International Journal of the Sociology of Language · 2011 · 115 citations · 7 references
HumanitiesLinguisticsSexuality StudiesDiscourse AnalysisQueer TheorySociolinguisticsQueer HistoriographyQueer PoliticsEssentialist Accounts Of NormalityLocal NegotiationPolitical Agency ModelsPoststructuralist InterpretationQueer Hermeneutic MethodologyQueer Hermeneutic TheoryQueer LinguisticsSexuality Discourse
Queer Linguistics emerged as a reaction to essentialist language‑sexuality approaches, is distinct from a simple gay‑lesbian perspective, and faces criticisms of limited relevance, political agency concerns, and empirical applicability. The article surveys Queer Linguistics and argues for its use in sociolinguistics to advance critical heteronormativity research. It applies Queer Theory, drawing on Foucault, Butler, and Derrida, to critically examine heteronormativity’s discursive formation and proposes ethnographic, discourse‑analytic, and contrastive sociolinguistic methods.
This article provides an overview of the young discipline of Queer Linguistics and discusses how it may be fruitfully applied in sociolinguistics as a contribution to critical heteronormativity research. After locating Queer Linguistics historically as a reaction to earlier essentialist approaches in the field of language and sexuality, its theoretical underpinnings are outlined. Queer Linguistics is not to be equalled with a "gay and lesbian" approach to language. It rather transfers ideas from Queer Theory to linguistic research, building on the integration of work by poststructuralist scholars such as Foucault, Butler and Derrida in order to provide a critical investigation of the discursive formation of heteronormativity. Three potential criticisms against Queer Linguistics as a poststructuralist approach are addressed: its supposedly low relevance, issues of political agency, and its alleged lack of empirical applicability. Finally, methodological suggestions are made as to how sociolinguists may proceed from a Queer Linguistic point of view, focusing on ethnographically oriented studies of local identity negotiation, critical approaches to Discourse Analysis and Contrastive Sociolinguistics.
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