DOCSLIB.ORG

Britt Revisions

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Britt Revisions TALKING BLACK IN PUBLIC SPACES:! AN INVESTIGATION OF IDENTITY AND THE USE OF PREACHING STYLE IN BLACK PUBLIC SPEECH BY ERICA R. BRITT DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2011 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Professor Rakesh M. Bhatt, Chair Professor Jennifer Cole Associate Professor Michele Koven Assistant Professor Adrienne Lo Associate Professor Tracey L. Weldon, The University of South Carolina Abstract This dissertation utilizes a sociocultural linguistic approach that combines sociolinguistic, discourse analytic and ethnographic methods in order to examine how black public figures use African American English (AAE) to express complex identities in interaction. This study explores the interaction between phonological, grammatical, suprasegmental and rhetorical features of black speech and situational factors related to event structuring, speaker goals, and audience composition. Overall, this study illustrates how shifts in speaking style can help speakers manage the presentation of controversial political and social messages. While the speakers in this study make limited use of hallmark vernacular features of AAE (such as copula deletion and invariant be), they consistently draw from a black stylistic repertoire, specifically black preaching style, that allows them to take controversial political stances as they express their ethnic, religious, and philosophical affiliation with members of the black community. ii Acknowledgements While completing this project, I received the love and support of many wonderful people. First, I thank my advisor, Dr. Rakesh Bhatt, for the many hats that you wore over the years including advisor, mentor and friend. I will be forever grateful for all of the support that you have shown me and all of your help in making me the researcher that I am today. I would also like to thank the members of my dissertation committee, Dr. Jennifer Cole, Dr. Michele Koven, Dr. Adrienne Lo, and Dr. Tracey L. Weldon, who have also generously given their time and expertise in support of my work. I thank them for their contributions and wonderful insights that have helped shape this dissertation. I also thank my graduate student colleagues, Sarah Simeziane, Dana Shalash, and Nagham Awadallah. Your help in revising and verifying the reliability of the discourse-level transcription method used in this study is immensely appreciated and has made this dissertation much stronger. I also am greatly appreciative of the feedback and support that I received from the Dissertation Discussion Group and the Language and Society Discussion Group at the University of Illinois. Our constant searching and questioning helped me sharpen my skills as a researcher and gave me the critical eye that is so essential for the work that we do. I am also thankful for the informal, cross-disciplinary discussion group that I had with Vincent Licciardello and Shumin Lin. I will always be grateful for the lively and insightful feedback that you have given me over the years. Our meetings marked a critical point in my graduate career and eventually gave rise to my interest in the interdisciplinary approach that is at the core of this dissertation. I am also indebted to my many friends and colleagues who have supported me over the years. I will always cherish the love that you have shown me and your help in making Champaign my second home. Thanks to Young Sun Lee for your unconditional love and iii support over the years. You have opened your heart and home to me and have truly made me feel like family. It has been a joy having you as my friend and feeling the loving warmth from you and your family over the years. I look forward to the many more years of friendship to come. I also thank the following friends for their love and support: Soondo Baek, Eunah Kim, Kyoung-young Kim, Ji-Young Kim, Eun-kyung Lee, Dora Lu, Renee Lemons, Antje Muntendam, Tameka Nelson, Chaeyoon Park, Perzavia Praylow, Laura and Mike Rosulek, Jeong-Ah Shin, Yun-Sun Shin, Elli Wu, and Su-Youn Yoon. I am grateful for how far we have all come and I can’t wait for the next chapters of our journeys. I also thank a precious group of people who have helped me develop a bright, healthy and hopeful outlook on my life and the journey ahead of me. Thank you Connie, Deidre, Meredith and the men and women of our circle and Beth Frasca, Justine Karduck and the wonderful people at SportWell. Words can’t express how much our time together has meant to me and how thankful I am for the lessons you have taught me. Finally, I thank the wonderful members of my family who have been the rock that has kept me grounded despite the many ups and downs of life. To Aunt Kathi, Uncle Johnny, and Aunt Lillie, your love is so precious to me. Thank you for always keeping me in your hearts, even though my wanderings took me so far from home and meant that we couldn't spend much time together over the years. To my brother Eric, thank you for being the brother that only you know how to be and for your unconditional love for your baby sister. But above all, I thank my mother, Yvonne Britt, for being such a strong, beautiful and loving mother. There aren’t enough words to describe the countless ways that you have helped your daughter grow from the little girl that I was to the woman that you have taught me to be. I thank God for you every day and am blessed to have such a mother and a friend as you. I also keep the loving memory of my father, iv Ulysses Britt, Jr., planted deeply in my heart. Each day that I live and the accomplishments that I achieve in life are possible