“Whenever we pull the race card, they can be like: ‘De quoi vous parlez?’”
Constructing stance through code-switching in reported speech
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25071/2564-2855.18Keywords:
reported speech, code-switching, discourse analysis, construction of stanceAbstract
This research focuses on code-switching in reported speech as a tool to construct stance. It has been argued that reported speech can never be recontextualized (i.e., removing fragments of a discourse from its original context to insert it in another one) without changing the meaning of it, thus creating intertextual gaps—discrepancies between the original meaning of a speech event and the meaning of the reported speech in its new context. Speakers can insert their own stance in a quoted speech using a variety of linguistic features such as code-switching, i.e., shifting languages within utterances. My data is drawn from a podcast episode hosted by two women who code-switch between French and English. My results show that the language choice and the code-switching are motivated by their attitude towards the person quoted, more specifically whether they support them or not.
References
Auer, P. (1995). The pragmatics of code-switching: A sequential approach. In L. Milroy & P. Muysken (Eds.), One speaker, two languages: Cross-disciplinary perspectives on code-switching (pp. 115–135). Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511620867.006
Bakhtin, M. (1981). The dialogic imagination: Four essays (M. Holquist, Ed.; C. Emerson, Trans.; 18. paperback printing). Univ. of Texas Press.
Briggs, C. L., & Bauman, R. (1992). Genre, intertextuality, and social power. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 2(2), 131–172. https://doi.org/10.1525/jlin.1992.2.2.131 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/jlin.1992.2.2.131
Buttny, R. (1997). Reported speech in talking race on campus. Human Communication Research, 23(4), 477–506. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.1997.tb00407.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.1997.tb00407.x
Frick, M., & Riionheimo, H. (2013). Bilingual voicing: A study of code-switching in the reported speech of Finnish immigrants in Estonia. Multilingua, 32(5). https://doi.org/10.1515/multi-2013-0028 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/multi-2013-0028
Goffman, E. (1979). Footing. Semiotica, 25(1–2), 1–30. https://doi.org/10.1515/semi.1979.25.1-2.1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/semi.1979.25.1-2.1
Gumperz, J. J. (1982). Discourse strategies. Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511611834
Günthner, S. (1999). Polyphony and the ‘layering of voices’ in reported dialogues: An analysis of the use of prosodic devices in everyday reported speech. Journal of Pragmatics, 31(5), 685–708. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(98)00093-9 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(98)00093-9
Hodges, A. (2015). Intertextuality in Discourse. In D. Tannen, H. E. Hamilton, & D. Schiffrin (Eds.), The handbook of discourse analysis (Second edition, pp. 42–60). Wiley Blackwell. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118584194.ch2
Mason, M. (2015). The role of interpreters in adjudicating blame: An examination of clitics and active-passive voice in a Spanish-English bilingual criminal trial. Translation and Interpreting Studies, 10(2), 187–202. https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.10.2.02mas DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.10.2.02mas
Matoesian, G. (2000). Intertextual authority in reported speech: Production media in the Kennedy Smith rape trial. Journal of Pragmatics, 32(7), 879–914. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(99)00080-6 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(99)00080-6
Poplack, S. (1980). Sometimes I’ll start a sentence in Spanish y termino en español: Toward a typology of code-switching. Linguistics, 18(7–8). https://doi.org/10.1515/ling.1980.18.7-8.581 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ling.1980.18.7-8.581
Sarkar, M., Winer, L., & Sarkar, K. (2005). Multilingual code-switching in Montreal hip-hop: Mayhem meets method or, “Tout moune qui talk trash kiss mon black ass du nord.” ISB4: Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Bilingualism, 19.
Tannen, D. (2007). Talking voices: Repetition, dialogue, and imagery in conversational discourse (2nd ed). Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511618987
Tovares, A. (2006). Public medium, private talk: Gossip about a TV show as ‘quotidian hermeneutics.’ Text & Talk - An Interdisciplinary Journal of Language, Discourse Communication Studies, 26(4–5), 463–491. https://doi.org/10.1515/TEXT.2006.019 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/TEXT.2006.019
Tovares, A. (2007). Family members interacting while watching TV. In D. Tannen, S. Kendall, & C. Gordon (Eds.), Family Talk (pp. 283–310). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195313895.001.0001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195313895.003.0011
Usito. (n.d.-a). Cute. In Usito. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://usito.usherbrooke.ca/définitions/cute
Usito. (n.d.-b). Fun. In Usito. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://usito.usherbrooke.ca/définitions/fun
Valenti, E. (2014). “Nous autres c’est toujours bilingue anyways”: Code-switching and linguistic displacement among bilingual Montréal students. American Review of Canadian Studies, 44(3), 279–292. https://doi.org/10.1080/02722011.2014.939423 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02722011.2014.939423
Voloshinov, V. N. (1986). Marxism and the philosophy of language. Harvard University Press.
Woke or whateva. (2020, September 14). Finding our identity as Black Montrealers/Trouver notre identité de Noir.e.s Montréalais.e.s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXZzOkPbN_U
Woke or whateva. (2021, October 22). La saison la plus raciste d’OD/The most racist OD season yet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAsRTv3lYJw
Woke or whateva—YouTube. (n.d.). Retrieved December 21, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/
Wokeorwhateva. (n.d.). Woke or whateva [YouTube Channel]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/c/Wokeorwhateva
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Marianne Laplante
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material
Under the following terms:
-
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
-
NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
