DOCSLIB.ORG

The Racialisation of Names: Names and the Persistence of Racism in the UK

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Racialisation of Names: Names and the Persistence of Racism in the UK Wykes, Emily Jay (2013) The racialisation of names: names and the persistence of racism in the UK. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham. Access from the University of Nottingham repository: http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/13816/1/EMILY_WYKES_FINAL_PHD_THESIS.pdf Copyright and reuse: The Nottingham ePrints service makes this work by researchers of the University of Nottingham available open access under the following conditions. · Copyright and all moral rights to the version of the paper presented here belong to the individual author(s) and/or other copyright owners. · To the extent reasonable and practicable the material made available in Nottingham ePrints has been checked for eligibility before being made available. · Copies of full items can be used for personal research or study, educational, or not- for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge provided that the authors, title and full bibliographic details are credited, a hyperlink and/or URL is given for the original metadata page and the content is not changed in any way. · Quotations or similar reproductions must be sufficiently acknowledged. Please see our full end user licence at: http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/end_user_agreement.pdf A note on versions: The version presented here may differ from the published version or from the version of record. If you wish to cite this item you are advised to consult the publisher’s version. Please see the repository url above for details on accessing the published version and note that access may require a subscription. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE RACIALISATION OF NAMES: NAMES AND THE PERSISTENCE OF RACISM IN THE UK Emily Jay Wykes BA (Hons), MA Thesis submitted to the University of Nottingham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2013 What's in a name? – There's lots in my name: Three African syllables tossed in my name: Many refugees fleeing gunshots in my name - One father, to us long lost, in my name... Some people frown when they jot down my name: And often the spelling is botched of my name - I forgive them. Its rhythm was born not on this plain But one where the sun soothes the crops with its rays. We have achieved lots with my name: There are poets, musicians, doctors with my name: A name some find odd, but I bear not with shame But as proudly as some wear a cross on a chain. (Musa Okwonga) 1 ABSTRACT This thesis argues that despite claims that the UK is a post-racial society, (sur)names are understood in a racialised way. 31 semi-structured interviews and one survey- based interview were conducted. 29 of the 32 participants had changed their surname from one they perceived to be symbolically representative of their own embodied racial identity to one that they felt was not, or vice versa. This thesis claims that some (sur)names are socially constructed as invisible and normal, i.e. white British, whilst ‘Other’ names are deemed foreign and highly conspicuous. It is asserted that (sur)names inform stereotypes of a person’s embodied racial appearance. The confusion and intense interest encountered by the name-changers in relation to a perceived disjuncture between their embodied racial identity and the racialised categorisation of their name, exposes processes of racialisation. Name, embodied racial appearance and accent interact in different ways and contexts in deciding how a person is racialised and what their access is to the privilege associated with the majority identity of white Britishness. It is suggested that names are racially hierarchized according to the racial and/or national identity that the name is seen to represent. The thesis uses literature on race, racism, whiteness, racial passing, inbetween people and nationalism, in order to explore the racist and nationalist undertones of many participants’ encounters in regard to a racial disjuncture between name and body. Whilst supporting the point that race is a social construction rather than biological fact, the thesis nonetheless asserts that difference is conceived not just in terms of culture but in relation to embodied notions of race. Names should be acknowledged as being an important marker of biological conceptions of race. Race is still common currency in the UK, and this matters because power is differentially attributed within racialisation processes. Racism is not over. 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would particularly like to thank those who participated in this project. Without their selfless contributions this research would not have been possible. I am deeply grateful to my two supervisors, Davide Per and Esther Bott for their scholarly insights and contributions, honest feedback, and valuable support. Thank you. I would like to say thank you to my friends, especially Diane Trusson, for their belief in my project and help in various ways. Many thanks to Alison Haigh for her beyond-the-call-of-duty administrative provision. I would also like to acknowledge my parents, Margaret and Brian, for their inestimable love and friendship. ‘Home is the starting place of love and dreams’. A special ‘ose gan’ to my inspirational partner in thoughts, love and friendship: David. There is only ever one set of footprints in the sand. I would especially like to dedicate this thesis to my Granny, who encouraged and inspired me. Finally, thanks be to GOD. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................ 4 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCING THE RESEARCH ................................................... 6 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 6 The End of Multiculturalism, the Introduction of Neo-Assimilationism and Refutations of Racism ............................................................................................. 7 Names and Racialisation ...................................................................................... 16 A History of Name-Changing ................................................................................ 