because of the love and hope that you had for our family. I love you and I miss you. v Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction.........................................................................................................................................................1 1 Overview.................................................................................................................................................................1 1.1 Introduction to the Research Problems........................................................................................................2 1.2 Research Questions.......................................................................................................................................7 1.3 Methodology.................................................................................................................................................8 2 Summary of Results................................................................................................................................................9 3 Organization of Dissertation ................................................................................................................................10 Chapter 2: Literature Review .............................................................................................................................................12 1 Sociocultural Linguistics......................................................................................................................................12 2 Language and Identity Performance ....................................................................................................................16 2.1 Indexicality .................................................................................................................................................21 2.2 Membership Categorization .......................................................................................................................24 2.3 Stance ..........................................................................................................................................................25 3 Identity in Interaction ...........................................................................................................................................30 4 African American English and Identity Performance .........................................................................................36 5 Discussion.............................................................................................................................................................43 Chapter 3: Research Questions and Methodology ............................................................................................................47 1 Research Questions...............................................................................................................................................47 2 Data .......................................................................................................................................................................48 3 Ethnographic Background....................................................................................................................................50 4 Transcription Methods and Reliability ................................................................................................................51 5 Black Preaching Style Features............................................................................................................................60 5.1 Segmental features......................................................................................................................................61
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 2021 Edtalks Sponsorship Packet
    2021 SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES OW KN E H T N I E B FEATURING OCTOBER 21, 2021 11:30 am - 1:00pm EDDIE GLAUDE JR. Hyatt Regency Riverview Prominent Princeton Scholar & NY Times Best Selling Author Children are our greatest resource, and the best gift we can give them is a quality education. BE AT THE FOREFRONT OF EDUCATION INNOVATION The Jacksonville Public Education Fund is an independent think-and-do tank that believes in the potential of all students. We work tirelessly to close the opportunity gap for low-income students and students of color in Duval County. We convene educators, school system leaders and the community to pilot and scale evidence-based solutions that advance school quality in Duval County. BE IN THE KNOW: EDTALKS EDTalks is a biennial convening designed to bring thought leaders in education to spark action and innovation in Duval County. EDTalks inspires education leaders and partners to take collective action on best practices in school quality. This year’s event will feature Eddie Glaude Jr., one of the nation’s most prominent scholars. Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. is a NY Times best-selling author, Princeton scholar, public intellectual, and passionate educator. Glaude is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and Chair of the Department of African American Studies at Princeton. He frequently appears in the media as a columnist for TIME Magazine, MSNBC contributor, and many other platforms to discuss topics such as diversity and equity in education and America. EDTalks 2021 will inspire local educators and community partners to close the opportunity gap between low-income students, students of color, and their peers as we launch new strategies for Duval County.
