It\u27s gems like this that make me wish I hadn\u27t left Ireland: humorous representations of Irish English and their role in diasporic identities

The full text of this book chapter will not be available in ULIR until the embargo expires on the 20/01/2021In this chapter, we discuss the role of humorous texts in bringing to our attention aspects of perceived identities that have resonance at local, regional and national levels in Ireland, and beyond. In doing so, we assert the rich potential of these texts to bring into the foreground evidence of the sorts of sociocultural understandings required for humour to operate, and emphasise the potential of performative data to enhance our awareness of language practices around ideologies and identities (Moriarty 2011: 550). Humour is a complex phenomenon in social life more generally, and a pragmatically powerful and polyvalent resource in interaction more specifically (Vaughan and Clancy 2011). We present and analyse extracts from a series of animated cartoons, Martin’s Life, and build on our previous research which focuses on representations of voices within the Irish (English) mediascape (Vaughan and Moriarty 2018). What these representations can offer in terms of insights into conceptions of ‘Irishness’ vis-àvis the constellation of semiotic resources invoked to index aspects of identities is explored. The locus of humour in these texts, and the use of marked phonological, lexical, pragmatic, and other discursive features, in combination with other semiotic modes (Bateman 2008), questions can be asked and answers essayed on the ways in which these are used to perform and hence provide a visible indexing of (perceived) sociocultural traits and identities. The response of the audience is a crucial dimension in our analysis, and we include discussion of You Tube comments beneath the videos as an example of a key contemporary “reflexive arena” where “the use of heterogeneous stylistic resources, context-sensitive meanings, and conflicting ideologies...can be examined critically” (Bauman and Briggs 1990: 60) in that the performances can be commented upon, ratified and contested within these discursive spaces. We take up the ethnolinguistic approach to identity exemplified in Atkinson and Kelly-Holmes (2011), and similarly explore how ‘comedy constructs the audience in relation to identity and language and in particular whether the messages of the comedy appear to subvert or legitimise dominant beliefs and practice as regards identity and language ownership in Ireland’ (p. 251), albeit from the point of view of Irish English identities, rather than ownership and control of the Irish language in Ireland.ACCEPTEDPeer reviewe

Voicing the \u27knacker\u27 : analysing the comedy of the Rubberbandits.

This chapter discusses mediated representations of voice in the performances of the Rubberbandits, a comedy duo from Limerick in Ireland. Limerick is a city with a national reputation for social disadvantage and criminal gangs, and the Rubberbandits\u27 particular brand of satirical and musical comedy is based on the inner-city urban identity of Limerick. They appropriate and localise rap and hip hop genres to the context of Limerick city in their original music, and a strong element of the absurd runs through their other comedy performances. A kind of sociocultural heteroglossia surrounds their performances: the real-life voices of the Rubberbandits are radically different to the alter-egos they inhabit as part of their performance. However, although their actual identities are known, the Rubberbandits always appear incognito, with plastic bags covering their faces, and when interviewed stay in the characters of their alter-egos, Mr Chrome and Blind Boy Boat Club. Their comedy, we argue, is a site where engagement and management of social relations are evident, and where hegemonic discourses surrounding voices from the margins of Limerick city are challenged, particularly in their dismantling/challenging of the vaguely defined social construct, knacker - a construct which is very roughly analogous to chav in the UK. The humour of the Rubberbandits can be read in terms of ideologies of class distinction and their deliberate lampooning of aspects of working class Limerick has the potential to amend misinformed or misrepresented ideas of Limerick city. We examine the linguistic and semiotic resources the Rubberbandits draw on to voice the \u27Limerick knacker\u27 and use corpus tools combined with theoretical frameworks from contemporary sociolinguistics to deconstruct and interpret the performances.Peer reviewe

Voicing the 'knacker' : analysing the comedy of the Rubberbandits.

This chapter discusses mediated representations of voice in the performances of the Rubberbandits, a comedy duo from Limerick in Ireland. Limerick is a city with a national reputation for social disadvantage and criminal gangs, and the Rubberbandits' particular brand of satirical and musical comedy is based on the inner-city urban identity of Limerick. They appropriate and localise rap and hip hop genres to the context of Limerick city in their original music, and a strong element of the absurd runs through their other comedy performances. A kind of sociocultural heteroglossia surrounds their performances: the real-life voices of the Rubberbandits are radically different to the alter-egos they inhabit as part of their performance. However, although their actual identities are known, the Rubberbandits always appear incognito, with plastic bags covering their faces, and when interviewed stay in the characters of their alter-egos, Mr Chrome and Blind Boy Boat Club. Their comedy, we argue, is a site where engagement and management of social relations are evident, and where hegemonic discourses surrounding voices from the margins of Limerick city are challenged, particularly in their dismantling/challenging of the vaguely defined social construct, knacker - a construct which is very roughly analogous to chav in the UK. The humour of the Rubberbandits can be read in terms of ideologies of class distinction and their deliberate lampooning of aspects of working class Limerick has the potential to amend misinformed or misrepresented ideas of Limerick city. We examine the linguistic and semiotic resources the Rubberbandits draw on to voice the 'Limerick knacker' and use corpus tools combined with theoretical frameworks from contemporary sociolinguistics to deconstruct and interpret the performances

Introduction: Language, learning and teaching: Irish research perspectives

no abstract availabl

It's gems like this that make me wish I hadn't left Ireland: humorous representations of Irish English and their role in diasporic identities

In this chapter, we discuss the role of humorous texts in bringing to our attention aspects of perceived identities that have resonance at local, regional and national levels in Ireland, and beyond. In doing so, we assert the rich potential of these texts to bring into the foreground evidence of the sorts of sociocultural understandings required for humour to operate, and emphasise the potential of performative data to enhance our awareness of language practices around ideologies and identities (Moriarty 2011: 550). Humour is a complex phenomenon in social life more generally, and a pragmatically powerful and polyvalent resource in interaction more specifically (Vaughan and Clancy 2011). We present and analyse extracts from a series of animated cartoons, Martin’s Life, and build on our previous research which focuses on representations of voices within the Irish (English) mediascape (Vaughan and Moriarty 2018). What these representations can offer in terms of insights into conceptions of ‘Irishness’ vis-àvis the constellation of semiotic resources invoked to index aspects of identities is explored. The locus of humour in these texts, and the use of marked phonological, lexical, pragmatic, and other discursive features, in combination with other semiotic modes (Bateman 2008), questions can be asked and answers essayed on the ways in which these are used to perform and hence provide a visible indexing of (perceived) sociocultural traits and identities. The response of the audience is a crucial dimension in our analysis, and we include discussion of You Tube comments beneath the videos as an example of a key contemporary “reflexive arena” where “the use of heterogeneous stylistic resources, context-sensitive meanings, and conflicting ideologies...can be examined critically” (Bauman and Briggs 1990: 60) in that the performances can be commented upon, ratified and contested within these discursive spaces. We take up the ethnolinguistic approach to identity exemplified in Atkinson and Kelly-Holmes (2011), and similarly explore how ‘comedy constructs the audience in relation to identity and language and in particular whether the messages of the comedy appear to subvert or legitimise dominant beliefs and practice as regards identity and language ownership in Ireland’ (p. 251), albeit from the point of view of Irish English identities, rather than ownership and control of the Irish language in Ireland