Rewriting Language COMPARATIVE LITERATURE and CULTURE
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Rewriting Language COMPARATIVE LITERATURE AND CULTURE Series Editors TIMOTHY MATHEWS AND FLORIAN MUSSGNUG Comparative Literature and Culture explores new creative and critical perspectives on literature, art and culture. Contributions offer a comparative, cross-cultural and interdisciplinary focus, showcasing exploratory research in literary and cultural theory and history, material and visual cultures, and reception studies. The series is also interested in language-based research, particularly the changing role of national and minority languages and cultures, and includes within its publications the annual proceedings of the ‘Hermes Consortium for Literary and Cultural Studies’. Timothy Mathews is Emeritus Professor of French and Comparative Criticism, UCL. Florian Mussgnug is Reader in Italian and Comparative Literature, UCL. Rewriting Language How Literary Texts Can Promote Inclusive Language Use Christiane Luck First published in 2020 by UCL Press University College London Gower Street London WC1E 6BT Available to download free: www.uclpress.co.uk Text © Christiane Luck, 2020 Christiane Luck has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as author of this work. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from The British Library. This book is published under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Non- derivative 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). This license allows you to share, copy, distribute and transmit the work for personal and non-commercial use providing author and publisher attribution is clearly stated. Attribution should include the following information: Luck, C. 2020. Rewriting Language: How Literary Texts Can Promote Inclusive Language Use. London, UCL Press. https://doi.org/10.14324/111.9781787356672 Further details about Creative Commons licenses are available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ Any third-party material in this book is published under the book’s Creative Commons license unless indicated otherwise in the credit line to the material. If you would like to re-use any third-party material not covered by the book’s Creative Commons license, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. ISBN: 978-1-78735-669-6 (Hbk) ISBN: 978-1-78735-668-9 (Pbk) ISBN: 978-1-78735-667-2 (PDF) ISBN: 978-1-78735-670-2 (epub) ISBN: 978-1-78735-671-9 (mobi) DOI: https://doi.org/10.14324/111.9781787356672 Contents Acknowledgements vi Introduction 1 1. Linguistics and literature 14 2. Problematising the linguistic status quo – The Left Hand of Darkness and Häutungen 53 3. Proposing linguistic neutrality – The Cook and the Carpenter and Woman on the Edge of Time 75 4. Reversing the linguistic status quo – Egalias døtre 98 5. ‘It’s good to make people realise … double standards’ – Evaluating the impact of literary texts thematising sex/gender and language 121 Conclusions 167 Works cited 184 Index 193 v Acknowledgements This book would not have been possible without the help and support of mentors, colleagues, friends and family. No project takes place in isola- tion and a lot of people have encouraged me over the years – by taking an interest in my research, listening to my ideas and concerns, and review- ing my work. While I am unable to thank everyone personally, I would like to express my gratitude to those who have played a key part in the creation of this book. First of all, I would like to thank my PhD co-supervisors, Dr Geraldine Horan and Professor Susanne Kord, whose expertise, feed- back and support have been invaluable over the course of this project. Susanne and Geraldine have always been open to my approach and ideas: with their guidance I have been able to experiment and thereby develop as a researcher and writer. I particularly appreciate their con- structive reviews of my work, highlighting potential problems as well as different perspectives. In extension, I would like to thank my PhD exam- iners, Professor Felicity Rash and Professor Georgina Paul, as well as my anonymous reviewers. Their constructive criticism and detailed feedback helped me to further develop my thesis into a publishable body of work. I would also like to thank the staff at UCL Press for helping me to transform my manuscript into a book. Meeting other PhD students and making friends has provided a supportive context for conducting my research. My friendships with Mathelinda Nabugodi, Liz Harvey-Kattou, Magali Burnichon and Gabriella Caminotto have provided much-needed camaraderie in all its highs and lows. Over the years, Gabriella, Magali, Liz and Mathelinda helped me immensely with tips, advice and a friendly ear – thank you! I would also like to thank my friend Lauren; our discussions around lit- erature, sex/gender and language have been very insightful. Lauren has always been supportive of my research; as have my friends Rachel Watts, Mareike Brendel and Satu Viljanen. I really appreciate the many hours spent providing advice as well as distraction – new ideas often emerged after a shared outing or break. vi My partner Jack