Language and gender

In this section first Andrea Ágnes Reményi summarises some basic lines of research, in the past forty years, of the interconnections between language and gender, including variationist sociolinguistics, naming and representation, and the analysis of interaction.  Susan Gal’s influential article is a critical summary of earlier, pre-1990 research, arguing that the links between silence, gender, and power are culturally constructed, and that the diverse genres of linguistic practices are often the sites of struggle over their definition.  Introducing the framework of the community of practice, Mary Bucholtz evaluates it in comparison with the concept of the speech community.  The framework is employed in the analysis of the nerd social identity, illustrating how a community of nerd girls negotiate their identity through practice, including their gender identity.  Finally, Deborah Cameron analyses how and why a style (resembling the popular notion about “women’s language”) is prescribed to call-centre operators in Britain.  The valorisation of the “feminine” communication style in the service sector is seen as a consequence of economic globalisation.

Released: Replika 45–46, 153–160.
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