18 Attitudes Towards Names as Expressed in the UK Media ................................ 24 Research Questions .............................................................................................. 27 My Terminology of Names .................................................................................... 30 The Thesis’ Structure ............................................................................................ 31 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................. 34 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 34 The Socially Constructed Nature of Race and the Notion of Racial Hierarchies ................................................................................................................................. 35 National Perpetrations of Race, Racism and Nationalism ................................. 39 Cultural Racism ..................................................................................................... 44 The Notion that Racism has Ended ..................................................................... 48 Power: Why Race Matters, and Whiteness ......................................................... 51 Inbetween People .................................................................................................. 58 Racialisation Processes and Embodied Understandings of Race ................... 60 Identity and Racial Passing .................................................................................. 62 Linking the Above Existing Theories to Names: Correspondence Test Research and Other Research on Name Discrimination ................................... 68 CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH DESIGN ................................................................. 73 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 73 Study Design .......................................................................................................... 73 Interpretivist Epistemology .................................................................................. 75 Influence of Feminist Epistemologies ................................................................. 78 Sample, Method of Data Collection and Data Analysis ..................................... 79 Sample ................................................................................................................. 79 Interviews ............................................................................................................. 83 Data Analysis ....................................................................................................... 88 Being Reflexive about my Research Approach .................................................. 91 Ethics ...................................................................................................................... 97 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 102 CHAPTER FOUR: THE EMBODIED AND DISEMBODIED RACIALISATION OF (SUR)NAMES ..........................................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Economics of Cultural Diversity: Lessons from British Cities
    The London School of Economics and Political Science The Economics of Cultural Diversity: Lessons from British cities Max Nathan A thesis submitted to the Department of Geography and Environment of the London School of Economics for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. September 2011 1 Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of the author. I warrant that this authorization does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. MAX NATHAN 2 Abstract This thesis examines the economic effects of cultural diversity; it focuses on recent experience in British cities, and on links between migrant and minority communities, diversity and innovation. Like many western societies Britain is becoming more culturally diverse, a largely urban process driven by net immigration and growing minority communities. Despite significant public interest we know little about the economic impacts. This PhD aims to fill these major gaps. First, I explore connections between diversity, immigration and urban outcomes. I ask: does diversity help or hinder urban economic performance? Initial cross-sectional analysis finds positive associations between ‘super-diversity’ and urban wages.
    [Show full text]
  • Translating Heaney: a Study of Sweeney Astray, the Cure at Troy, and Beowulf
    Translating Heaney: A Study of Sweeney Astray, The Cure at Troy, and Beowulf A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at Rhodes University Peter William van der Woude January 2007 Abstract This thesis examines Seamus Heaney’s approach to translation with specific reference to Sweeney Astray, The Cure at Troy, and Beowulf. An assessment of Heaney’s translations, and the ways in which they relate to his poetry, is essential to an understanding of his work as a poet. This thesis demonstrates the centrality of translation to Heaney’s oeuvre as an effective means to comment on his Northern Irish socio-political context without producing political propaganda. Translation is a valuable means for Heaney to elucidate his contemporary experience by considering it in terms of the recorded past captured within his chosen translations. Instead of comparing the three translations with their original texts, this thesis concentrates on Heaney’s translations as a continuation of his own creative work and as catalysts for further poetry. The translations are explored in chronological order to allow a sense of Heaney’s development as a translator and his efforts to remain critically attuned to the Northern Irish political situation. The first chapter examines Heaney’s translation of the Gaelic poem Buile Suibhne, which is published as Sweeney Astray. In this first major act of translation Heaney recognises the political role that translation is able to play. He draws attention to the protagonist’s sense of cultural ease in both Britain and Ireland, which he argues is exemplary for the people of Ulster and renders the narrative particularly accessible to a Northern Irish readership due to his anglicisation of the text, which is intended as a reminder to both Catholics and Protestants of their shared identity as Irishmen.
