Chapter 12. Alternative place naming in the diverse margins of an ideologically mono-lingual society
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Pia Quist
Abstract
This chapter presents an analysis of the sociolinguistic practice of giving places unofficial names, i.e. the practice of ‘alternative place naming’. The theoretical starting point is a discussion of ‘place’ as a topical challenge in sociolinguistics. While place as a holder of linguistic variation can be criticized and links between people, languages and places can be deconstructed as symbolic formations, strong ideologies of monolingualism and a place-people-language unity remain to dominate in society. The chapter studies this encounter between the national ideological construction of a mono-lingual society on the one hand and the practice based polylingual reality of young people on the other. Analyses of hip-hop and graffiti practices in Copenhagen, Denmark, suggest that alternative place naming may be a means of managing diversity in the context of a monolingualism ideology. Through the use of unofficial names, the young people create their own symbolic links between themselves, their places and languages.
Abstract
This chapter presents an analysis of the sociolinguistic practice of giving places unofficial names, i.e. the practice of ‘alternative place naming’. The theoretical starting point is a discussion of ‘place’ as a topical challenge in sociolinguistics. While place as a holder of linguistic variation can be criticized and links between people, languages and places can be deconstructed as symbolic formations, strong ideologies of monolingualism and a place-people-language unity remain to dominate in society. The chapter studies this encounter between the national ideological construction of a mono-lingual society on the one hand and the practice based polylingual reality of young people on the other. Analyses of hip-hop and graffiti practices in Copenhagen, Denmark, suggest that alternative place naming may be a means of managing diversity in the context of a monolingualism ideology. Through the use of unofficial names, the young people create their own symbolic links between themselves, their places and languages.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Chapter 1. Introduction 1
-
Part I. Interpersonal relations, place, and belonging
- Chapter 2. The boundaries of belonging 17
- Chapter 3. Language socialization and making sense of place 27
- Chapter 4. Cité Duits 55
- Chapter 5. Us, them and all the others 89
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Part II. Parodic performances from the margins
- Chapter 6. Playing against peripheralization 115
- Chapter 7. The politics of place-making and belonging through language choice within center-periphery dynamics in Limburg, The Netherlands 125
- Chapter 8. Peripheral performances 149
- Chapter 9. What’s up in town 177
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Part III. Agency in linguistic place-making
- Chapter 10. Language, place, agency 207
- Chapter 11. Place-making and dialect 213
- Chapter 12. Alternative place naming in the diverse margins of an ideologically mono-lingual society 239
- Chapter 13. Yooperisms in tourism 261
- Subject index 287
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Chapter 1. Introduction 1
-
Part I. Interpersonal relations, place, and belonging
- Chapter 2. The boundaries of belonging 17
- Chapter 3. Language socialization and making sense of place 27
- Chapter 4. Cité Duits 55
- Chapter 5. Us, them and all the others 89
-
Part II. Parodic performances from the margins
- Chapter 6. Playing against peripheralization 115
- Chapter 7. The politics of place-making and belonging through language choice within center-periphery dynamics in Limburg, The Netherlands 125
- Chapter 8. Peripheral performances 149
- Chapter 9. What’s up in town 177
-
Part III. Agency in linguistic place-making
- Chapter 10. Language, place, agency 207
- Chapter 11. Place-making and dialect 213
- Chapter 12. Alternative place naming in the diverse margins of an ideologically mono-lingual society 239
- Chapter 13. Yooperisms in tourism 261
- Subject index 287