The voice of (White) reason
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Barbra A. Meek
Abstract
This chapter argues that the power of “covert racist discourses” lies in the obscurity of authorship and the interpellation of readership along with the tacit preconditions of their enunciation. Drawing on Jane H. Hill’s concern with the practices of enunciation (2008), this chapter explores the ways in which conceptualizations of difference and unity are enunciated beyond clearly defined institutional domains. It analyzes the semiotic elements deployed in electronically-circulating jokes with American Indian characters and shows how such jokes re-inscribe tropes of conquest. Furthermore, the discourse emanating from such characterizations maintain a particular type of citizen as quintessential and perpetuate the already difficult struggle people of color, especially American Indians, face with respect to recognition, legitimation, and citizenship in “White” domains.
Abstract
This chapter argues that the power of “covert racist discourses” lies in the obscurity of authorship and the interpellation of readership along with the tacit preconditions of their enunciation. Drawing on Jane H. Hill’s concern with the practices of enunciation (2008), this chapter explores the ways in which conceptualizations of difference and unity are enunciated beyond clearly defined institutional domains. It analyzes the semiotic elements deployed in electronically-circulating jokes with American Indian characters and shows how such jokes re-inscribe tropes of conquest. Furthermore, the discourse emanating from such characterizations maintain a particular type of citizen as quintessential and perpetuate the already difficult struggle people of color, especially American Indians, face with respect to recognition, legitimation, and citizenship in “White” domains.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Preface xi
- Introduction xxi
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Section 1. Approaches to the study of the indigenous languages of the Americas
- The diachrony of Ute case-marking 3
- Language contact as an inhibitor of sound change 29
- Stress in Yucatec Maya 53
- The phonetic correlates of Southern Ute stress 85
- Revisiting Tohono O’odham high vowels 107
- Head-marking inflection and the architecture of grammatical theory 133
- A case-study in grass roots development of web resources for language workers 175
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Section 2. Approaches to the study of voices and ideologies
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Language contact, shift, and endangerment – implications for policy
- Spanish in contact with indigenous tongues 203
- How can a language with 7 million speakers be endangered? 229
- A documentary ethnography of a Blackfoot language course 257
- Syncretic speech, linguistic ideology, and intertextuality 291
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Racism in discourse – analyses of practice
- Narrative discriminations in Central California’s indigenous narrative traditions 321
- The voice of (White) reason 339
- Double-voicing in the everyday language of Brazilian black activism 365
- Uptake (un)limited 389
- The silken cord 415
- Afterword 425
- Language index 431
- Subject index 433
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Preface xi
- Introduction xxi
-
Section 1. Approaches to the study of the indigenous languages of the Americas
- The diachrony of Ute case-marking 3
- Language contact as an inhibitor of sound change 29
- Stress in Yucatec Maya 53
- The phonetic correlates of Southern Ute stress 85
- Revisiting Tohono O’odham high vowels 107
- Head-marking inflection and the architecture of grammatical theory 133
- A case-study in grass roots development of web resources for language workers 175
-
Section 2. Approaches to the study of voices and ideologies
-
Language contact, shift, and endangerment – implications for policy
- Spanish in contact with indigenous tongues 203
- How can a language with 7 million speakers be endangered? 229
- A documentary ethnography of a Blackfoot language course 257
- Syncretic speech, linguistic ideology, and intertextuality 291
-
Racism in discourse – analyses of practice
- Narrative discriminations in Central California’s indigenous narrative traditions 321
- The voice of (White) reason 339
- Double-voicing in the everyday language of Brazilian black activism 365
- Uptake (un)limited 389
- The silken cord 415
- Afterword 425
- Language index 431
- Subject index 433
