9 Irish identities in a fictional TV series: Mediatised performance of Derry English in Derry Girls
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Stephen Lucek
Abstract
By problematising the notion of national standard varieties of English, this study takes a corpus-based approach to analyse the non-standard features of Derry English used on the television programme Derry Girls and see how such features are used in mediatised representations of localised regional varieties to create fictionalised versions of authentic dialogue. In doing so, I will consider what linguistic features are part of an ‘educated speech’ community in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland that might otherwise be considered stigmatised. Juxtaposed against this study of a standard national variety, I will also consider what we know about the local variety of Derry English. This will include a review of what has been written about Derry English over the past 40 years and how the descriptive accounts might be viewed as a basis for what we read and hear in media. Specifically, this paper examines the language of the television programme Derry Girls to see how representative this is of what we know about Derry English. The central question then becomes, what can media performance of language show us about enregistered features of a variety? The analysis shows that the language used on Derry Girls is, on the whole, representative of Derry English, though this is driven by two actors, both of whom are originally from Derry. By considering the use of localised nonstandard features to create authentic fictional dialogue, or enregisterment, of Derry English in Derry Girls, I will consider what impact enregisterment has on pragmatic variation.
Abstract
By problematising the notion of national standard varieties of English, this study takes a corpus-based approach to analyse the non-standard features of Derry English used on the television programme Derry Girls and see how such features are used in mediatised representations of localised regional varieties to create fictionalised versions of authentic dialogue. In doing so, I will consider what linguistic features are part of an ‘educated speech’ community in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland that might otherwise be considered stigmatised. Juxtaposed against this study of a standard national variety, I will also consider what we know about the local variety of Derry English. This will include a review of what has been written about Derry English over the past 40 years and how the descriptive accounts might be viewed as a basis for what we read and hear in media. Specifically, this paper examines the language of the television programme Derry Girls to see how representative this is of what we know about Derry English. The central question then becomes, what can media performance of language show us about enregistered features of a variety? The analysis shows that the language used on Derry Girls is, on the whole, representative of Derry English, though this is driven by two actors, both of whom are originally from Derry. By considering the use of localised nonstandard features to create authentic fictional dialogue, or enregisterment, of Derry English in Derry Girls, I will consider what impact enregisterment has on pragmatic variation.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- 1 An introduction to sociopragmatic variation 1
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Part 1: Investigating sociolinguistic variables
- 2 The sociopragmatics of now in corpora of Irish English and Scottish English 11
- 3 Lookit – the story of a pragmatic marker in Irish English 31
- 4 ‘Er, yeah, no, bummer’: An exploration of the ‘new’ discourse pragmatic marker Yeah, No in contemporary Irish English fiction 45
- 5 New speakers of Irish English: Pragmatic and sociophonetic perspectives 69
- 6 Pragmatic markers in Ulster Irish and Irish English 87
- 7 Boring much? Semantic determinants of constructional attraction in Irish English 107
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Part 2: Metapragmatic structures: Identities, styles, and media
- 8 ‘Oh wait and I tell you . . .’: Narratives, pragmatics, and style in ICE-Ireland 133
- 9 Irish identities in a fictional TV series: Mediatised performance of Derry English in Derry Girls 155
- 10 Salutation and leavetaking formulae in 18th-century varieties of English 173
- 11 Automatically detecting directives with SPICE Ireland 205
- 12 Concluding remarks and future directions in studies on sociopragmatic variation 235
- Index 241
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- 1 An introduction to sociopragmatic variation 1
-
Part 1: Investigating sociolinguistic variables
- 2 The sociopragmatics of now in corpora of Irish English and Scottish English 11
- 3 Lookit – the story of a pragmatic marker in Irish English 31
- 4 ‘Er, yeah, no, bummer’: An exploration of the ‘new’ discourse pragmatic marker Yeah, No in contemporary Irish English fiction 45
- 5 New speakers of Irish English: Pragmatic and sociophonetic perspectives 69
- 6 Pragmatic markers in Ulster Irish and Irish English 87
- 7 Boring much? Semantic determinants of constructional attraction in Irish English 107
-
Part 2: Metapragmatic structures: Identities, styles, and media
- 8 ‘Oh wait and I tell you . . .’: Narratives, pragmatics, and style in ICE-Ireland 133
- 9 Irish identities in a fictional TV series: Mediatised performance of Derry English in Derry Girls 155
- 10 Salutation and leavetaking formulae in 18th-century varieties of English 173
- 11 Automatically detecting directives with SPICE Ireland 205
- 12 Concluding remarks and future directions in studies on sociopragmatic variation 235
- Index 241
