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Identity Construction Through Positioning in Mealtime Narratives of Kazakh-Speaking Village Residents

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Identity Construction Through Positioning in Mealtime Narratives of Kazakh-Speaking Village Residents IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION THROUGH POSITIONING IN MEALTIME NARRATIVES OF KAZAKH-SPEAKING VILLAGE RESIDENTS A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics By Aisulu Raspayeva M.S. Washington, D.C. June 21, 2018 Copyright 2018 by Aisulu Raspayeva All Rights Reserved ii IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION THROUGH POSITIONING IN MEALTIME NARRATIVES OF KAZAKH-SPEAKING VILLAGE RESIDENTS Aisulu Raspayeva, M.S. Thesis Advisor: Cynthia Gordon, Ph.D. ABSTRACT Mealtime narratives are a site for constructing a community’s social worlds (e.g., Ochs and Taylor 1995). Extending this research direction, I examine mealtime narratives among Kazakh- speaking Kazakhs, an under-researched community and one of the major ethnic groups residing in post-Soviet Kazakhstan. I draw on Bamberg’s (1997) model of three levels of narrative positioning – positioning in the story world, in the telling world, and in more macro, ideological worlds – to uncover how residents of a Kazakh village community discursively construct their identities in twenty narratives told in audio- and video-recorded mealtime conversations among family members and friends. I integrate this model with Tannen’s (2007) analysis of involvement strategies in discourse (constructed dialogue, details, and repetition), insights regarding conversational sequencing in narrating (e.g., Sacks 1992b), and research on audience participation (e.g., Goodwin 1986). My analysis focuses on narratives wherein Kazakh narrators depict interactions with out- group members (i.e., members of other ethnic and national groups), with members of their small village community, and with members of their own extended families. First, I show how Kazakh narrators position Russians and Americans as more advanced in terms of technology and financial resources and depict Vietnamese and Russians in more negative terms in narratives about food and family values, constructing their ethnic identities and reflecting the state nation- iii building discourse of Kazakhstan. Second, I analyze the narratives about village residents. Narrators show disalignment with dishonest neighbors in the story world that allows them to create alignment with each other in the storytelling world and construct their identities as village neighbors. These narratives, I argue, reinforce the socio-cultural value of justice and equality in Kazakh neighbors’ relationships, which also reflects Kazakh identity. Finally, Kazakh narrators tell stories wherein older family members (parents and grandparents) exert power, and entertaining stories about the youngest family members (grandchildren) to construct their interactional identities as caregivers. These narratives reflect Kazakh family values of respect for the elderly and of grandchildren as a source of joy for older family members. In addition to constructing various aspects of Kazakh identity, across the three kinds of narratives, other identities emerge, including pertaining to gender and age. Relevant strategies to accomplish positioning, and thereby to construct these Kazahkstani narrators’ identities, include complicating action verbs, constructed dialogue, details, repetition, and various forms of internal and external evaluation. This study extends our understanding of narrative positioning while also illuminating the linguistic and social worlds of an under-researched community. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This acknowledgment is the least that I can do to thank all the people whose help, care, and faith inspired me during this project. First of all, I would never have been able to complete this dissertation without the guidance, support, and care of my amazing dissertation advisor. Dr. Cynthia Gordon. Dr. Gordon’s vast scholarly knowledge, professional dedication, golden heart, and great sense of humor made this journey very smooth and extremely enriching in all aspects! Dr. Gordon also worked with me under strong time constraints with a smile that helped keep me going. Dr. Heidi Hamilton and Dr. Anna De Fina have also been great sources of knowledge, support, and guidance. I am very grateful to both of them for their valuable and timely feedback and encouragement. I also want to express my sincerest words of gratitude to the families who agreed to participate in the study, despite existing fears in Kazakhstan that recording may be done for the purpose of spying! Now, I would like to thank my West Virginian and international friends who were amazingly supportive of my application to Georgetown University’s Department of Linguistics, and who