Wissenschaftliche Arbeit im Fach Englisch A History of Jamaican Creole in the Jamaican Broadcasting Media vorgelegt von: Michael Westphal Prüfer: Prof. Dr. Christian Mair Big Up and tanks to: Prof. Mair for the tape recordings and guidance Axel for proof reading and feedback Philip for technical assistance Jamaica and Jamaican Broadcasting for a good time and inspiration Table of Content 1. Creole languages in the media 1 2. Outline of the study 4 3. Theoretical background 3.1 Different Theories for the description of the linguistic situation in Jamaican broadcasting 5 3.2 Diglossia 6 3.3 (Post –) Creole – Continuum 7 3.4 Acts of Identity 10 4. The special nature of broadcasting in the Jamaican mass media 12 5. Data 14 6. Macro-linguistic analysis 6.1 Methodology 16 6.2. Pre- Independence – late 1930’s to late 1950’s 6.2.1 Socio – historical background 17 6.2.2 Media background 18 6.2.3 Linguistic Analysis 19 6.2.4 Music 22 6.2.5 Conclusion 23 6.3. The Glorious Sixties 6.3.1 Socio – historical background 24 6.3.2 Media background 24 6.3.3 Linguistic Analysis 25 6.3.4 Music 28 6.3.5 Conclusion 30 6.4 Experiments with Socialism – the 1970’s 6.4.1 Socio – historical background 31 6.4.2 Media background 32 6.4.3 Linguistic Analysis 33 6.4.4 Music 37 6.4.5 Conclusion 38 6.5 The 1980’s – towards media liberalization 6.5.1 Socio – historical background 40 6.5.2 Media background 41 6.5.3 Linguistic Analysis 42 6.5.4 Music 48 6.5.5 Conclusion 50 6.6. The independent media since 1989 6.6.1 Socio – historical background 51 6.6.2 Media background 51 6.6.3 Linguistic Analysis 55 6.6.4 Music 64 6.6.5 Conclusion 66 7. Micro-linguistic analysis of call-in shows 7.1 Call-in shows - a diverse and special genre 67 7.2 Methodology 68 7.3 Phonological variables 70 7.4 Lexical variables 72 7.5 Grammatical Variables 75 7.6 Conclusion 78 8. Changing attitudes towards Jamaican Creole 79 9. Conclusion 9.1 Media interacting with attitude 82 9.2 Standardization 85 9.3 The future of Jamaican Creole in broadcasting and other mass media 86 10. Bibliography 88 Appendix I. Annotations to the transcriptions I.I Markup symbols for the ICE transcription system 97 I.II Sound Changes of underlined graphemes 97 II. Cassidy – LePage writing system 98 III. Transcriptions: files1 Pre- Independence – late 1930’s to late 1950’s 100 IV. Transcriptions: files2 The Glorious Sixties 114 V. Transcriptions: files3 Experiments with socialism – the 1970’s 130 VI. Transcriptions: files4 The 1980’s – towards media liberalization 142 VII. Transcriptions files5 The independent media since 1989 196 VIII. Eidesstattliche Erklärung 287 IX. Online Resources 288 1. Creole languages in the media In language situations where two or more varieties coexist, the variety with the most prestige dominates the media. So in a de jure monolingual language situation like England the standard prevails over the various dialects. On the other hand the mass media is also a tool to influence the language situation and it can promote a certain variety as the standard. In the case of England the standard pronunciation was spread by the media in the early 20th century (Mair 2008: 142,143). In bilingual or multilingual language situations the most prestigious language, with the most political and economic significance, takes on the leading role in the media context. In South American Countries like Ecuador or Peru Spanish predominates in the media and indigenous languages are marginalized. In most Caribbean countries Creole languages coexist with the European language of the respective former colonial power. “Creole languages are traditionally associated with a negative image” (Mühleisen 2002: 3), therefore share a low prestige which disqualifies them for the use in the media. Most of them are not recognized as official languages by local governments and lack an official orthography constraining the use in written media. Creole languages function as the mass vernacular used in informal communication whereas formal domains such as public speaking, education and mass media are traditionally dominated by the local Standard of English, French or Dutch. Since the 1960’s the media landscape in the Caribbean has been undergoing considerable changes and the formerly rigid distribution has broken up on the level of the media. In countries where the Creole language has been made an official language like in Haiti or the ABC islands this development is most drastic. In Haiti “the mass media is almost exclusively Francophone and is still growing” (Bernabé 2006: 2098). In Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao this shift is supported by ongoing efforts for standardization and a consistent orthography of the local Creole Papiamento. “There is at present a situation in which Papiamento competes with Dutch in the written media and where radio and TV broadcasts use Papiamento almost