    [Show full text]
  • Programs & Exhibitions
    PROGRAMS & EXHIBITIONS Fall 2018/Winter 2019 To purchase tickets by phone call (212) 485-9268 letter | exhibitions | calendar | programs | family | membership | general information Dear Friends, History Matters has long been New-York Historical’s motto, but if ever there were a time when this motto rang particularly true, it would be our launch this fall of two landmark exhibitions. The first,Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow, takes as its starting point the terrible injustice of the Supreme Court ruling in the Dred Scott case that no black person— free or enslaved—could ever be a U.S. citizen. The exhibition traces the story of African Americans’ struggle for citizenship, including not only the right to enjoy legal protections and privileges but also the right to be accepted and to feel safe. The second exhibition, Harry Potter: A History of Magic, draws on the global phenomenon of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels while dramatizing the historical context indispensable to the books’ success. Both exhibitions underscore the importance of institutions like ours, whose great repositories enable a better understanding of the past as they illuminate the present. Reflecting these exhibitions’ themes, our Bernard and Irene Schwartz Distinguished Speakers Series features discussions of citizenship, race, history, and law, with speakers including Eric Foner, Harold Holzer, U.S. Senator Doug Jones, Martha Jones, Randall Kennedy, Edna Greene Medford, Manisha Sinha, Brent Staples, and Sean Wilentz. The Mathew “Mike” Gladstein Lecture in Biography features New-York Historical Trustee David Blight in conversation with Eddie Glaude Jr. on Frederick Douglass. For Harry Potter, our Schwartz Series features Jim Dale, the narrator and voice of all of the Harry Potter characters in the American audiobooks.
    [Show full text]
  • Copyright by Christopher Haviland Ketcham 2010 the Dissertation Committee for Christopher Haviland Ketcham Certifies That This Is
    Copyright by Christopher Haviland Ketcham 2010 The Dissertation Committee for Christopher Haviland Ketcham certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: WHAT AND HOW WILL WE TEACH; FOR WHAT SHALL WE TEACH AND WHY? AIMS-TALK IN THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO EDUCATION 1932-1953 Committee: ____________________________ Sherry Field, Supervisor ____________________________ Anthony Brown, Supervisor ____________________________ Lisa J. Cary ____________________________ Norvell Northcutt ____________________________ Mary Lee Webeck WHAT AND HOW WILL WE TEACH; FOR WHAT SHALL WE TEACH AND WHY? AIMS-TALK IN THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO EDUCATION 1932-1953 by Christopher Haviland Ketcham, B. S.; M. B. A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin May, 2010 Epigraph Whence all this passion towards conformity anyway?—diversity is the word. Let man keep his many parts and you‘ll have no tyrant states. Why, if they follow this conformity business they‘ll end up forcing me, an invisible man, to become white, which is not a color but the lack of one. Must I strive towards colorlessness? But seriously, and without snobbery, think of what the world would lose if this should happen. America is woven of many strands; I would recognize them and let it so remain. It is ―winner take nothing‖ that is the great truth of our country or of any country. Life is to be lived, not controlled; and humanity is won by continuing to play in the face of certain defeat.
    [Show full text]
  • The Critic's Choice
    The Critic's Choice Book Review Begin Again. James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own By Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. Crown Publishers New York 2020 Christine Nava, MS Former President, Escondido Chamber of Citizens Civic Leader for Social Justice & Human Rights San Diego, CA Tel: (760) 715-9053 Email: [email protected] Author Note The release of Begin Again in June 2020 was met with acclamation from critics throughout the country, including scholars, historians, political leaders, and giants in the Black struggle. This reviewer is not among this distinguished group of critics. I am a lay person--an ordinary woman on the street--whose life of activism began as a member of a religious community when, in 1965, I joined a group of Catholic sisters from St. Louis and travelled to Selma to protest at the Selma Voting Rights March. The event had a profound effect on my life that remains to this day. In my “after life” since I left religious community, I raised a family, taught, joined civic organizations, lobbied members of congress and local elected officials on social justice issues, never forgetting the importance of bearing witness--the lessons of Selma. Introduction My work on this book began with James Baldwin’s words, “You must understand that your pain is trivial except insofar as you can use it to connect other people’s pain, and insofar as you can do that with your pain, you can be released from it, and then hopefully it works the other way around too; insofar as I can tell you what it is to suffer, perhaps I can help you to suffer less.” — Begin Again, p.