helped make my move to the program so smooth and stress-free. Without their support and love, I would not have been able to start the program! From the bottom of my heart, I would like to thank Majed and Nouf Alabbas, Freih Alenezi, Atiyah Alghamdi, Elham Erfanian, Tracy Dingess, and Alex Roth for helping me. Generosity of your hearts enabled me to come to Georgetown! I owe a great deal to my amazing classmates and Intensive English Program co- workers Katie Mehle, Tricia Patton, and Morgan Richards for their incredible moral support and generosity. Special thanks to Karen Allen for teaching and taking me to ski, which became one of my sweetest memories! For continuous support, I sincerely thank Mohammad Alabbas, Livia Cascao, Jose Coppling, Sepidah Falsafi, Farrah Farooqi, Intan Hamdan, Areej Kuzmar, Zainab Jawad, Natalya Kuznetsova, Lindsei Pereira da Silva, Imam Soheil, Marsha and John Roth, and Robyn Wade. Many thanks to Alex Roth and Jose Copplind for driving me to Washington and Lara Zaaba for hosting me for several months and supporting me all the way! However, I would never even have reached West Virginia from Kazakhstan if it were not for the trust and care of the Director of the IEP, Stacy Fint, who hired me as an ESL teaching assistant. v I am grateful for the support Dr. Carole Sargent and my Afghani and French-Belgian families. I am completely indebted to Sonia Hamildi who asked her family if I could stay with them to start my program. And thanks to Sonia, Mackay and Reshad Hamidi, Kareem Hamidi, Sahar Hamidi, Jabr Akinlolu, and Sahar and Jabr’s four lovely kids who became my family too! I indebted to Dr. Carole Sargent who introduced me to Martine and Guy De Lusignan who also have been such an amazing source of support! Martine’s great humor and love for life were a continual source of cheer, and her sincere interest in sociolinguistics and Kazakhstan gave me a great deal of inspiration to finish this study. My sincerest thanks to Robert Bacon and Nathalie Munzberg for entrusting me to babysit their son Eric who has been a source of pure joy and laughter during the dissertation writing. My five years studying in the Department of Linguistics at Georgetown University and working in the Department of Psychology allowed me to meet many wonderful people to whom I give thanks. From the bottom of my heart, I am grateful to Dr. Natalie Schilling, who welcomed me as a prospective student and later entrusted me with work on her Smith Island project, which inspired me to work with a small and relatively isolated community in my dissertation. I am also thankful to Dr. Mark Sicoli who motivated me to carry out research in my own country, which was life changing. I would like to thank Dr. Deborah Tannen, who has taken the time to talk, taught me to “let the data speak” to me, and continually supported me during the process of writing the dissertation. My sincere gratitude to Dr. Jennifer Nycz, Dr. Anastasia Nylund, and Dr. Amelia Tseng for serving as excellent examples of young and pioneering scholars. I have learned how to question, challenge, and seek scholarly knowledge thanks to my friends in Linguistics. I thank Alex Masters, Dr. Marta Baffy, Dr. Daniel Ginsberg, and Dr. Mackenzie Price for helping me prepare for the oral examination. To my wonderful Academic Reading Group, Dr. Nazir Harb, Dr. Joshua Kraut, Dr. Sylvia Sierra, Gwynne Mapes, and Jeremy Wegner, thank you for intellectual discussions that helped me to be a thoughtful writer; our shared laughter helped keep me going! I am extremely grateful to Laura Ryals-Bell for being an amazing co-instructor and for providing me with unconditional support during the final semester; to Shannon Mooney for being always there and for sharing the beauty of her mind; and to Minnie Annan for being my sunshine and an example of a great fighter! The same amount of vi gratitude and love goes to Jehan Al-Mahmoud for being the best habibty; to the best study partner and wonderful friend Ho Fai (Viggo) Cheng; and fantastic friend Mark Visona for all his jokes and support. To my wonderful friends from across Linguistics concentrations, Amelia Becker, Heidi Gertz, Aysenur Sagdic, Sakol Suethanapornkul, Brandon Tullock, and Rachel Thorson, I am grateful for your support and care! I would also like to thank Kate Murray, Minh Nguyen, Ari, Sakol, Wenxi Yang, and Zhilling Zhong for support during the process of preparing for my dissertation defense. My special gratitude and love goes to my two research sisters, Adrienne Isaac and Didem Ikizoglu, for their generous support, care, and inspiration at all stages of this project. All of our research accomplishments, including this study, would not have been possible if it were not for the professionalism and generous caring of the staff of the Department of Linguistics; I am thankful for assistance from Benjamin Croner, Manela Diez, Erin
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