Exploring the intersections of language ideologies and affect: The case of multilingual ‘returnee’ women in Turkey

Yasemin Erdoğan-Öztürk

doi:10.1515/eujal-2023-0050

Article

Exploring the intersections of language ideologies and affect: The case of multilingual ‘returnee’ women in Turkey

Yasemin Erdoğan-Öztürk

Published/Copyright: May 15, 2024

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From the journal European Journal of Applied Linguistics Volume 12 Issue 1

Abstract

This study explores the discursive construction and negotiation of exclusion and belonging, at the conceptual intersection of language ideologies and affect. Focusing on a group of multilingual ‘return’ migrant women of Turkish heritage, who were born, raised, and educated in Germany in Turkish migrant families and later settled in Turkey as highly-qualified adult professionals, the paper delves into the complexities of their lived experiences of languages. Based on in-depth interviews with eight multilingual women with diasporic upbringings in Germany and now residing in Turkey, the paper argues that the construction of authentic membership and the sense of (un)belonging is achieved through intensive affective engagements with standard and prescriptivist language ideologies in Turkey. It is further discussed that prevailing hegemonic language ideologies in both diasporic and local contexts create unique discursive sites of a marginalized and gendered vulnerability for the multilingual ‘returnee’ women in the study.

Özet

Bu çalışma, dışlanma ve aidiyetin söylemsel inşasını dil ideolojileri ve duygulanım kavramlarının kesişim noktasında incelemektedir. Almanya’da Türk göçmen ailelerin çocukları olarak doğup büyüyen ve eğitimlerini tamamlayan, sonrasında yüksek nitelikli yetişkinler olarak Türkiye’ye yerleşerek profesyonel iş dünyasına dahil olan bir grup çokdilli kadına odaklanan çalışma, bu kadınların dil deneyimlerinin karmaşık katmanlarını anlamaya çalışmaktadır. Almanya’da Türk göçmen topluluklarında yetişen ve şu anda Türkiye’de yaşayan sekiz çokdilli kadınla yapılan derinlemesine görüşmelere dayanan çalışma, toplumsal üyelik ve aidiyet(sizlik) duygusunun inşasının, Türkiye’deki standart ve normatif dil ideolojileriyle olan yoğun duygusal etkileşimler aracılığıyla gerçekleştiğini savunmaktadır. Ayrıca hem diasporik hem de yerel bağlamlarda hâkim olan hegemonik dil ideolojilerinin, marjinalleştirilmiş ve cinsiyetlendirilmiş bir kırılganlığın söylemsel alanları olarak inşa edildiklerini öne sürmektedir.

Zusammenfassung

Diese Studie untersucht die diskursive Konstruktion und Verhandlung von Ausgrenzung und Zugehörigkeit an der konzeptionellen Schnittstelle von Sprachideologien und Affekt. Sie konzentriert sich auf eine gruppe mehrsprachiger ‘Rückkehrerinnen’ türkischer Herkunft, die in Deutschland in türkischen Migrantenfamilien geboren, aufgewachsen und ausgebildet wurden und sich später als hochqualifizierte erwachsene Fachkräfte in der Türkei niederließen. Auf der Grundlage von Tiefeninterviews mit acht mehrsprachigen Frauen, die in Deutschland diasporisch aufgewachsen sind und nun in der Türkei leben, wird argumentiert, dass die Konstruktion von authentischer Zugehörigkeit und das Gefühl der (Un-)Zugehörigkeit durch eine intensive affektive Auseinandersetzung mit standardisierten und präskriptiven Sprachideologien in der Türkei erreicht wird. Des Weiteren wird erörtert, dass die vorherrschenden hegemonialen Sprachideologien sowohl im diasporischen als auch im lokalen Kontext einzigartige diskursive Orte der marginalisierten und geschlechtsspezifischen Verwundbarkeit für die mehrsprachigen ‘Rückkehrerinnen’ der Studie schaffen.

Keywords: affect; language ideologies; ‘return’ migration; Turkey; Germany

Anahtar Kelimeler: duygulanım; dil ideolojileri; ‘geriye’ göç; Türkiye; Almanya

Schlüsselwörter: Affekt; Sprachideologien; 'Rückwanderung’; Türkei; Deutschland

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Published Online: 2024-05-15

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/eujal-2023-0050

Keywords for this article

affect; language ideologies; ‘return’ migration; Turkey; Germany