    [Show full text]
  • Annual Report
    2019-2020 ANNUAL REPORT WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS Prof. Griffith, Center Director, teaches a small seminar class. ABOUT THE COVER: Sen. Jack Danforth and Prof. Amy Chua discuss her recent book in a public conversation hosted in Washington University’s Graham Chapel. MISSION The Center serves as an open venue for fostering rigorous scholarship and informing broad academic and public communities about the intersections of religion and U.S. politics. PG 2 PG 4 PG 6 PG 12 PG 26 PG 45 AT A GLANCE LETTERS RESEARCH AND PUBLIC PEOPLE LOOKING TEACHING ENGAGEMENT FORWARD 1 John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics 2019-2020 Annual Report 2019-2020 AT A GLANCE The John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics is a dynamic academic center with many different activities and community interactions happening each day. While we can’t tell a full story with numbers, a snapshot can give a sense of this year’s accomplishments. 14 48 UNDERGRADUATE ARTICLES PUBLISHED COURSES in Religion & Politics OFFERED IN 2019-2020 IN 2019-2020 12 2000+ 11 PUBLIC EVENTS ATTENDEES AT MEETINGS OF THE SUPPORTED BY PUBLIC EVENTS COLLOQUIUM THE CENTER IN 2019-2020 ON AMERICAN RELIGION, POLITICS, AND CULTURE 34 8 STUDENTS WITH FACULTY A DECLARED MINOR MEMBERS IN RELIGION AND POLITICS 2 Umrath Hall is home to the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics. 3 LETTER FROM THE CHANCELLOR What a year it has been! In fact, I’d venture to say this past academic year was filled with some of the most pressing political and ethical challenges of our time, one of the most significant being our community and global response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
    [Show full text]
  • WEEKLY Church March 15 - 21, 2020
    White Bear THE NEWS Unitarian Universalist WEEKLY Church March 15 - 21, 2020 328 Maple Street | Mahtomedi, MN 55115 | Phone: 651.426.2369 | wbuuc.org CORONAVIRUS UPDATE We are carefully watching updates from the MN Dept. of Health, local school districts, and other sources, and we are committed to best practices for individual and community wellness. Let’s stay healthy by refraining for now from handshakes and hugs here at church. A warm and friendly smile will welcome visitors wholeheartedly, and greet old friends just fi ne. Many in our community are holding concerns not only about the virus itself, but about travel, work, sick leave, childcare and more. As ever, our Pastoral Care team, RE staff, and ministers are available for support in these uncertain times. Stay Safe! If you are sick, stay home. Let us know and we will reach out to you. ~ Rev. Victoria Safford, [email protected], 651.426.2369 x101 FACING RACE UPDATE EARTH MINISTRY UPDATE Westminster Forum Ice Out—Coming Soon to a Lake Near You Tuesday, May 12 at 12pm A sure sign of spring is open water on lakes. Data Eddie Glaude, Jr.: James Baldwin’s (1950 to present) tells us to expect ice out of Lessons on Race in America area lakes during the fi rst week of April (yellow Westminster Presbyterian Church points on the map). Minnesota ice out dates in 1200 Marquette Ave, Minneapolis other regions vary between May 5 (dark pink) and Eddie Glaude, Jr. is a Professor at Princeton March 25 (orange points). University and chair of the Department of African Ice melt is effected by the jet stream’s infl uence American Studies.
