

Secondary school realities

This is a symbolic interactionist account of certain aspects of life in a rural Secondary Modern School. A study of its subject choice system suggested two broad group perspectives among the pupils, one supportive of, the other rather indifferent towards school. These perspectives were reflected among the parents to some degree, along social class lines. There was considerable teacher direction, behind a rhetoric of choice. The many-sided nature of pupils' interests and reactions among curriculum, school and teachers was revealed. Three major categories of pupils’ existence ere examined — ’working’, ’having a laugh’, and ’being shown up'. All of those are shown to have a rational base and to be the product of complex negotiations. Teacher realities at the school are also categorized into three major, and highly contrasting areas of activity, namely ’surviving’, ’being professionals’, and ’being persons’. Much of the teacher’s classroom activity appears to have ’survival’ as the major goal, often under cover of ’teaching’. In other instances, for example when writing school reports, teachers act as 'professionals’, articulating ideal models of pupils and their expertise as teachers. In the staffroom, however, school matters are often viewed through a different perspective, not out of character with that employed in the private, as opposed to public sphere of life. As with the pupils, laughter is a key element. The thesis points to the effects of institutional forms upon the individual and upon relationships, over and above the considerable influence of external forces

Identity and Intersectionality: The Critical Autoethnography of a "Transplant" Teacher in Hawai‘i.

Ph.D. Thesis. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa 2017

One along side the other : the collected letters of William Carlos Williams and Kenneth Burke

The collected letters of William Carlos Williams and Kenneth Burke from the Beineke Library at Yale, the Pattee Library at The Pennsylvania State University, and the Kenneth Burke estate, which span the entire forty-two years .of their relationship from 1921-1962, have been collected, collated, annotated, and introduced. The introduction describes their first meeting, offers a brief look at their lives and works, and contrasts their relationship with that of the attenuated image created by the John C. Thirlwall Selected Letters of William Carlos Williams (1957). The introduction goes on to examine the nature of their relationship as reflected by The Collected Letters and information gathered from interviews with Kenneth Burke, Michael Burke, and Bill Williams, Jr., as well as other sources and concludes with a brief characterization of the nature of their collaboration

The Social Ethic of Religiously Unaffiliated Spirituality

Since the sixties, sweeping social change has led to a massive restructuring of North American religious life. This includes the emergence of privatized forms of religiosity that operate without an institutional context. This trend is captured by the growing prevalence of individuals who describe themselves as ‘spiritual but not religious’. Despite its popularity, critics worry that privatized religiosity is undermining more socially responsive forms of traditional religious engagement. They think that private religion does not lead to the types of face-to-face interactions needed to build social trust and foster a vibrant public sphere. In short, they think it lacks social capital. Following Robert Putnam, I investigate how much social capital Canadians who I describe as ‘spiritual definitely not religious’ (SDNR) produce relative to the religiously committed and average Canadians. Specifically, I measure the levels of 1) social trust, 2) involvement in civic associations, 3) volunteerism, 4) charitable giving, and 4) political engagement (e.g. voting) present among individuals who say spirituality is important to them, but who do not belong to a religious group. Research methods included 32 in-person interviews and an online questionnaire circulated across Canada. My results suggest that SDNRs are high in social trust, and in some cases, their rate of participation in associational activities is higher than 1) the average Canadian and 2) the religiously committed. They do not surpass the religiously committed, however, in terms of formal volunteering, charitable giving, and electoral political activities. To some extent, this challenges Putnam’s contention that high social trust drives formal associational and political engagement. To account for this, I argue that SDNRs are ‘expressive-postmaterialists’. The confluence of their monism, expressivism and postmaterialism—described in the theories of sociologist of religion Steve Tipton, and political scientist Ronald Inglehart—shape their socio-political morality. As such, their social values and style of political engagement are in many cases, distinctive from the religiously committed. I suggest that future research will want to explore how SDNRs’ moral orientation coincides with alternative avenues of social and political engagement, and how these might be considered potential sources of social capital

The Viet Nam Generation Big Book

An anthology of essays, narrative, poetry and graphics published in lieu of a 1993 issue of Viet Nam Generation, intended to be used as a textbook for teaching about the 1960s. Edited by Dan Duffy and Kali Tal. Contributing editors: Renny Christopher. David DeRose, Alan Farrell. Cynthia Fuchs, William M. King. Bill Shields, Tony Williams, and David Willson

Mediating Opera for America: Magazine Biographies, Opera Singers and National Identity

How can singers in an art form imported from Europe become stars in a culture like America where so-called “high art” in general and opera in particular are not natural candidates for popular stardom? This dissertation argues that magazines, as mainstream media, have played an important role over time in representing opera singers as viable celebrities for national attention and as contributors to American cultural achievement. Using Bourdieu’s theory, I argue that opera represents an international cultural field in which the United States was historically a periphery. America participated by importing singers and later by establishing an institution similar to national operas in European capitals—the Metropolitan Opera of New York City. Given that no American operas or composers are represented in the canon, I expected that performers at the Met would represent America’s contribution to opera as a cultural field. A systematic selection of the first magazine article representing over 130 singers, half of whom were American, was analyzed for its reproduction of the cultural field. Biographical and story elements were identified to explain how the opera singer could be presented as a viable American celebrity. The analysis offers the following results. Eighty-five percent of the articles incorporate the Metropolitan Opera and a majority feature performances of standard repertoire. All exceptions are American singers. The stereotypes of opera singers as fat and effeminate are mediated through asserting the Americanness of slim women and heterosexual cues. Black American singers are portrayed with far more qualifications for legitimacy than white singers and their race is most often the stated occasion for the magazine story. An analysis of over 20 magazine cover stories for opera superstars yields a pattern of mediation that glamorizes the all-American girl as the American contribution to opera as a cultural field. The alternation of this discourse with the periodic rise of non-American superstar tenors is related to both media developments and closure of master narratives about the eventual international triumph of the American opera soprano