    [Show full text]
  • Do Inventors Talk to Strangers? on Proximity and Collaborative Knowledge Creation
    Research Policy 45 (2016) 177–194 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Research Policy jo urnal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/respol Do inventors talk to strangers? On proximity and collaborative knowledge creation a,b,∗ b,c a,b Riccardo Crescenzi , Max Nathan , Andrés Rodríguez-Pose a Department of Geography & Environment, London School of Economics, United Kingdom b SERC, London School of Economics, United Kingdom c Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: This paper examines the characteristics of the collaborations between inventors in the United King- Received 26 October 2013 dom (UK) by looking at what types of proximities – geographic, organisational, cognitive, social, and Received in revised form 15 July 2015 cultural–ethnic – between inventors are prevalent in partnerships that ultimately lead to technological Accepted 16 July 2015 progress. Using a new panel of UK inventors this paper provides an analysis of associations between these ‘proximities’ and co-patenting. The results show that while collaboration within firms, research JEL classification: centres and universities remains crucial, external networks of inventors are key feature of innovation O31 teams. The analysis shows that external networks are highly dependent on previous social connections, O33 R11 but are generally unconstrained by cultural or cognitive factors. Geographical proximity is also weakly R23 linked with external networks. Our results suggest that innovation policies should, rather than focus on spatial clustering, facilitate the formation of open and diverse networks of inventors. Keywords: © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
    [Show full text]
  • The Ordnance Survey Name Books: a 'Treasure-Trove' for Toponymists
    \ Williamson, E. (2021) The Ordnance Survey Name Books: a 'treasure-trove' for toponymists. Scottish Archives, 25/26, pp. 42-55. The material cannot be used for any other purpose without further permission of the publisher and is for private use only. There may be differences between this version and the published version. You are advised to consult the publisher’s version if you wish to cite from it. http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/225720/ Deposited on 26 October 2020 Enlighten – Research publications by members of the University of Glasgow http://eprints.gla.ac.uk The Ordnance Survey Name Books: ‘a treasure trove’ for toponymists In December 2013 and January 2014 an exhibition on the Ordnance Survey Name Books was held in the National Records of Scotland (hereafter NRS) at Register House in Edinburgh. This was specifically timed to celebrate the launch of the online resource of the Scottish name books on the ScotlandsPlaces website.1 The ‘treasure trove’ quotation in the title for this paper comes from press releases at the time. Simon Taylor, renowned Scottish toponymist, is reported as saying: ‘The books are a unique resource for understanding the evolution of Scotland’s complex place-nomenclature, as well as nineteenth-century perceptions of place, language, environment, archaeology and culture. ScotlandsPlaces, by making them so widely and easily accessible, has opened up a treasure-trove of material for local and national historians, both lay and academic.’2 Tim Ellis, the then chief executive of the NRS, also used the ‘treasure trove’
    [Show full text]
  • WRAP THESIS Kenward 2011.Pdf
    University of Warwick institutional repository: http://go.warwick.ac.uk/wrap A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of Warwick http://go.warwick.ac.uk/wrap/51462 This thesis is made available online and is protected by original copyright. Please scroll down to view the document itself. Please refer to the repository record for this item for information to help you to cite it. Our policy information is available from the repository home page. ‘Memory Wrapped Round a Corpse’ A Cultural History of English Hecubas By Claire Kenward A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English Literature. University of Warwick Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies June 2011 2 CONTENTS List of Illustrations 4 Acknowledgements 5 Declaration 6 Thesis Abstract 7 Prefatory Note 8 Prologue: Introduction and Methodology 9 1. Songs of Rage 9 2. Time and History 20 Chapter One: Enter Hecuba 41 1. ‘The Queen of Knives’ 41 2. ‘The News that Stays News’ 63 3. The Thrice Mobled Queen 96 Chapter Two: ‘What’s Hecuba?’ 