exclusively” (Kouwenberg 2006: 2107). In Surinam, where many languages coexist, the Creole language Sranan Tongo serves as a lingua franca. It is finding its way into the still Dutch dominated media scene predominantly through community radio stations broadcasting exclusively in Sranan Tongo. (cf. Kouwenberg 2006: 2111). In 1 Guadalupe and Martinique the disruption of the media scene, conventionally reserved for Standard French, was strongly influenced by locally oriented political movements. Since the 1980’s the use of French Creole has been increased in TV and especially in radio mainly through music in the vernacular and solely Creole using radio stations (cf. Schnepel 2004: 147). Even in countries like Jamaica where the Creole lacks official language status and a consistent orthography, is closely related to the dominant language and does not serve as a political tool a similar linguistic change has been going on in the media. Jamaican Creole, locally called Patois, has found its way into the formerly almost exclusively Standard English media. Moreover Patois has expanded into various other new domains as well. Creole almost superseded English in the theatre and is no longer unusual in advertisements in the press and on radio and television. Creole speakers dominate talk shows on radio in which callers are allowed to express their opinion freely. The lyrics of the Reggae music now popular throughout the world are in Creole for the most part. Creole has long been the universal language of newspaper cartoons and in them it is put nowadays in the mouths of members of all social classes, from the Prime Minister to the man in the streets. (Christie 2003: 2) Among the different kinds of mass media the radio offers the most potential for reconstructing this steady shift as it is almost exclusively locally produced, overcomes the problem of orthography and due to its relative closeness to actual language use through popular call-in shows. Due to these features and the media’s relatively easy accessibility it has proven very worthwhile for linguistic research. This thesis seeks to outline the changing sociolinguistic situation in the radio from its beginning in the late 1930s to the present. This period of time is divided into different phases which are analyzed by applying different Creole specific linguistic theories as the linguistic situations at the different stages show extreme variability. Following Shields-Brodber, a general shift from an almost monolingual situation to a diglossic one which is continually eroded and replaced by a continuum (Shields- Brodber 1997) is assumed, in spite of the extreme variability. With the general analysis and an in-depth analysis of call-in shows the concept of decreolization of the continuum stage is challenged for the media context. With the real time study I try to give diachronic evidence for the reverse shift towards 2 Creole in call-in shows, supporting Mufwene’s criticism of the last stage of Hall’s life cycle theory (Mufwene 1999: 160). This expansion of Jamaican Creole in the broadcasting media, where it takes on more and more functions of Standard English, is closely linked to a change in attitude towards Patois. Alleyne stresses the new role of Jamaican Creole as one of the main forces contributing to a distinct Jamaican culture and identity, leading to an increased use by upper and middle class members who by this demonstrate their loyalty to the Jamaican nation (cf. Alleyne 1985: 170). This influence on the radio and on the media as a whole is not unidirectional but mutual, shown by the analogous developments which are to be analyzed. In how far, however, an anti-decreolization trend in the broadcasting media pushes the actual linguistic situation in the same direction is questionable as other forms of media, television and the internet, gain more importance and with them the influence of American English. Nevertheless, up to this point radio has remained the most influential medium in Jamaica partly due to the problematic social situation, which prevents the majority of Jamaican’s access to other more expensive media. It still has the potential to exert influence on the actual linguistic situation. The broadcasting media could play an important part in the standardization of spoken Jamaican Creole especially if Jamaica follows the role model of other Caribbean countries making the Creole an official language. 3 2. Outline of study Chapter 3 deals with the theoretical background of the study. The different models used for the sociolinguistic analysis of the changing language situation in the broadcasting domain are explained. Although points of critique of the three models, Diglossia, (Post-) Creole-Continuum and Acts of Identity are presented, they are treated equally without discussing which one describes Creole-speaking communities most accurately.