Event overview
Language, identity and intersectionality: Analysing race in the talk of LGBTQ+ youth
In this talk, I consider the role of intersectionality by examining the relevance of race on the construction of LGBTQ+ identities. Using discourse analysis informed by a sociocultural linguistics approach, I consider the talk of young LGBTQ+ people from a range of backgrounds and inhabiting varied racialised categories. The young people are members of four different LGBTQ+ youth groups in England and were interviewed as part of an ethnographic research project.
I present conversations in which they talk about various aspects of queer culture as they have experienced it; these include young people of colour describing the intricate ways that racism and homophobia combine to inform their experience as queer people, and young white people expressing their view that racism is less of a social problem than homophobia.
In analysing these moments, I aim to demonstrate what the young people’s identity constructions reveal about broader ideologies surrounding LGBTQ+ identity and experience. I argue that the data demonstrate how structural racism in queer culture (as in broader society) works to marginalise those who are not white. I use this to argue for intersectional analyses of language and identity construction which highlight speakers’ experiences of marginalisation and privilege, and which reveal how different people’s lives are constrained by structures of power and oppression.
Dr Lucy Jones is an Associate Professor in Sociolinguistics at the University of Nottingham. She is a discourse analyst and linguistic ethnographer working on a range of topics relevant to language, gender and sexuality. Her published research includes normativity and identity construction amongst LGBTQ+ youth, homophobic discourse in relation to same-sex marriage and HIV prevention, analysis of YouTube videos by trans vloggers, and older lesbians’ identity construction. Her current projects include a study of identity and intersectionality in British LGBTQ+ youth groups and critical discourse analysis of how trans athletes in elite sport are represented within the news media.
Microsoft Teams meeting (see link below)
Meeting ID: 353 414 453 317
Passcode: 5ek5pB
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Feb 2024 | 4:00pm - 5:00pm |
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