104 1. ‘Empty Dreams, Empty Words. All Rots into Nothing’ 107 2. ‘The Mother Bird at her Plundered Nest’ 125 Chapter Three: Memory by Other Means 140 1. Matres Dolorosae 140 2. ‘Mirror upon Mirror, Mirrored is all the Show’ 142 3. Our Lady of Sorrows 164 Chapter Four: Early English Hecubas 179 1. A Tale of Two Troys 181 2. Hecuba, ‘as myne Auctor recordeth eke also’ 195 3. Hecuba, in ‘Oure Englissh Tonge’ 212 3 Chapter Five: Hecuba, Humanism and Hauntings - Part One 224 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Carn 144 October 2009
    No. 144 Autumn / Winter 2009 €4.00 Stg£3.00 Gaelic Scotland and the Wars of Independence An Bhreatnais sa Phatagóin Union Democratic Bretonne and Greens Beat French Socialists Gaol for the Welsh Language – the tradition continues EU Lisbon Treaty Rerun – Only Independent Celtic State Cedes Sovereignty! My Cornwall.TV! Manx Language News Kernow Hosts Successful Celtic League AGM ALBA: AN COMANN CEILTEACH BREIZH: AR C’HEVRE KELTIEK CYMRU: YR UNDEB CELTAIDD ÉIRE: AN CONRADH CEILTEACH KERNOW: AN KESUNYANS KELTEK MANNIN: YN COMMEEYS CELTIAGH Anns an saoghal teicneolas againn, feumaidh sinn a bith misneachadh. Chan eil coimhearsnachdan nan Eileanan Siar nan aonar fo na rionnagan, tha Gaidhealtachd- Alba dealain ann airson daoine às gach dùthaich air an saoghal air an eadar-lìon. Lee Ramsay Summary Linn Dealain nan Gàidheil This article discusses all the Gaelic resources you can find on the Internet today. Thòisich an Comann Ceilteach cunntas air agus tha mòran rosgan aosta Gàidhlige saor Twitter anns a’ mhìos seo chaidh, agus b’ e air an eadar-lìon. seo an rud a thug orm a’ smaoineachadh air na goireasan teicneolas Gàidhlig mar an eadar-lion. Tha mi cinnteach gum bi gach leughadair a’ cluinntinn seo gu tric. Gur e ach cànan beag a th’anns a’ Gàidhlig, agus ‘nuair a dh’fhàg Gàidheil a’ Ghaidhealtachd, chaidh Gàidhlig a dhèanamh nas lugha. An uair sin, cluinnidh sibh mu dheidhinn fudach nan Gàidheal, agus am bàs na Gàidhlig gum biodh e air tachair mur thràth Ge-tà, canadh mise nach eil Gàidhlig marbh idir, agus gu dearbh chan eil Gàidhlig ach anns na h-àiteachan a’ Ghàidhealtachd.
    [Show full text]
  • Do Inventors Talk to Strangers? on Proximity and Collaborative
    Research Policy 45 (2016) 177–194 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Research Policy jo urnal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/respol Do inventors talk to strangers? On proximity and collaborative knowledge creation a,b,∗ b,c a,b Riccardo Crescenzi , Max Nathan , Andrés Rodríguez-Pose a Department of Geography & Environment, London School of Economics, United Kingdom b SERC, London School of Economics, United Kingdom c Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: This paper examines the characteristics of the collaborations between inventors in the United King- Received 26 October 2013 dom (UK) by looking at what types of proximities – geographic, organisational, cognitive, social, and Received in revised form 15 July 2015 cultural–ethnic – between inventors are prevalent in partnerships that ultimately lead to technological Accepted 16 July 2015 progress. Using a new panel of UK inventors this paper provides an analysis of associations between Available online 22 October 2015 these ‘proximities’ and co-patenting. The results show that while collaboration within firms, research centres and universities remains crucial, external networks of inventors are key feature of innovation JEL classification: teams. The analysis shows that external networks are highly dependent on previous social connections, O31 O33 but are generally unconstrained by cultural or cognitive factors. Geographical proximity is also weakly R11 linked with external networks. Our results suggest that innovation policies should, rather than focus on R23 spatial clustering, facilitate the formation of open and diverse networks of inventors.
