Non‐standard spellings in media texts: The case of German fanzines

Abstract

Based on an investigation of spellings in German punk fanzines (a blend of ‘fan’+‘(maga)zine’), this paper sketches a framework for the analysis of non‐standard spellings in media texts. The analysis distinguishes between a number of spelling types, which include both representations of spoken language and purely graphemic modifications, and three patterns of spelling usage: spellings as a part of the text's regular features, spelling choices as contextualization cues, and as cues of subcultural positioning. By examining the relations between types and usages of non‐standard spellings, the paper demonstrates how young writers creatively use the graphemic resources of their language in order to communicate sociocultural meanings, at the same time constructing an orthographic anti‐standard in the restricted field of music‐related subcultural discourse.