Research in Language, 2020, vol. 18:1 (15-35) DOI: 10.18778/1731-7533.18.1.02 PERFORMATIVE DISCOURSE OF DRAG QUEENS: A SOCIOLINGUISTIC STUDY MARIA SZYMAŃSKA University of Lodz, Poland
[email protected] Abstract The article presents the analysis of two speeches given by Rory O’Neill, also known as Panti Bliss, who is so far the most recognisable Irish drag queen. Apart from being a drag queen, Rory O’Neill is also a political activist whose performances were part of the campaign before the referendum concerning the 34th Amendment to the Constitution of Ireland. In the analysis both these aspects of the speaker’s identity are taken into consideration. Although the analysis is mostly linguistic, it also considers extralinguistic aspects of communication, e.g. the performer’s appearance on stage, as contextual elements are essential in sociolinguistic contexts. Thus, the analysis draws from the theoretical background focused on political discourse and the language used by drag queens to a detailed account of the two speeches in order discuss them in relation to the standards of both a drag performance and a political speech. Keywords: drag queens, discourse, political discourse, language and identity 1. Drag – an introduction Giving the definition of drag can be as controversial as the phenomenon itself. There is no general agreement among performers, but also much confusion among the researchers, about who can do drag and what the role of drag performances is. Researchers who have attempted to give a definition for a term drag queen (e.g. Barrett 1998, 1999, 2017; Fleisher 1996; Greaf 2016; Rupp et al.