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More About This Title Vox Popular: The Surprising Life of Language in the Media
English
Our favorite movies and TV shows feature indelible characters who tell us about themselves not just in what they say but in how they say it. The creative decisions behind these voices—such as what accent or dialect to use—offer rich data for sociolinguistic study. Ideal for students of language variation as well as general readers interested in media, Vox Popular is an engaging tour through the major issues of sociolinguistic study as heard in the voices from mass media.
• Provides readers with a unified and accessible picture of the interrelationships between language variation and the mass media
• Presents detailed original analyses of multiple audiovisual media sources
• Includes a broad methods chapter covering quantitative and qualitative methods in a style not available in any other textbook
• All theoretical terms are accessibly explained, with engaging examples, making it suitable for non-academics as well as undergraduate students
• Incorporates pedagogical textboxes throughout and includes sections dedicated to developing practical skills for the field
English
English
Preface and Acknowledgments vii
A Note on the Linguistic Conventions Used in Vox Popular x
Keywords Found in Each Chapter xiv
1 Language in a Mediated World 1
Mad Men in a Modern Family World 1
Why Does a Linguist Care about Mad Men or Modern Family? 3
Narrative Media as a Site for Linguistic Exploration 12
Language Variation in the Narrative Media 20
2 Exploring Language and Language Variation 25
Introduction 25
Languages and Dialects 27
The Components of a Grammar 32
All the Systems Work as a System 34
Systems of Variation 40
Language Change 47
3 Studying Language Variation in the Media 55
Introduction 55
Formulating a Research Question 56
Turning Narrative Media into Data 57
Analytic Orientation 58
Transcribing Your Data 61
Coding Your Data 66
Constructing a Corpus 69
Quantitative Methods 70
Qualitative Methods 75
Triangulating Your Evidence with Different Analytic Approaches 82
4 Dimensions of Variation 85
Introduction 85
Non-Linguistic/Linguistic 90
Spoken/Written 93
Non-Standard/Standard 97
Informal/Formal 101
Unplanned/Planned 104
Local/Global 107
Private/Public 110
Putting It All Together 114
5 Making Language Variation Meaningful 119
Introduction 119
Meaning 120
Indexical Meaning 124
Ideology 130
Ideology about Language 133
Ideology, Indexicality, and Power 138
6 Language Variation and Characterization 154
Introduction 154
Characterization and Language 156
Realness and Authenticity 160
Identity and Identification 163
Relational Identity 164
Norms and Types 168
Social Personae 172
Indexical Authenticity 176
7 Language as Narrative Action 183
Introduction 183
Performance and Speech Acts 185
Language as a Plot Device 193
Switching as Action 196
Taboo Language as Action 205
8 Connecting to the Audience 221
Introduction 221
Audiences 222
Audience Design 226
Setting Expectations for Viewers 230
Enregisterment 236
Stylization 242
Interacting with Audiovisual Media 246
The End 253
Index 258
English
"In our times, film and television show America talking in a more realistic way every year, and it's high time someone wrote a book on language and society that puts MODERN FAMILY, BOYZ N THE HOOD and much else front and center as useful sources of discussion on how America talks and why. Robin Queen has done the job." –John H. McWhorter, Columbia University
“Robin Queen's Vox Popular manages to do many things at once, and with finesse: it introduces the study of language in its social context in a way that will be accessible to non-linguists; it establishes an approachable, achievable methodology for the study of language in the media that is theoretically sound; and it provides a treasure-trove of material gathered over many years that will be invaluable for anyone teaching these subjects. There are years of work distilled into a readable, useful whole about one of the least studied and most promising areas of research: the role that mediated language plays in constructing social identities, from Donald Duck to Breaking Bad and beyond.” –Rosina Lippi-Green, author of English with an Accent: Language, Ideology and Discrimination in the U.S.
"Not only an important contribution to media studies but the kind of book that makes you want to design a new course specifically in order to use it as a text. A pleasure to read!” –Barbara Johnstone, Carnegie Mellon University
“Vox Popular convincingly shows that in our media-saturated world, linguistics and cultural studies need each other. Students and faculty in both fields will learn a great deal from this insightful and engrossing text.” –Mary Bucholtz, University of California, Santa Barbara