    [Show full text]
  • If We All Waited to Publish Our One-Name Study Until We Felt We Had Found the Ultimate Answer, We Would Probably Not Publish at All
    What does it all mean? If we all waited to publish our one-name study until we felt we had found the ultimate answer, we would probably not publish at all WHAT does it all mean? What’s the point? Why am I ings and assembled some pedigrees, convinced that doing this and how long will it take me? These are with a little more research they would prove that all surely questions just about every one-namer has the various Hollyer families were related. After all, asked themselves at some stage of their researches, given the fact that so many of the different families especially when feeling overwhelmed with the all seemed to have an artistic streak, surely there sheer weight of the results! In this special article, must be a connection? Guild Chairman PETER WALKER asks himself the Indeed, my Hollyers were signwriters, artists on same questions – and tries to give the answers. glass and the more traditional artists on canvas. The In February the Guild is holding a seminar on other large group of Hollyers were engravers and Publishing Your One-Name Study and we hope photographers. It occurred to me that these Peter’s article of extended length and detail about researchers – all from the USA and Canada – had not his own study will give other members some idea of done any basic collection of BMDs, since they were at least one approach to the topic. working on the other side of the Atlantic with no easy way to acquire the information stored away at F I WERE AN academic, I would have called that time in Somerset House.
    [Show full text]
  • The Racialisation of Names: Names and the Persistence of Racism in the Uk
    THE RACIALISATION OF NAMES: NAMES AND THE PERSISTENCE OF RACISM IN THE UK Emily Jay Wykes BA (Hons), MA Thesis submitted to the University of Nottingham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2013 What's in a name? – There's lots in my name: Three African syllables tossed in my name: Many refugees fleeing gunshots in my name - One father, to us long lost, in my name... Some people frown when they jot down my name: And often the spelling is botched of my name - I forgive them. Its rhythm was born not on this plain But one where the sun soothes the crops with its rays. We have achieved lots with my name: There are poets, musicians, doctors with my name: A name some find odd, but I bear not with shame But as proudly as some wear a cross on a chain. (Musa Okwonga) 1 ABSTRACT This thesis argues that despite claims that the UK is a post-racial society, (sur)names are understood in a racialised way. 31 semi-structured interviews and one survey- based interview were conducted. 29 of the 32 participants had changed their surname from one they perceived to be symbolically representative of their own embodied racial identity to one that they felt was not, or vice versa. This thesis claims that some (sur)names are socially constructed as invisible and normal, i.e. white British, whilst ‘Other’ names are deemed foreign and highly conspicuous. It is asserted that (sur)names inform stereotypes of a person’s embodied racial appearance. The confusion and intense interest encountered by the name-changers in relation to a perceived disjuncture between their embodied racial identity and the racialised categorisation of their name, exposes processes of racialisation.