    [Show full text]
  • Melvin L. Rogers Department of Political Science Brown University 111 Thayer
    MELVIN L. ROGERS DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE BROWN UNIVERSITY 111 THAYER STREET PROVIDENCE, RI 02912 [email protected] HTTPS://VIVO.BROWN.EDU/DISPLAY/MROGERS4 HTTPS://WWW.MELVINROGERS.SITE TWITTER: @MROGERS097 ACADEMIC POSITION Brown University, Providence, RI Associate Professor of Political Science, July, 2017- Faculty Affiliate in Africana Studies, October, 2017- PREVIOUS POSITIONS University of California, Los Angeles Scott Waugh Chair in the Division of the Social Sciences, July, 2015-July 2017 Associate Professor, African American Studies and Political Science, July, 2014-July, 2017 (Currently 50% African American Studies/50% Political Science) Emory University, Atlanta, GA Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, August, 2012-August, 2014 Faculty Associate, Department of Political Science, September, 2012-August, 2014 University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA Assistant Professor, Department of Politics, 2007-2012 Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, 2010-11 Carleton College, Northfield, MN Scholar-In-Residence, Department of Political Science, 2005-2007 EDUCATION Yale University, New Haven, CT Ph.D., Political Science, with Distinction, December 2006 M.Phil., Political Science, May, 2004 Princeton University, Princeton, NJ Exchange Scholar, Department of Religion, 2004-2005 University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England M.Phil., Political Thought and Intellectual History, 2000 Amherst College, Amherst, MA B.A., Political Science, magna cum laude, Phi Beta
    [Show full text]
  • Princeton University Bulletin, Oct. 12, 2009
    PRINCETON UNIVERSITY BULLETINVolume 99, Number 3 October 12, 2009 Setting the path for the study of race Center for African American Studies poised to lead at critical time CASS CLIATT rinceton’s Center for African American Studies is launching an P aggressive effort to become the leading resource for the public’s under- standing of race in America, coming at a time when the center’s scholars say they are seeing an upward trend in racial issues igniting the country in a series of “brush fires.” Working with a new chair, scholars will build on growth and strategies developed in the center’s first three years to take advantage of fresh avenues to broaden discussions of race with the public, to engage in research that could be of use to policymakers, and to har- ness a unique interdisciplinary approach to reach the next generation of leaders. “When we begin to think about the direction of the field, we believe that Denise Applewhite Brian Wilson Denise Applewhite what we’re doing here at Princeton, Princeton’s Center for African American Studies, led by chair Eddie Glaude (left), brings pioneers in the field together with rising scholars such as right here in this moment, will set the Wendy Belcher (center) and Imani Perry (right) in an effort to become the pre-eminent resource for the public’s understanding of race in America. path for the field of African American studies in the next century,” said new center chair Eddie Glaude, Princeton’s a pool at a Philadelphia swim club in debate between leading academics in citizenship, “tea parties” to protest William S.
    [Show full text]
  • Princeton's Eddie Glaude Jr. to Keynote
    www.mississippilink.com VOL. 26, NO. 18 FEBRUARY 20 - 26, 2020 50¢ Alcorn State University Statement Holmes County 6th-graders on off-campus shooting experience HOPE; ASU mourns the passing of students other grades targeted James Carr and Tahir Fitzhugh Special to The Mississippi Link The Community Students Alcorn State University Learning Center (CSLC), in Public Relations partnership with the Holmes Statement from the Offi ce of County Consolidated School Alcorn Public Relations District and other key part- Overnight Monday, Feb. 17, ners, is implementing HOPE Alcorn State University was noti- (Health Optimization and Pre- fi ed by local authorities that four vention Education). of our students were involved in The CSLC HOPE program a shooting that occurred at a non- offers a healthy relationship life goals. university event venue 13 miles evidenced-based curriculum to With informed parental con- north of campus off Highway 61 the students of Holmes County sent, sixth-graders at S.V. Mar- in Claiborne County. titled Love Notes, Life and shall and Williams-Sullivan Three of the students were Work by Dibble’s Institute. A middle schools were the fi rst transported to the Claiborne program of the U.S. Depart- to complete the 13-lesson ses- County Medical Center in Port ment of Health and Human sions last semester just prior to Gibson. We are deeply saddened Services Offi ce of Population the holidays. to report that two students have Affairs (OPA), TPP19, HOPE “My son really benefi t- passed as a result of critical in- targets youth in 6th-12th ted from HOPE,” said parent, juries suffered in the shooting.