Fisher has shouldered most of the emotional support over the years, and I would like to thank him in particular. Jack has always encouraged my work, providing feedback on chapter drafts, listening to my ideas and reassuring me when I felt disheartened. This research project has stimulated much discussion – sometimes antagonistic on my part – and I really appreciate Jack’s patience and understanding. Our open exchanges provided a valuable experimental space and allowed me to clarify my position. Moreover, Jack’s insights as a technical and creative writer helped me to clearly structure and express my thoughts. My research project was self-funded and I would like to thank my employers UK-German Connection, the Learning Enhancement and Development department at City, University of London, and The Brilliant Club for their flexibility and support. Flexible working hours and the opportunity to further develop my research, writing and teach- ing skills have been invaluable. In addition, I would like to thank the Jackson Lewis Scholarship committee; receiving a scholarship allowed me to pay for materials and expenses to conduct my focus group study. I would also like to thank my most recent employer, the Communication and Engagement department at the University of Central Lancashire. My flexible working arrangement enabled me to find the time to revise my thesis for book publication. Access to a wealth of materials and to quiet working spaces has also played a fundamental role in the completion of this research – I would like to thank the librarians and staff at the public and university libraries I have visited over the years. Senate House Library, The British Library, Dulwich Library and Manchester Central Library have been some of my favourite research and writing spaces, and have allowed me to develop ideas as well as concentrate on processing them. Thank you also to all my focus group participants – their contribu- tions have provided invaluable insights into reader perspectives on my selected texts. I have only been able to offer some homemade cake in return for their time; their commitment is therefore doubly appreciated. In fact, I believe it is their responses that render this book particularly fruitful. Last but not least, I would like to thank my parents Gisela Luck and Wolfgang Luck who have always supported my endeavours. My father is unfortunately no longer alive but I know he would be proud of me, as he always has been. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii Introduction Activists and linguists have been highlighting the issue of biased language use since the 1970s. Empirical research has supported the need for more inclusive language. As a result, some English and German linguistic prac- tices – and formal usage, in particular – have changed. However, broader revisions are yet to be made, and many inclusive adaptations remain either ignored or contested. The key question motivating my research is: ‘How can English and German speakers be more widely convinced of the importance of inclusive language?’ In this book, I provide one possi- ble answer: I propose that literary texts can help to sensitise readers to the impact of biased language use and thereby promote wider linguistic change. I employ an interdisciplinary approach to explore the validity of my suggestion and do so in three distinct stages: First, I create a theoretical framework for literary texts thematising the issue of sex/gender and lan- guage. I identify three distinct approaches: ‘Problematising the linguistic status quo’; ‘Proposing linguistic neutrality’; and ‘Reversing the linguis- tic status quo’, and categorise texts accordingly. Secondly, I analyse the effectiveness of each approach from a linguistic and philosophical per- spective – with one key thinker providing the context for my discussion. Thirdly, I assess the impact of the three approaches on readers with a focus group study. Together, these three perspectives allow me to provide solid evidence for the value of literary texts. On the basis of these find- ings I argue that literary texts are a useful tool to sensitise readers to the importance of inclusive language. My work builds on previous research; a key text being Anna Livia’s 2001 Pronoun Envy: Literary Uses of Linguistic Gender. Livia analyses ‘written texts in English and French … that in some way problematize the traditional functioning of the linguistic gender system’ (Livia 2001, 5). The author elaborates: ‘I concentrate on French and English because it is in these languages that the most daring experimental works have 1 been produced’ (Livia 2001, 5). Moreover, she focuses ‘on written texts … because many morphological indicators of gender in French are only apparent in the written form’ (Livia 2001, 5). Our projects overlap in terms of our shared interest in the literary, and specifically written, problematisation of the issue of sex/gender and language. As do our choice of texts: three of the novels she evaluates in her chapter on ‘Epicene Neologisms in English’, namely The Left Hand of Darkness, The Cook and the Carpenter and Woman on the Edge of Time, form a key part of my own analysis.