    [Show full text]
  • Title WAYS in WHICH the CULTURAL IDENTITIES of MIXED HERITAGE INDIVIDUALS ARE MAINTAINED in MIXED ETHNICITY STEPFAMILIES Yvonne
    Title WAYS IN WHICH THE CULTURAL IDENTITIES OF MIXED HERITAGE INDIVIDUALS ARE MAINTAINED IN MIXED ETHNICITY STEPFAMILIES Yvonne Ayo A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of East London in collaboration with the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust for the Professional Doctorate in Systemic Psychotherapy. October 2015 1 Acknowledgements First, I would like to thank the participants for their contributions to the study. I would also like to thank my two supervisors, Dr Charlotte Burck and Dr Amal Treacher, whose wisdom, experience, knowledge and skills helped me to shape this thesis. My final thanks go to my family and close friends whose support and encouragement helped me through the years of study, particularly during difficult times. 2 Contents Title ........................................................................................................ 1 Acknowledgements .............................................................................. 2 Contents ................................................................................................ 3 Abstract………………………………………………………………………..8 Introduction………………………………………………………………….10 Chapter 1: Literature Review 1.1. Introduction................................................................................. 21 1.2. Mixed families in Britain ............................................................. 21 1.3. Terminology………………………………………………………….23 1.3.1. Culture, ethnicity and mixed heritage…………………………….23 1.3.2. Research on terminology…………………………………………..27
    [Show full text]
  • All the Latest News of Guild Seminars
    Vol 9 Issue 5 January–March 2007 Also in this issue... Publishing your one-name study – there may never be a better time than now Great Sheffield Flood of 1864 washed away a family’s aitch The world’s leading publication for one-namers All the latest news of Guild seminars GUILD OFFICERS CHAIRMAN Box G, 14 Charterhouse Buildings Peter Walker Goswell Road, London EC1M 7BA 24 Bacons Drive Tel: 0800 011 2182 Cuffley E-mail: [email protected] Hertfordshire Website: www.one-name.org EN6 4DU Registered as a charity in England 01707 873778 Guild information and Wales No. 802048 [email protected] Sales VICE-CHAIRMAN Paul Millington AS well as Guild publications, the President 58 Belmont Street Sales Manager has a supply of Jour- Derek A Palgrave MA FRHistS FSG Worcester nal folders, ties, lapel badges and Worcestershire back issues of the Journal. The Vice-Presidents WR3 8NN address is: Ernest Hamley 01905 745217 John Hebden [email protected] Howard Benbrook Alec Tritton 7 Amber Hill SECRETARY Camberley Kirsty Gray Surrey 11 Brendon Close GU15 1EB Tilehurst, Reading England Berkshire RG30 6EA E-mail enquiries to: Guild Committee 0118 941 4833 [email protected] The Committee consists of the four [email protected] Officers, plus the following: Forum TREASURER Howard Benbrook Cliff Kemball THIS online discussion forum is Rod Clayburn 168 Green Lane open to any member with access to Peter Copsey Chislehurst e-mail. You can join the list by Roger Goacher Kent BR7 6AY sending a message with your mem- Barbara Harvey 0208 467 8865
    [Show full text]
  • The Word “Hoosier”
    The Word “Hoosier” by Jeffrey Graf Reference Services Department Herman B Wells Library Indiana University Libraries - Bloomington I can tell you from experience that if you mention this in a book 250 people from Indiana will write to you with 250 different explanations and the unanimous view that you are a dunce. (Bill Bryson) “Indiana is the Hoosier State, inhabited by Hoosiers, whatever they may be,” reads in part an article that appeared in the March 13, 1875 issue of the British magazine Chambers’s Journal of Popular Literature, Science and Arts. (“American Nicknames,” 1875, p. 171) A century later, the philosopher Henry Babcock Veatch, an Indiana native, spoke at a symposium dinner honoring him. During his address, “Can philosophy Ever be a Thing for Hoosiers?” he remarked, “I can hear our chairman, Wilfried Ver Eecke, muttering to himself, ‘But who or what, in God’s name, is a Hoosier?’” (Veatch, 1983, p. 1) Michael Wilkerson in his essay “Indiana Origin Stories” asks, “What in the world is a Hoosier?” (Wilkerson, 1989, p. 13) On the eve of Super Bowl XLI between the Chicago Bears and the Indianapolis Colts (Colts 29, Bears 17), Charles Leroux put the question in his Chicago Tribune article of January 30, 2007, “So, what the heck is a Hoosier?” They are not alone in their puzzlement, rhetorical or not. What, then, is a hoosier? Where did the word come from? Or as Mario Pei wondered, “Who first inflicted Hoosiers on the people of Indiana…?” (Pei, 1967, p. 131) Like barnacles, a thick crust of speculation has gathered over the word “Hoosier” to explain the origin of Indiana’s nickname.
    [Show full text]