    [Show full text]
  • Cornel R West 2012 Book.Pdf
    Princeton University Honors Faculty Members Receiving Emeritus Status May 2012 The biographical sketches were written by colleagues in the departments of those honored. Copyright © 2012 by The Trustees of Princeton University 26763-12 Contents Faculty Members Receiving Emeritus Status Larry Martin Bartels 3 James Riley Broach 5 William Browder 8 Lawrence Neil Danson 11 John McConnon Darley 16 Philip Nicholas Johnson-Laird 19 Seiichi Makino 22 Hugo Meyer 25 Jeremiah P. Ostriker 27 Elias M. Stein 30 Cornel R. West 32 Cornel R. West This spring, Cornel West retires as the Class of 1943 University Professor in the Center for African American Studies at Princeton University, and joins the illustrious ranks of our professors emeriti. For nearly 40 years, Cornel has had a deep and abiding relationship with Princeton, and we celebrate his enormous contribution to the Princeton community, and to the world at large. Cornel was born on June 2, 1953, in Tulsa, Okla., the grandson of the Reverend Clifton L. West Sr., pastor of the Tulsa Metropolitan Baptist Church. Cornel’s mother, Irene Bias West, was an elementary school teacher (and later principal), while his father, Clifton L. West Jr., was a civilian Air Force administrator. From his parents, siblings and community, young Cornel derived “ideals and images of dignity, integrity, majesty and humility.” These values, he has written, provided him “existential and ethical equipment to confront the crises, terrors and horrors of life.” He completed his undergraduate education at Harvard University in 1973, where he graduated magna cum laude after three years and received a B.A.
    [Show full text]
  • "I'm Concerned If We Don't Impeach This President, He Will Get Re-Elected"
    12/14/19, 1007 PM Page 1 of 1 Back to Videos Rep. Al Green: "I'm Concerned If We Don't Impeach This President, He Will Get Re-Elected" Posted By Tim Hains On Date May 6, 2019 Rep. Al Green: "I'm Concerned If We … Rep. Al Green told MSNBC Saturday that he is "concerned if we don’t impeach this president, he will get re-elected." "As I look the people of America in the eye, I’m telling you, we have a constitutional crisis," Green said. "We must impeach this president. If you don’t, it’s not the soul of the nation that will be at risk only, it is the soul of the Congress that’s at risk." PRESIDENT TRUMP, 16 JULY 2018: I have President Putin, he just said it's not Russia. I will say this, I don't see any reason why it would be. I have great confdence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin is extremely strong and powerful in his denial today. MSNBC HOST: Congressman, how do you interpret President Trump not telling Vladimir Putin to stay out of our next election? REP. AL GREEN: I see this as unconscionable, it's inconceivable. One can only imagine what it does to the esprit de corps of the persons who work in our intelligence agencies. They have said the Russians interfered. Mr. Mueller has said the Russians interfered. The president has not, and he talks about a great relationship between Mr. Putin and Russia.
    [Show full text]
  • Eddie S. Glaude Jr
    Eddie S. Glaude Jr. Eddie S. Glaude Jr. is an intellectual who speaks to the complex dynamics of the American experience. His most well -known books, Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul, and In a Shade of Blue: Pragmatism and the Politics of Black America, take a wide look at black communities, the difficulties of race in the United States, and the challenges our democracy face. He is an American critic in the tradition of James Baldwin and Ralph Waldo Emerson. In his writings, the country’s complexities, vulnerabilities, and the opportunities for hope come into full view. Hope that is, in one of his favorite quotes from W.E.B Du Bois, “not hopeless, but a bit unhopeful.” He is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and chair of the Department of African American Studies, a program he first became involved with shaping as a doctoral candidate in Religion at Princeton. He is the former president of the American Academy of Religion. His books on religion and philosophy include An Uncommon Faith: A Pragmatic Approach to the Study of African American Religion, African American Religion: A Very Short Introduction and Exodus! Religion, Race and Nation in Early 19th Century Black America, which was awarded the Modern Language Association’s William Sanders Scarborough Book Prize. Glaude is also the author of two edited volumes, and many influential articles about religion for academic journals. He has also written for the likes of The New York Times and Time Magazine. Known to be a convener of conversations and debates, Glaude takes care to engage fellow citizens of all ages and backgrounds – from young activists, to fellow academics, journalists and commentators, and followers on Twitter in dialogue about the direction of the nation.
    [Show full text]