Wenglish, the Dialect of the South Wales Valleys, As a Medium for Narrative and Performance Robert Michael Lewis
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WENGLISH, THE DIALECT OF THE SOUTH WALES VALLEYS, AS A MEDIUM FOR NARRATIVE AND PERFORMANCE ROBERT MICHAEL LEWIS A submission presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Glamorgan/Prifysgol Morgannwg for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2010 CONTENTS: CONTENTS …………………………………………………………………………………………..2 ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................... 4 PART ONE: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND ........................................................... 5 1. Scope and Structure ........................................................................................................ 5 1.1 Introduction and background to Wenglish................................................................... 8 1.2 A Brief History of Wenglish ...................................................................................... 13 1.3 Modern Wenglish ..................................................................................................... 33 1.4 Variations within Wenglish ....................................................................................... 39 1.5 The range of Wenglish and its relationship to Standard English ................................ 43 1.6 Phonology, Syntax and Lexis ................................................................................... 46 1.7 Resurgence in interest in regional languages across Europe .................................... 49 2. The Research Landscape .............................................................................................. 54 2.1 Research on English in Wales ................................................................................. 57 2.2 Research on language in use, narrative and performance ........................................ 66 2.2.1 Core concepts and related discourse analytical approaches .............................. 67 PART TWO: ANALYSIS OF WENGLISH TEXTS............................................................... 91 1. Method and rationale of research .................................................................................. 91 1 Context ....................................................................................................................... 91 2 Defining the study ....................................................................................................... 93 3 Practical research procedure ...................................................................................... 94 4 Selection of texts ........................................................................................................ 97 2. Results of analysis ...................................................................................................... 105 Research Question 1: What narrative and performance material in or featuring Wenglish currently exists and what are the characteristics of these texts? ................................... 105 An overview of the range and scope of Wenglish literature....................................... 105 Wenglish Index, Typology for Texts and Matrix of Appeal ........................................ 115 Research Question 2: What themes are typically mediated and expressed in these texts? ................................................................................................................................... 126 Cluster A: Community .............................................................................................. 127 Cluster B: Personal identity, family and relationships ............................................... 157 Cluster C: Social attitudes........................................................................................ 187 Cluster D: Everyday life ........................................................................................... 199 Cluster E: Urban and social decline, crime, drugs .................................................... 236 Cluster F: Humour ................................................................................................... 239 Research Question 3: Which discourse analytical techniques are most relevant and productive in relation to the selected texts and what do these interpretive methods reveal/indicate concerning the texts? ........................................................................... 254 A. Discourse .......................................................................................................... 255 B. Narrative and Personal Narrative ....................................................................... 256 C. The Ethnography of Communication .................................................................. 257 D. Narrative Analysis and Literary Folkloristics ....................................................... 264 E. Discursive Psychology ...................................................................................... 279 F. Performance ..................................................................................................... 281 G. Speech-Act Theory, Pragmatics and Relevance Theory ................................... 295 H. Interactional Sociolinguistics/Dramaturgical Analysis ......................................... 303 I. Conversation Analysis ....................................................................................... 307 2 J. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) ...................................................................... 317 Research Question 4: How do the selected texts, as cultural productions of the South Wales Valleys, reflect the communities in which they were produced and are consumed? ................................................................................................................................... 322 Theoretical Context ................................................................................................. 322 Linguistic Content .................................................................................................... 323 Thematic Content .................................................................................................... 327 Application of Wenglish narrative and performance material in community projects .. 328 PART THREE: PRACTICE AS RESEARCH .................................................................... 335 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 335 1.1 Practice as Research: A Literary Example – Rip Van Winkle (short story) .............. 338 1.2 Background note: Rip Van Winkle .......................................................................... 343 2.1 Practice as Research: Formal Performance Material – Wenglish Dialogues ........... 346 2.2 Background note: Wenglish Dialogues ................................................................... 349 3.1 Practice as Research: A Personal Narrative - Badgers ........................................... 351 3.2 Background note: Badgers..................................................................................... 354 Research Question 5: How possible is it to apply the results and insights from structured analysis to new creative work in Wenglish? ................................................................. 355 Creative Process ..................................................................................................... 355 Linguistic Features .................................................................................................. 358 Thematic Material .................................................................................................... 361 Discourse Analysis .................................................................................................. 363 CONCLUSIONS, RESEARCH OUTPUTS AND HYPOTHESES ……………………..366 Acknowledgements and Thanks ...………………………………………………….………..369 Notes .......................................................................................................................... 371 Bibliography ................................................................................................................ 376 Web resources ............................................................................................................ 383 Bibliographical list of literary tests in Research Question 1 ........................................... 385 Bibliographical list of texts selected for analysis ........................................................... 388 3 ABSTRACT This study examines the characteristics of a range of narrative and performance texts featuring Wenglish, the dialect of the South Wales Valleys, in terms of their linguistic and thematic content and their relation to the community. Part One comprises an introduction to Wenglish and an overview of research on English in South Wales and approaches to language in use. In Part Two the results of textual and discourse analysis of twenty-five texts (nine literary and seven formal performance excerpts and nine personal narratives) are presented. In Part Three insights arising from analysis are applied in three pieces of new creative work in dialect. A reference list of texts containing Wenglish is appended. Cultural outputs mirror and express the community which produces them and thus the formal and informal literary output of the South Wales Valleys both reflects and expresses some of the shared characteristics, values, beliefs and preoccupations of those communities. Analysis revealed